The official challengers have been announced to battle it out for the vacant lightweight title. The vacant belt was relinquished when former champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov officially retired.
The ex-champ Dustin Poirier surprisingly passed on the title shot, although once the head honcho, Dana White offered an explanation, it became a whole lot clearer.
“Dustin wants the rematch with Conor McGregor,” White said during the UFC 260 pre-fight press conference on Thursday. “That’s smart. That’s what he should do. He should take the rematch, take that fight. It’s a big fight for him.
“Kid’s worked hard his whole life, his whole career to be in a position like this. That’s the fight you take. We’ve been in positions like this before with others who have made the mistake of not taking that fight, and [it was the] biggest mistake of their lives.”
Charles Oliveira has well and truly earned his chance at the title. Racking up eight straight victories under the UFC banner dating back to June 2018, all capped off by a dominant decision victory over the former champ, Tony Ferguson.
On fighting Chandler, Oliveira had this to say.
“I’ll respect him, but I’ll walk forward the entire time,” he said. “If he comes to hit me hard, he’ll eat a counter. We both walk forward all the time. It will be two trucks colliding. I’m not afraid of getting hit. Hit me. If he takes me down, I’ll be doing what I love the most, which is jiu-jitsu. I’m not worried if I stay on the feet or get taken down.
“All he has is a heavy hand, a heavy punch. I’m complete on the feet and complete on the ground. The only thing he has better than me is wrestling, but I’ll use my jiu-jitsu if he tries to wrestle me so it makes no difference to me.
“Every wrestler that took me down, I made it happen. Will Brooks came from Bellator as the man and I took him down and caught him. I fought David Teymur, who had how many kickboxing matches, and I beat him on the feet before he took me down and I tapped him. Brother, I respect him a lot, but this is my time.”
Michael Chandler in his mind, has already won and is looking towards Conor McGregor. With controversy surrounding the potential third rematch of McGregor and Poirier, Chandler has made it clear his hand is up to take Dustin’s spot.
Chandler earned the title shot based on a stellar knock out of Dan Hooker in the co-main event of UFC 257. Prior to this, he had beaten Benson Henderson and Sidney Outlaw, cementing his spot as one of the top contenders of the lightweight category.
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MAIN CARD
Lightweight Title Bout
Charles Oliveira vs Michael Chandler
UNDER CARD
Lightweight Bout
Tony Ferguson vs Beneil Dariush
Women’s Flyweight Bout
Katlyn Chookagian vs Viviane Araujo
Lightweight Bout
Tony Ferguson vs Beneil Dariush
Light Heavyweight Bout
Anthony Smith vs Jim Crute
Featherweight Bout
Shane Burgos vs Edson Barboza
Middleweight Bout
Jacare Souza vs Andre Muniz
Middleweight Bout
Jack Hermansson vs Edmen Shahbazyan
Flyweight Bout
Alex Perez vs Matt Schnell
Women’s Flyweight Bout
Andrea Lee vs Antonina Shevchenko
Featherweight Bout
Lando Vannata vs Mike Grundy
Middleweight Bout
Jordan Wright vs Jamie Pickett
Lightweight Bout
Rafael Alves vs Damir Ismagulov
Women’s Flyweight Bout
Gina Mazany vs Priscila Cachoeira