The UFC is currently targeting a big time lightweight matchup that should have fans very excited. Dana White revealed on his exclusive Q&A yesterday on ESPN+ that the promotion was currently targeting a lightweight matchup between Michael Chandler (22-7) and Tony Ferguson (25-6).
White did caution and say that the UFC has not finalized the bout and nothing’s been signed. However, he did say that is the promotion’s plan. It’s a matchup that makes a ton of sense for the lightweight division.
Chandler is currently ranked fifth while Ferguson is ranked seventh. Most of the top ten is already booked and both men are coming off multiple losses in a row so it makes sense to pair the two fan favorites.
Chandler last fought at UFC 268 when he had the fight of the year against Justin Gaethje. He lost by decision, but definitely had big moments in the fight. Prior to that, Chandler fought Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title at UFC 262.
At that fight, it looked like Chandler was going to become lightweight champion. However, Oliveira did what he’s been doing for a while now and stormed back to open the second round with a TKO finish taking away Chandler’s dream of becoming UFC champion.
UFC targeting a fan’s dream fight
Prior to getting a shot at Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title, Chandler fought Dan Hooker in his UFC debut in January. However, Hooker was not the opponent that the promotion originally wanted for Chandler’s debut.
The UFC originally wanted Michael Chandler to fight Tony Ferguson. However, Ferguson wanted to fight in December while Chandler wanted to fight in January. Ferguson took a fight with Charles Oliveira as opposed to waiting on Chandler.
Of course, Ferguson fell to Oliveira which was his second straight loss at the time. Ferguson then fought Beneil Dariush back at UFC 262 and once again came up short by decision.
For years, Ferguson dominated the lightweight division and many considered him to be the best in the world. He rose to the top to become the interim UFC lightweight champion but never got his shot to be undisputed champion. The fight for that title always fell through.
Ferguson has made it clear that he still has plenty of fight left in him and he’s going to need all of it whenever he fights Chandler. There’s no timeline set for this fight just yet, but my guess is that we will see it in April or May.