There is no better division in MMA than the lightweight division. It’s the deepest talent pool in the sport. In October, the current two best in the world, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje, will battle for the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 254.
Behind them, former interim lightweight champions, Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) and Tony Ferguson (25-4) have both been on social media teasing their next UFC fight. When asked if these two were going to fight each other, UFC President Dana White smiled and said, “Probably.” We now might know our timeline for the event.
2 months away??#PaidInFull #ElDiamante pic.twitter.com/0rB5DBYHMq
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 24, 2020
A UFC Card in October
At the end of next month, the UFC will be heading back to Fight Island, likely starting with UFC 253. White has said that the promotion is expecting to stay there for five or six weeks straight. UFC 254 headlined by Khabib – Gaethje will be on Fight Island.
With Poirier coming out and stating that his next fight is two months away, it’s likely that the anticipated matchup with Ferguson will also be on Fight Island in October. It’ll be interesting to see which card the UFC decides to place this matchup.
A lot of fans were jumping at the possibility of this being the co-main event to Khabib – Gaethje. While that would certainly boost the PPV card, I feel like fans would be robbed a little if this was a co-main event.
To me, a fight between the two former UFC champions needs to be it’s own main event. One of the fight nights on Fight Island so we can see these two guys go five full rounds. Both men are capable, and you know it would be an insane fight.
Ferguson is coming off a loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 while Poirier is coming off of a win against Dan Hooker at UFC on ESPN 12. A win for either one of these men would likely make them next for whoever wins between Khabib and Gaethje.
Of course, the one thing that could throw a wrench into the plans is Khabib’s desired fight with Georges St. Pierre. If Nurmagomedov decides he wants to fight GSP then walk away, it’ll leave the winner of Ferguson – Poirier with no one to fight.
Perhaps the UFC would pivot to another title fight with the Notorious Conor McGregor in that case. So Khabib would ride off into the sunset after fighting GSP and McGregor would fight the winner of Poirier – Ferguson for the UFC lightweight title after it’s vacated. A lot of interesting scenarios in the UFC‘s lightweight division.