Lightweight contenders Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the world, respectively, and under normal circumstances either one of those hard-hitting combatants would be eligible for a 155-pound title shot.
Instead, the vacant title will be up for grabs when No. 3-ranked Charles Oliveira and No. 4-ranked Michael Chandler collide in the upcoming UFC 262 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, scheduled for Sat., May 15, 2021 inside Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Probably because Poirier and Gaethje were both defeated by retired lightweight powerhouse Khabib Nurmagomedov, whereas neither Oliveira nor Chandler ever had the opportunity to fly with “The Eagle,” so we don’t how those fights would have played out.
“Justin was supposed to fight Michael Chandler,” manager Ali Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “That was the talk. We found out Chandler (was) fighting Oliveira, and I get it. The UFC wants a champion who never lost to Khabib. If a guy who lost to Khabib becomes the champion … you need more time to make people forget about Khabib, right? They made the move, and I get it.”
Gaethje was submitted by “The Eagle” at UFC 254 last October, a little over a year after stopping Poirier at UFC 242. “The Highlight” remained on the bench in the months following his Nurmagomedov loss whereas “The Diamond” went on to defeat Conor McGregor at UFC 257, which led to this summer’s now-tentative trilogy.
If Poirier manages to defeat McGregor for a second time, he’s likely to get a lightweight title shot over Gaethje after previously finishing “The Highlight” at UFC on FOX 29. Unless, of course, matchmakers hastily book Gaethje for the winner of Oliveira vs. Chandler within the next two months.