Dustin Poirier may have traded his gloves for a microphone, but the fight in him clearly hasn’t retired. Over the weekend, the former UFC fighter reminded everyone that some rivalries do not fade over time. It didn’t take a press conference or a face-off, just a well-placed reply that stirred the pot and brought a familiar name back into the conversation. The mystery man? Michael Chandler.
So, how did it all begin? Well, a resurfaced clip of their brutal fight from UFC 281 was making the rounds, with a fan analyzing Poirier’s crisp striking and Chandler’s unraveling. The fan wrote on X, “Dustin Poirier unloading big damage to close a round he got fouled and badly hurt in. The shoulder roll and right hand he uses to drop Chandler were exquisite. The left hand he lands to break Chandler’s nose against the fence is rather surgically beautiful too.”
It was the kind of nostalgic post that normally ends with respect. However, ‘The Diamond’ did not retweet it with a handshake emoji or a positive statement. Instead, he stepped in with a harsh two-word barb that said everything without saying anything. Poirier wrote a simple “Muscle Milk Mike,” and just like that, the bad blood was back in circulation.
And what’s more intriguing about this jibe is the fact that, currently, both fighters are miles away from the Octagon. While Chandler has been sitting out and licking his wounds following a string of losses, Dustin Poirier stepped away on a very different note. He fought toe-to-toe with Max Holloway in a final battle before turning his attention to the analyst desk.
But stepping away definitely does not imply being silent. And when it came to Chandler, the man he once called “fake nice” and with whom he shared one of the bloodiest moments of his career, Dustin Poirier’s silence surely was never going to last. The dig lands at a time when Chandler’s name is more tied to inactivity than action.
Muscle milk Mike
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 3, 2025
He hasn’t fought since a tough TKO loss to Paddy Pimblett, and he’s made it clear that he’s putting his family first for now. But Poirier’s tweet, as brief as it was, served as a reminder that, even though ‘Iron’ is no longer on the radar, people who have been through the fire with him have not forgotten him. Or, in this case, those who left the fire with the last word.
So, whether it’s from the cage or the analyst’s panel, Dustin Poirier’s voice carries, and Michael Chandler’s name still draws attention. However, it is worth noting that ‘The Diamond’ isn’t the only one who has recently criticized ‘Iron’ despite no ongoing feud with the fighter. Tom Aspinall is another man who has joined the list of fighters who took a jibe at the fighter for the way he fights.
Tom Aspinall questions Michael Chandler’s fight IQ
Of course, Dustin Poirier’s remark was not the first jab aimed at Michael Chandler this week. Just days earlier, Tom Aspinall, the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, joined the chorus of criticism. And, unlike ‘The Diamond,’ who has a history with Chandler, Aspinall did so with no personal animosity. Instead, it was just confusion over how someone with so much experience can still look so reckless.
During a recent breakdown on his YouTube channel, the Briton did not mince words. He termed Chandler’s strategy “mad” and confessed he couldn’t comprehend how a fighter with so many fights under his belt could keep blowing up his gas tank like it was round one forever. But rather than taking this one to the chin, ‘Iron,’ in his usual manner, didn’t let it slide.
The fighter hit back on the social media platform ‘Threads,’ dragging Jon Jones into the fray and mentioning how Aspinall once waited for Jon Jones, much as he had waited for Conor McGregor. Chandler argued that if Aspinall could stall for a huge fight, why couldn’t he? “Didn’t that big goober say this like 3 years ago? And then waited as long for Jon as I did for Conor after he criticized me for waiting for Conor? Cool,” Chandler wrote.
However, that response didn’t quite land. Fans quickly pointed out that Aspinall’s wait for ‘Bones’ was for a unification bout, not a money fight bout. And unlike Chandler, the Brit has actually been winning his fights. Still, it showed one thing: Chandler’s pride is intact, even if his performances are under the microscope. And as more and more big names start criticizing his decisions, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for him to dismiss everything with a flex and a smile.
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