After weeks of deliberation, a lightweight fight between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler has finally been set for UFC’s November 12th pay-per-view event.
Brett Okamoto of ESPN reported Tuesday that the matchup was official for UFC 282, which is scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA.
Reports of a potential fight between Poirier and Chandler were first mentioned in early August. However, at the time, the fight had not been officially agreed upon.
The three-round fight allows both ranked lightweights to stay in the upper echelon of the division.
Chandler snapped a two-fight skid in his last appearance, scoring a highlight-reel front kick knockout against Tony Ferguson. The fight was his first victory since his UFC debut, which came against Dan Hooker in early 2021.
Poirier is set to appear for the first time since coming short in a title fight. The 33-year-old suffered a third-round submission loss when he faced lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, getting caught in a rear naked choke.
Poirier put together a three-fight winning streak before then, including a pair of finish victories over Conor McGregor.
UFC 281 already has two title fights booked for it. In the main event, UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya will face kickboxing rival Alex Pereira.
Here’s a look at the lineup:
Bout 12: Israel Adesanya (23-1) vs. Alex Pereira (6-1) (UFC Middleweight Championship)
Bout 11: Carla Esparza (19-6) vs. Zhang Weili (22-3) (UFC Strawweight Championship)
Bout 10: Dustin Poirier (28-7) vs. Michael Chandler (23-7) (Lightweight)
Bout 9: Erin Blanchfield (9-1) vs. Molly McCann (13-4) (Flyweight)
Bout 8: Dominick Reyes (12-3) vs. Ryan Spann (20-7) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 7: Mike Trizano (9-3) vs. Choi Seung-woo (10-5) (Featherweight)
Bout 6: Renato Moicano (16-5-1) vs. Brad Riddell (10-3) (Lightweight)
Bout 5: Ottman Azaitar (13-0) vs. Matt Frevola (9-3-1) (Lightweight)
Bout 4: Karolina Kowalkiewicz (13-7) vs. Silvana Gomez Juarez (11-4) (Strawweight)
Bout 3: Dan Hooker (21-12) vs. Claudio Puelles (12-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 2: Carlos Ulberg (6-1) vs. Nicolae Negumereanu (13-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 1: Andre Petroski (8-1) vs. Wellington Turman (18-5) (Middleweight)
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