It’s all to play for in the UFC’s lightweight fold.
Reigning champion Charles Oliveira earned his first defence of the 155-pounds strap late last year with an emphatic submission win against Dustin Poirier, leaving a host of top contenders jockeying for position to be the next man up. Oliveira, though, has recently indicated that his preference would be to wait until the summer when Conor McGregor is expected to return to action after suffering a broken leg last summer.
That scenario would leave the rest of the division — Gaethje, Chandler, Ferguson et al — with a bit of extra time on their hands but judging by a Twitter exchange between two of them on New Year’s Day, they might be more than open to facing each other.
Me too. @thenotoriousmma https://t.co/N5ph0mcKbS
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) January 1, 2022
There’s My Bitch!!! @MikeChandlerMMA The Brass @danawhite @ufc Relayed Your Message Saying You Would Be Ready For Me April/June. Looks Like Your Trying To Delay That Ass-Whoopin’ I Owe Ya For Cutting In Line Kid- It’s Wrestling Season MF, Man Up- Champ pic.twitter.com/Er26dEMDx6
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) January 1, 2022
Oh Tony. There’s only a handful of guys in this game I truly respect…you’re one of them. Only because of your tenure, not your stature or your current presence in the division. I’ll beat you from bell to bell. Pray for a merciful ref. We shall see if this fight happens.
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) January 1, 2022
The squabble began when Chandler again put his hand up to face McGregor (something which both men had been open to in the recent past), with Ferguson quickly chiming in afterwards suggesting that the UFC had been in contact with a May/June date for a potential bout between the two, and that Chandler was only “delaying” his ass-whooping.
Chandler shot back: “Oh Tony. There’s only a handful of guys in this game I truly respect…you’re one of them. Only because of your tenure, not your stature or your current presence in the division. I’ll beat you from bell to bell. Pray for a merciful ref. We shall see if this fight happens.”
This bout would appear to make sense on a few levels. Both are coming off losing streaks, with Chandler having been defeated in succession by Oliveira and Gathje, and Ferguson dropping three in a row to Gaethje, Oliveira and Beneil Dariush, while both are also closer to the ends of their careers than the start — not to mention their knack for only being involved in highly entertaining fights.
