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Dustin Poirier recently shared his thoughts on the upcoming Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight at UFC 303. The Louisiana native has notably defeated both men in the past and shared a definitive prediction for the fight. Elsewhere, former champion Demetrious Johnson claimed boxing is more exciting than MMA in today's combat sports landscape.
Read all the latest news in mixed martial arts with Sportskeeda MMA's Midnight Roundup.
Dustin Poirier on Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler at UFC 303
Dustin Poirier recently shared his thoughts on the highly anticipated Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight at UFC 303 next month. Intriguingly, both men are coming off losses to 'The Diamond' and have gone 2-3 in their last five outings.
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McGregor fought Poirier three times. While the Irishman finished Poirier in the opening round in their first meeting at UFC 178 in September 2014, he lost both their rematches via knockout. McGregor notably broke his leg during their trilogy fight at UFC 264 in July 2021. Poirier managed to submit Chandler in the third round of their barnburner at UFC 281 in November 2022.
Despite sharing a heated rivalry with McGregor, Poirier is picking him to beat Chandler at UFC 303 next month. In an interview with Fox News, he said:
“I think if Conor comes back anywhere similar to where he was before the injury, timing wise and movement wise, I think he’s gonna knock Michael Chandler out. It’s just a bad matchup for Chandler.”
Demetrious Johnson says boxing "more exciting" than MMA today
UFC icon Demetrious Johnson recently made some massive claims about the attractiveness of MMA compared to boxing today. The former champion stated that boxing was "more exciting," and fans could watch high-level fights more regularly than MMA.
During an interview with veteran combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani, 'Mighty Mouse' referenced the recent undisputed heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to explain his point. He said:
"Right now, I feel like boxing is more exciting than mixed martial arts. There are points in time where mixed martial arts is having its peaks but right now, you just had Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney...Francis Ngannou, who just got knocked out by Anthony Joshua...Tyson Fury and [Oleksandr] Usyk just beat him, became the heavyweight champion. That fight was amazing. From round one to round twelve, I was at the edge of my seat."
Jorge Masvidal slams Conor McGregor for making his return after USADA exit
Former UFC BMF champion Jorge Masvidal recently sounded off on Conor McGregor for allegedly trying to cheat the anti-drug testing system. 'The Notorious' is notably set to make his long-awaited return to action against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June.
During an interview with Sean O'Malley and Tim Welch, Masvidal shared his thoughts on UFC 303's main event. During his tirade, he fired off several allegations implying McGregor waited for USADA to exit before returning. He said:
"S***, I mean they both look for ways to quit... I don't know who's going to quit first in that one... How much juice is Conor on too, right? F****** that's another question too because that moth***ucker had to wait until USADA left to come back in this b**** and compete with all of us. While all of us been training, getting tested, this moth***ucker was clearly on some s*** as we can see see by these f****** movies.
Masvidal continued:
"So I don't know, man. I think I'm gonna lean towards Conor but it's not really like set in stone, you know. Half them Twitters, you know, he's out of his mind, you know. Cocaine is a hell of a drug and s***."
Jack Catterall calls out Ryan Garcia for boxing match after Josh Taylor win
Jack Catterall recently beat Josh Taylor in their high-profile boxing rematch last weekend. While Taylor claimed the win last time, Catterall managed to outpoint his opponent over 12 rounds to get his hand raised via unanimous decision to redeem himself.
In the aftermath, Catterall called out boxing sensation Ryan Garcia via social media. Per boxing journalist Michael Benson (via an X post), the Englishman challenged Garcia and vowed to beat 'KingRy' at any weight. He stated:
"Any weight Garcia feels good at, I'll beat him at."
Henry Cejudo on Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa at UFC 302
Former UFC champion Henry Cejudo broke down the upcoming Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa middleweight fight at UFC 302. While Cejudo lauded Costa's fighting abilities, he firmly advised the Brazilian against getting into a striking battle with the former middleweight titleholder.
During an episode of the Pound 4 Pound show with Kamaru Usman, Cejudo shared his thoughts on the matchup and warned 'Borrachinha' against getting into a stand-and-bang contest. He said:
''He [Costa] still hasn’t learned his lesson man and if he does just decide to strike with a guy like Sean Strickland, Strickland’s got better striking in my opinion... And trust me, dude, I’m boys with Paulo. Paulo stayed at my house. Tamara, they love my kid, but Jesus man, if he just decides to strike, I’ve got to go with Strickland.”
Catch Henry Cejudo's comments below (54:03):
