The three-way war of words between UFC lightweight stars Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, and Paddy Pimblett takes a new turn.
Earlier this month, Dustin Poirier shut down rumors that he’d fight Pimblett for his UFC retirement fight – explaining that his last octagon outing needs to be ‘legends only’.
Whilst Paddy Pimblett understands why ‘The Diamond’ wants a bigger name for his final bout, the Scouse superstar also questions whether it’s really time for Dustin Poirier to hang up the gloves.
Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett responds to Dustin Poirier’s retirement plan
Earlier this week, Dana White confirmed that Paddy Pimblett will face Michael Chandler in the co-main event of UFC 314 in April – just a few weeks after rumors were rife that it’d be ‘The Baddy’ against Dustin Poirier.
Speaking via a training VLOG shared to his YouTube channel, Pimblett would first acknowledge that he understands what Poirier meant when he said, ‘legends only’.
“Nate [Diaz] putting up, ‘Fight Paddy you [—-, he’d beat you’ – legendary s— that, you know. Everyone loves Nate Diaz… I don’t feel disrespected, I understand what he’s saying – ‘legends only’, I’m not a legend.”
That being said, Pimblett also questioned why Poirier is talking about retirement in the first place; noting that ‘The Diamond’ still has the skills to compete with the absolute best in the world.
“And he could earn more money on a PPV fighting someone else, but why would he retire after just one fight, lad?
Stop being a b—- a—, you know what I mean? Fight your contract out, have a few [more] fights… [You’ve] just had a good fight with Islam, you know what I mean?”
The Scouser then responded to Michael Chandler’s recent post that took aim at Poirier in which ‘Iron’ suggested that his former foe was scared to face the Liverpudlian.
“And then Chandler put up a tweet, which was funny. I think he was taking the p— out of Dustin, saying ‘Scared to fight Patty’ – but come on Chandler, you know how to spell my name lad. It’s not Patty. I’m not a f—– burger. It’s Paddy lad, double D.”
Michael Chandler vows to score stoppage win against Paddy Pimblett
In a video shared to his own social media channels, the popular American admitted that he’s desperate to get himself back in the win column after a tough defeat to Charles Oliveira last November.
“After the last fight, one of the most disappointing losses of my career, I wanted to get right back on the horse and right back in the octagon.
“I like the matchup – love the matchup actually, I respect Paddy. I think he’s a skilled fighter and he’s got a bright future, but I think he’s going to run into a buzzsaw called Michael Chandler on April 12.”
The former Bellator world champion teased that he’s got one singular goal in mind for UFC 314; become the first-ever person to KO Pimblett in his professional career.
“As always, I will be the most entertaining guy that steps into the octagon that night. I will have everybody on their feet. I will have everybody on the edge of their seat.
“And in typical Chandler fashion, we’re going out there with one goal in mind – to separate our opponent from consciousness.”
Since that video was posted, Dustin Poirier has shared his own bold prediction for that UFC 314 co-main event – which goes down live from Miami on April 12.