On September 7, the UFC 242 tournament was held in Abu Dhabi, in the main match of which Khabib Nurmagomedov successfully held his second defense of the lightweight champion title. It took the Russians three rounds to crush the temporary title holder Dustin Porier and win his 28th consecutive career victory. The Russian again turned out to be completely stronger than his opponent, and despite all his efforts, he achieved an early end to the battle.
Of course, Porrier was initially considered a rather convenient opponent for Nurmagomedov, in connection with which some found a reason to express doubt about the legality of his claims to the title. However, it is useless to deny the power of a Russian - at the moment in the UFC there are very few athletes who can compare with him in wrestling skills.
This success allowed Habib to take fourth place in the history of the UFC in the number of lightweight title defenses and aim to repeat the record. Previously, no one was able to defend this honorary title more than three times. Only BJ Penn, Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson reached this mark, but then fail without fail.
Ferguson will most likely try to stop Nurmagomedov from repeating the achievements of the above-mentioned fighters. The day before the start of the tournament in Abu Dhabi, UFC President Dana White called the American the first contender for the belt, after which he confirmed this at an official press conference. True, not without reservations. Tony cannot dictate his terms regarding the date and venue of the bout and must accept Habib’s demands.
At the same time, McGregor is still a fallback for the UFC. As White said, in the event Ferguson refuses, it is the Irishman who will replace him as an opponent of Nurmagomedov. Perhaps the functionary is right, and the fans will like this decision, but the champion himself is unlikely to like it. Habib has repeatedly stated that Conor is not worthy of a rematch and should work hard to earn the right to share the cage with him again. In particular, the Russian spoke of a win-win series of ten fights.
McGregor himself did not stand aside and has already turned to the UFC leadership with a proposal to schedule a fight with Nurmagomedov in Moscow. He wrote about this on his page on the social network. Given the popularity of the Irishman and his ability to make money, there is no doubt that the leadership of the promotion will gladly accept Ferguson’s possible failure or injury.
At the same time, the fate of Porrier himself is not very clear. The defeat from Nurmagomedov was a serious blow for him, which was noticeable in his psychological state both after the battle itself and during the press conference. He was in an emotional knockdown, in connection with which it is hardly worth waiting for his soon return to the octagon. Dustin will probably take a break of several months and help Jorge Masvidal in preparation for a meeting with Nate Diaz.
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Consequently, Porrier’s possible return to the octagon will take place no earlier than the winter of 2020. By this moment, many battles will take place in the light division, according to the results of which it will be possible to judge his future opponent. It is worth noting that not one of the ten strongest is impassable for him. Dustin is quite capable of imposing a fight on McGregor and Ferguson, and most of the representatives of the division have already managed to beat.
Thus, the circle of obvious candidates for the title includes only two athletes, but in the near future a few more fighters can designate their claims to the title. Undoubtedly, Paul Felder, who also performed at a show in Abu Dhabi, could be one of them. Thanks to the extremely controversial decision of the judges, he managed to take revenge from Edson Barboza for the defeat of four years ago and could soon rise solidly in the ranking. Before the tournament, he closed the top ten strongest, but he was quite capable of stepping forward three or four positions.
Thus, only one win will separate him from the title fight, and Justin Gage, the winner of the duel, Donald Cerrone, is reasonable to consider as an opponent. At the moment, they are in fourth and fifth positions, respectively, but if they win, they can bypass Porrier and McGregor at once. Given the fact that their fight will take place in a week, the matchmakers may well arrange a battle with Felder as a triumph and prepare the way for a future title fight.
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At the same time, other representatives of the top 10 lightweight ratings are unlikely to soon receive the right to fight for the belt. So, a year and a half ago, Al Yakvinta already had a chance of his whole life, but was unable to oppose anything to Nurmagomedov. From that moment he only got the upper hand and is unlikely to be able to rise in the top 5. As for Anthony Pettis and Kevin Lee, both are tired of exhausting weight gains and are currently performing in the welterweight category.
Accordingly, fighters who are able to break into the top 10 soon will be of interest to marketers of the promotion. Of course, one of the main contenders is Islam Makhachev, who in Abu Dhabi won his sixth consecutive victory in the UFC. Before the tournament, the Russian occupied the 15th line, but taking into account his success, as well as Pettis and Lee's transitions to another weight, he is quite capable of breaking into the top ten.
Makhachev himself, after a triumph in the battle with Davy Ramos, announced that he was ready to meet with the winner of the Felder-Barbosa fight. At first glance, this looks very reckless, because he was quite seriously behind the American and the Brazilian in the ranking table. The more likely option is that he will be allowed to speak out against the loser, or they will be given one of the three - Charles Oliveira, Gregor Gillespie and Alexander Hernandez.
At the same time, the victory over Gillespie is able to provide the greatest leap in his career to Makhachev. The American is considered an extremely promising athlete, which confirms his perfect track record of 13 victories. Gregor has not played since January and currently has no scheduled fights, which makes his duel with Islam possible.
As for Mayrbek Taysumov, his failure in the battle with Carlos Ferreira not only interrupted his win-win series of six fights in the UFC, but also did not allow him to break into the top 15 rating. There, with a high degree of probability, the Brazilian will fall, and the Russian will have to concentrate on returning to the victorious rails.