In early August, it was revealed that the UFC was engaged on a bout between elite lightweights Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler for UFC 281. On Wednesday, it was made official.
Poirier and Chandler have been hinting at combating one another for months now. All of that just about got here to a head throughout a cageside altercation at UFC 276 in July, the place the 2 needed to be separated by area safety.
Poirier (28-7, 1 NC), a former interim champion, final fought in December 2021 at UFC 269 in opposition to Charles Oliveira. He misplaced through third-round submission to mark his second failed undisputed title bid, which led him to a quick second of uncertainty about his subsequent profession transfer.
As for Chandler (23-7), he’s coming off a Knockout of the Yr efficiency when he put Tony Ferguson to sleep with a vicious entrance kick to the face within the third spherical of their UFC 274 conflict in Could.
UFC 281 occurs on November 12 at Madison Sq. Backyard in New York Metropolis. Headlining the occasion is the middleweight title struggle between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. Proper earlier than it’s the strawweight championship between Carla Esparza and former titleholder Zhang Weili.
