Last week, UFC officially announced the Khabib Nurmagomedov officially retired after a period of unable to convince this Russian boxer. Along with that, Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira will be a pair of empty championships.
The decision has caused many objections in the fighters in the Lightweight class, including Islam Makhachev, a close friend and also a teammate of Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Speaking on RT Sport, Islam Makhachev said that in the belt struggle, he only agreed with Charles Oliveira. And Michael Chandler, still too early for the guy to receive the championship:
“Frankly said, Oliveira absolutely deserves the right to fight belt. He is having a series of incredible victories,” Makhachev said.
“Meanwhile, Chandler entered UFC with only one victory and it was not enough to assess the true capacity. Justin Gaethje or Dustin Poirier would deserve to participate in this championship match. However, UFC always had their own plan.”
Lightweight's leading boxer – Dustin Poirier – is preparing for the 3rd rematch against Conor McGregor. Therefore Poirier is not in the plan of the championship. And Justin Gaethje did not care much to the throne, because he wanted to confront a real champion like Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Michael Chandler had more than 20 years of MMA and was once a champion of Bellator. Although it is undeniable that the talent of this American boxer, the fact that he has only one victory in UFC will receive such easy stretching stretching will certainly cause a lot of controversy among the boxers.