With UFC 257’s main event coming to an end, Dustin Poirier is without a doubt deserves to fight for the title. Dana White has now accepted Khabib retiring so that means the lightweight belt will be vacant. With the type of performance Michael Chandler on his debut, does he deserve to fight Dustin Poirier?
The lightweight division may be the most stacked division in the UFC, the top 5 alone consists of huge talents and big names. Who should the matchmakers book for the title and title contenders?
4. Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Dan Hooker
Dos Anjos’s name in the lightweight division is no joke, he was a former UFC undisputed champion. Only him and Conor McGregor became the undisputed champion in this list. He is coming off a win against a short-notice Paul Felder. Although he won, it was not the most dominant considering Felder was on short notice.
Meanwhile, Dan Hooker is coming off a back-to-back loss against Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler but he still a top lightweight contender. He has wins over Paul Felder and Al Iaquinta so he still a legit contender. Will his physical advantage be able to handle RDA’s veteran skills?
3. Conor McGregor vs Tony Ferguson
Both top names are coming off a loss, so it would make sense to book them to see if these fighters are still hungry to climb back the rankings. Ferguson was supposedly booked to fight McGregor after he won the interim belt since McGregor was the undisputed but what happened was McGregor was stripped of his belt.
Tony Ferguson was then injured prior to fighting Khabib for the vacant undisputed belt. It will be the people’s match and fans would still want to see this fight. Ferguson deserves to get that McGregor payday as he was on a long streak in the lightweight division. This fight will be the people’s match. Ferguson was considered the people’s champ and McGregor might be the biggest star in the UFC even if he lost.
2. Michael Chandler vs Justin Gaethje
Both are D1 wrestlers that love to strike, so it would be a guaranteed banger. They have similar style of fighting that they love to put everything on the line. The “just bleed” gods will be watching this fight.
Gaethje just lost to Khabib and there is no shame in that. Chandler is coming off only one win the UFC. An impressive win against each other could propel them to a title shot. Poirier even said that Chandler does not deserve to him due to the fact that he just beat Hooker who Poirier has a win over.
1. Dustin Poirier vs Charles Oliveira
Without a doubt Poirier should fight for the title. He is the clear number one contender after he knocked out Conor McGregor. He now has the privilege to become the A-side of every bout other than Khabib in the division. He said that he wants to face McGregor or Diaz which does not make sense if he wants to become the champion, but it does generate big money.
Charles Oliveira deserves to fight for the title. He is on a eight fight win streak and has wins over Kevin Lee and Tony Ferguson. No other top 5 fighter is coming off at least that many win streak. Not even close actually.
There are still a lot of contenders that could upset the division, one name that Khabib thinks will be the next champion is his teammate Islam Makhachev. Many top contenders avoid to fight Makhachev due to the high risk low reward fight, he is currently scheduled to fight Drew Dober.
