Don't discredit the guys who are fighting for the title - Michael Chandler explains why he's been critical of Dustin Poirier

Michael Chandler wasn't best pleased when Dustin Poirier discredited 'Iron' ahead of his fight against Charles Oliveira. This clash was for the then-vacant lightweight title at UFC 262. 'The Diamond' chose to take a money fight against Conor McGregor over the title shot and even termed the lightweight strap as "fool's gold" at the time.

Chandler was new to the organization back then and was fighting for the title in just his second UFC fight. 'Iron' said he didn't appreciate Poirier's comments about him being undeserving of fighting for the title so early in his UFC career.

He revealed that this was why he was critical of the Louisianan's performance against Oliveira at UFC 269. In a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani's The MMA Hour, Chandler said:

"The reason I was critical of Dustin Poirier has been his dismissal and just downright disrespect of me when I came into the UFC lightweight division... Even after Dustin made the decision that he didn't want to fight for the UFC title and he wanted to hold out for the money fight against Conor."

He added:

"When me and Oliveira were next in line and we decided we said yes and we were going to fight, instead of just saying 'Hey, I decided to fight Conor, let these guys fight for the title', he called the title fool's gold... Don't go ahead and just discredit the guys fighting for the title because the fool's gold champion Charles Oliveira went out there and finished Dustin Poirier which is just ironic."

Check out Chandler's interview on The MMA Hour below:

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Michael Chandler is likely to face Tony Ferguson next

Despite being 1-2 in the UFC, Michael Chandler has entertained fans with his all-action approach to fighting. After a back-and-forth war with Justin Gaethje in his last fight, Chandler may face former interim champion Tony Ferguson next.

Ferguson took to Twitter to claim that he's likely to fight Chandler in April or June this year. 'El Cucuy' tweeted:

"There’s My Bitch!!! @MikeChandlerMMA The Brass @danawhite @ufc Relayed Your Message Saying You Would Be Ready For Me April/June. Looks Like Your Trying To Delay That Ass-Whoopin’ I Owe Ya For Cutting In Line Kid- It’s Wrestling Season MF, Man Up- Champ."

Chandler was quick to issue a response, claiming he'd beat Ferguson from "bell to bell" in a potential clash.

Both fighters are coming off a loss and will be looking to return to winning ways in 2022. It remains to be seen if the UFC will put together this fight.