Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia celebrates his victory over Justin Gaethje in their lightweight title bout during the UFC 254 event on October 25, 2020 on UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Chael Sonnen is in favour of a big UFC lightweight title clash in the absence of Khabib Nurmagomedov
Let’s face it, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is not coming back in a hurry. And the lightweight division needs to carry on without him.
Joe Rogan earlier said that he would like to see a lightweight title bout between Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira. Speaking on his Beyond the Fight podcast, Chael Sonnen agreed with him.
“Joe Rogan came out, called for, a lightweight title match between Poirier and Oliveira. That’s a perfect booking in all fairness. If you’re going to do a title fight in the absence of Khabib, you want to put Oliveira and Dustin in there, okay; nobody is going to argue.”
Sonnen is spot on. No one would argue with that. The Brazilian has done everything in his power to be next in line for UFC gold.
If there is a title fight, it has to be one involving him, and probably Poirier, who has also not put a foot wrong.
However, Sonnen underlined how this booking is improbable because of the upcoming trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and ‘The Diamond’.
“But I thought Poirier was fighting McGregor; I thought that because we all thought that; I thought that because they are fighting in May. What are we talking about, Poirier vs Oliveira?”
Sonnen then mentions how ‘Do Bronx’ himself acknowledged that he was looking for that title fight but has made peace with Poirier choosing McGregor.
Sonnen mentioned how Dana White is adamant that this trilogy fight would not be made into a title fight. That is a relief in all honesty and opens the gate for the winner of that fight to take on Charles Oliveira for the belt.
But it won’t be that easy. McGregor probably should not get a title shot just after one win and there is also Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler in the mix.
It remains to be seen what happens at 155 lbs,, a division which has become the most exciting in the promotion despite ‘The Eagle’ retiring.
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