Michael Chandler is a former Bellator Champion (Instagram)
Khabib Nurmagomedov retiring seems to have lit a fire in Michael Chandler
Michael Chandler is on a quest to become the next Lightweight champion as he faces Charles Oliveira at UFC 262.
Chandler has just one UFC fight to his name, but he impressed massively in that one. The former Bellator Champion knocked out Dan Hooker in the first round, and he was rewarded with a title fight.
The American goes up against Charles Oliveira at UFC 262. The Brazilian is coming off some great wins, including one over Tony Ferguson, and he too is keen on winning the gold.
Khabib Nurmagomedov held the UFC Lightweight belt but had to vacate it after his retirement was made official recently.
Many wanted to face off against Nurmagomedov, included Chandler, but that won’t happen now. However, Chandler spoke about Khabib being the GOAT seems to have opened the division wide open. The American claimed that the Lightweight division is exciting now and he will be at the top:
“The greatest of all-time, thus far, Khabib Nurmagomedov retiring opens the door to a crazy, big, exciting Lightweight division that I can put my name at the top of and start defending my belt.”
Chandler was speaking to Helen Lee and also brought up how knocked out Hooker, something that the other UFC stars had been unable to do so.
There is no denying the fact that Khabib is one of the greatest if not the greatest MMA star of all-time.
The Eagle ended his career with an incredible 29-0 record. He also was the undisputed UFC Lightweight champion and has lost only a couple of rounds in his career.
Khabib is also a great role model for those trying to take up the sport. However, the Russian isn’t done with MMA completely.
He is now a coach for several Russian stars such as Islam Makhachev, while he is also doing the same for cousins Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Usman.
Khabib is undefeated in his coach role in 2021 with four wins on the bounce, and it will be interesting to see if he becomes the GOAT MMA coach too.
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