'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
#2. Both men are at a crossroads
The chances of either man finally capturing lightweight gold are slim. The division grows more stacked by the day and Chandler isn't getting any younger. He's 36 years old in a weight class that is often unkind to fighters edging towards their 40s.
Furthermore, he's 2-2 in the UFC with his only wins coming over Dan Hooker and Tony Ferguson, both of whom have not managed to assemble a win streak in 2-3 years and are 1-4 in their last five bouts. Every other time 'Iron' has faced a foe closer to the top three, he's lost.
Dustin Poirier, on the other hand, seems destined for a career as a top contender and nothing more. Twice now, he's failed to win the lightweight title against two different champions.
He cannot drop back down to featherweight either as the weight cut has grown far more demanding the more he's filled out his frame, nor was his toughness at featherweight what it is at lightweight given his depleted nature in the lower weight class.
He's better suited to pursuing exciting action fights akin to what Donald Cerrone did prior to his decline. With the title aspirations of both fighters growing dimmer by the day, the UFC should consider extracting as much value from them by scheduling them to meet for a thrilling fight to draw fan interest before it's a few years too late.
#1. The time is right
The stars have aligned for Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler to face each other, and the UFC must strike while the iron is hot. The most recent UFC event was UFC 276.
Both Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler were cageside, and both took part in a verbal altercation captured by top welterweight contender Gilbert Burns. The incident never escalated to a physical brawl, but as tempers flared, the fear that the two fighters would come to blows became palpable.
While the scuffle was broken up by event security, Chandler later took to Twitter with a post that many believe was aimed at Poirier. The tweet in question, which did not mention Dustin Poirier by name, appeared to call out the Louisiana native's apparent desperation for the bout and that it was causing him to act out of character.
The tweet seemed to further urge that 'The Diamond' behave professionally lest his insecurities show. The UFC has never shied away from using incidents outside the cage to promote fights as evidenced by their use of Conor McGregor's infamous bus attack to generate hype for UFC 229.
With the incident involving Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier being so recent, now is the right time for the UFC to begin building towards the bout.
