Michael Chandler’s good time quickly turned into a long time.

The former three-time Bellator lightweight champion entered the UFC at a speedy pace, knocking out Dan Hooker halfway through the opening round of their January 2021 encounter. After that, Chandler fought four more times to go 1-3, concluding with his most recent appearance against Dustin Poirier in November 2022.

Unfortunately for Chandler, his return to action has been stalled by the hope of colliding with former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor. The 31-fight veteran (23-8) has reignited his minor rivalry with Poirier in spurts throughout his current hiatus. Reacting on last week’s installment of The MMA Hour, Poirier went off on Chandler and his seeming self-leadership-taking role as a lightweight name. Although Poirier’s position was understandable from his friend and fellow Louisiana native Daniel Cormier’s view, the UFC commentator stood up for Chandler and what he’s accomplished overall in the sport.

“You can tell that Dustin Poirier takes offense to Michael Chandler almost putting himself on the same level as him and all the guys that have been around the UFC for as long as he has,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “He doesn’t like that. It’s almost territorial in a sense that he’s going, ‘We’ve done this for a long time. You can’t come in here with four fights and say we.’

“It almost seems perfect when it comes to Chandler, but at the end of the day, Michael Chandler and the work he put on paper in a short period of time has to be respected. For a guy like Dustin Poirier who goes, ‘From 2011, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, I was scratching and clawing, really trying to make my way.’

“I can get how he would have frustration for a guy who did it so fast but at the end of the day should still be respected,” he concluded.

Chandler’s enticement of some fire from Poirier is indicative of a stay in MMA, believes Cormier. “The Diamond” has been very open about how his last fight may have been his last. Poirier, 35, came up short in an undisputed UFC title tilt for the third time in his career when he lost a fifth-round d’arce choke submission to Islam Makhachev last month.

For Poirier’s possible final dance, Cormier sees those two men mentioned as options thanks to the history all shared, whether with Chandler or McGregor. However, Nate Diaz is also still an option, which Poirier has shown more interest in than the others.

“I think he should fight and I think he should fight only the big fights,” Cormier said. “I think if the Nate Diaz fight is possible, make it happen.

“There are three guys now that Dustin Poirier spoke about in a week and Dustin Poirier and those three guys are all massive fights. The types of fights that Poirier said he would come back for. Dustin Poirier’s fighting again. It’s just a matter of when and who.”