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Khabib and the contenders – Who’s next?

After amassing an unbeaten record of 26–0 including 10 wins under the UFC promotion Khabib Nurmagomedov finally sits top of the tree as UFC Lightweight Champion after winning a lopsided decision over late replacement opponent Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 just a few weeks back.

Fans have been treated to two high-level lightweight bouts in the time that has followed. Dustin Poirier earned a fourth round stoppage over Justin Gaethje in an early contender for fight of the year. This past weekend Kevin Lee stopped Edson Barboza after a dominant display that eventually saw the doctor’s intervention in round five.

After such significant wins, we have of course seen Poirier and Lee call out the newly crowned champion. They will, however, join a long line of top contenders who want a shot at the title. We assess the contenders.

Conor McGregor
The brash-talking Irishman is now a global megastar and surely tops everyone’s wish-list. Capable of providing a great commercial boost to the UFC who will also be keen to see Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov square off. A classic striker vs wrestler match-up which has fans divided. The ongoing beef between the two fighters, which spilt over during a UFC 223 pre-fight event, provides every promoters dream. Two elite fighters, a great rivalry and a public split on who will emerge victoriously. Despite McGregor being top of the list, he seems unlikely to provide Khabibs, next opponent. Ongoing legal issues, pay disputes with the UFC and continued murmurs of a potential mixed rule rematch with boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather make this match-up unlikely. At least for now.

Eddie Alvarez
The former UFC, Bellator and Dream champion has a long list of accolades and a bunch of impressive wins to his name. His calls for the next shot at the lightweight title where backed up in December when be finished Justin Gaethje in the third round of their epic back and forth battle. Eddie Alvarez appears the most likely contender for the next shot and would present an exciting prospect as his high-level wrestling, fast hands and never say die attitude promise to provide the new champ with all he can handle.

Tony Ferguson
The MMA gods may not want to see Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov throw down, but I do. The bout between the two men has been booked and cancelled four times for a various reason. Dana White so frustrated with the situation proclaimed. “I’m never booking that fight again.” Ferguson, however, is the former interim champ, boasts a 10-fight win streak and has a high-level ground game that has left fans intrigued about how the match-up with Khabib would go down. With injury laying Ferguson out of their latest scheduled bout, the likelihood of seeing the two collide some time soon seems unlikely with the long road to rehabilitation just beginning for Ferguson.

Dustin Poirier
Dustin Poirier appeared to be one of UFC‘s nearly men. Just falling short at the elite level on several occasions. Now with back-to-back main event victories against Anthony Pettis and Justin Gaethje respectively he now appears to be over the hump. A style that has earned “the Diamond” FOTN honours in three of his last four match-ups promises an exciting scrap with the champion. He joins his old foe Eddie Alvarez as perhaps the leading contender for the next shot at the lightweight title. The two may be asked to run back their May 2017 bout, in order to establish a clear number one contender. The UFC 211 scrap was shaping up to be a contender for fight of the year before the fight was unfortunately ended by an illegal Alvarez knee, which resulted in a No Contest between the pair.

Kevin Lee
With the UFC lacking in stars, Kevin Lee appears to have all the making of the next big thing. At only 25 years of age, he is a fighter of high quality with scary potential. A good-looking, brash-talking American star, has been lacking since Ronda Rousey was pummeled into retirement. The UFC seems aware of Lee’s star potential as he headlined against Edson Barboza this past weekend. Following in Nurmagomedov’s footsteps he put the smush on Barboza. With this common opponent, fans have understandably begun to compare the two performances against the Brazilian and began debating how a match-up between Kevin Lee and Khabib Nurmagomedov would play out. The chances of this fight happening next seem slim. This is down to two main issues. Lee missed weight in his last fight and as history tells us, the promotion never looks at that favourably. He also is coming off a loss just one fight previous, after tapping to Tony Ferguson at UFC 216. It may not happen soon, but it will happen as Lee seems to be the next big thing.

Nate Diaz
As the old saying goes. If it makes money it makes sense. Nate Diaz is inactive, lowly ranked and stylistically may provide the easiest match-up for the champion. Despite this Diaz will be a top target for the UFC, new owners WME are looking to fix the $4 billion hole burning in their pocket after purchasing the organisation. A new era of money fights has begun and Diaz represents one of the company’s true money-making stars. The only obstacle remains a pay dispute between the fighter and the promotion. Once reconciled don’t be surprised to see Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurgamedov square off.

2 Responses

  1. Diaz would be destroyed for 5 rounds no doubt and so would the rest of the bunch. With Ferguson on the side lines and McGregor in legal trouble id say the only one that could possibly pose any problem would be Kevin lee and i really dont like the guy but it is what it is and i believe Lee would take out anyone on this list.

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