Image: From UFC/Low Kick MMA
The Final Bell MMA
By: Dylan Saraiva
Twitter: @DJSarv21 Instagram: @DJSarv21
Welcome back everyone to your second installment of “The Final Bell MMA” I will be previewing some of the top lightweight contenders in the UFC as Khabib Nurmagomedov retired after forcing Justin Gaethje to tap out at UFC 254. Khabib was a dominating force at 155 pounds going undefeated through 29 fights, something that is often unheard of in MMA. The retirement came as a shock to some fans, and I am sure to some of the executives within the company as Khabib is arguably their most popular international star. The sudden retirement has shaken up the top 5 contenders at lightweight, which is an extremely crowded division with possible contenders throughout the top 10 and even spilling into the lower half of the top 15 ranked fighters. There are several fights coming up within the next couple of weeks and months that will determine who could succeed Khabib, and some of my personal opinions might cause tension with some fans but I am going to try and look objectively as possible as I analyze the following 5 fighters.
Fighter #1: Justin Gaethje
Image: From CBS Sports
“The Human Highlight” Justin Gaethje is the man that most recently faced Khabib on Fight Island and started off strong with his combination of heavy pressure and use of hard leg kicks. Gaethje did eventually fall when met with the take downs of Khabib. However, in his own right Gaethje is a strong wrestler with a collegiate background as well as having fantastic power in his hands as well. Gaethje is constanly pushing forward in all of his fights and wants to throw the leather which has made him an extremely exciting fighter to MMA fans. However, the hype surrounding him is very real as he lands 7.46 Significant strikes landed per minute according to UFC.com. This feeds into the fact that the #1 ranked lightweight also has a 100% finish rate within his 5 wins inside of the UFC. Outside of the company Gaethje was a champion within the World Series of Fighting, where he had 5 title defenses before entering the UFC. This has been similar to his UFC run as Gaethje had only gone to one decision and it was a non title fight against Melvin Guillard (ESPN). The 32 year old is still very much in his prime and although he suffered his third loss to Khabib back in October, he has been exciting in every fight within the octagon garnering 3 performance bonuses within his 8 fights in the company. Gaethje gas tank is strong even when looking at his fighting style as he has readjusted his pressure to still be strong but does not allow himself to lose energy and can go all 25 minutes against the high level competition. Gaethje will remain the title picture for his next fight as both the former interim champion and the fighter to most recently fight Khabib.
Fighter #2 Dustin Poirier
Image: From CBS Sports
Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier is currently sitting as the #2 fighter at 155 pounds and wants to get back into the title picture if he can pick up a victory in his fight against Conor McGregor which is taking place January 23rd. The matchup between the two top contenders will actually be the second meeting with their first fight taking back 6 years ago in 2014. Poirier was stopped in that fight by the meteoric rise of McGregor in the first round but rebounded off of that loss all the way to an interim title fight and a matchup against Khabib back in September of 2019 in Abu Dhabi. Poirier is another exciting fighter with a fan friendly style and has caused a lot of stoppages over big names throughout his career. The American Top Team product has been with the UFC since 2011 and now entering his 10th year with the company wants to fight grab the brass ring. Poirier before fighting Nurmagomedov was on a 4 fight win streak over the names of Anthony Pettis who was a former champion, as well as Eddie Alvarez, another former champion in the UFC. Poirier not only has the ability to finish his opponents as on that 4 fight streak 3 of the victories were stoppages. Poirier also has an incredible gas tank and has shown the ability to go for the full fight with the Unanimous Decision over Max Holloway to win the Interim title. Poirier is another fighter similar to Gaethje that lands many strikes per minute with 5.57 Significant striker being landed per minute according to the UFC’s official statistics. Poirier has one other victory since his loss to Khabib which was a 5 round Unanimous decision over rising lightweight contender Dan Hooker at Fight Night on June 27th, 2020. The Upcoming bout with McGregor could surge Poirier right back into the title picture if he picks up a victory over the sports most popular star. Poirier will definitely be looking to avenge the loss from 6 years ago, and I believe he has a strong set to do so as the southpaw’s game has approved so drastically in his time with the promotion, and he is such a well rounded fighter within the 155 pound division.
Fighter #3 Charles Oliveira
Image: From the Athletic/Getty Images
A fighter who has more recently become to the casual side of MMA fans is “ do Bronx” himself Charles Oliveira. Oliveira has been in the UFC since 2010 winning his debut matchup against Darren “The Damage” Elkins with a first round armbar submission. Oliveira is a slick submission artist with 19 of his 30 victories in his fighting career coming by submission. The Brazilian fighter has a knack for submissions as according to UFC.com statistics he averages 2.8 submission attempted per 15 minutes. Oliveira is currently on the best winning streak out of any other lightweights ranked in the top 5 with a huge 8 fight winning streak currently underway. His last loss came against Paul Felder back in 2017 and since then the submission artist has not been able to be stopped ending 5 of the 8 victories all by different chokes. Oliveira is a human backpack and any fighter facing him needs to keep him off of getting the body hooks in because if he does the fight is going to be over and you will either tap or go to sleep. The 31 one year old is on one of the best fighting streaks of his career and a victory over any other fighter in the top 5 truly makes the argument for him to be a title challenger. His most recent victory came over perennial top 5 lightweight Tony Ferguson on December 12th where he earned a unanimous decision victory after 3 full rounds. Oliveira has shown withe victory over Ferguson as well as Kevin Lee that he can perform with the elite of the division. As of now Oliveira has no fight booked however his coach Diego Lima has stated that they feel he should fight the winner of Poirier vs McGregor in order to compete for the title. Dana White who is the UFC President has stated he wants Oliveira to fight Justin Gaethje before getting a title shot. Although at the moment Oliveira’s future seems unclear I feel as though he makes the case as the strongest contender for the gold belt.
Fighter #4 Islam Makhachev
Image: From USA Today/ MMA Junkie
This may be a surprise to some of you who may not know who Makhachev is and as of today he is ranked 13th in the lightweight division. However, this fighter might be flying under the radar but his record speaks for himself, as he is a training partner of the former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov as they both hail from the Republic of Dagestan in Russia. Makhachev is currently on a great path to explode in 2021 as his 18-1 record is one of the best of the ranked fighters in the division. Makhachev has not fought since September 7th of 2019 as both travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a late notice infection caused him to miss his last two fights. The most recent appearance was supposed to be at UFC 254 in a main card spot against Rafael Dos Anjos, which would have been a huge catapult into the higher rankings of the division. Makhachev has the similar style of the former champion using his takedowns effectively and smothering his opponents either for a decision or a submission. However, the Russian fighter does have 3 TKO’s on his record. According to his manager Ali Abdelaziz the fighter is hoping to get a booking on the February card of Adesanya vs Blachowicz. Makhachev does need a few more fights to be challenging for a title but if he picks up two or three wins over those in the top 10, or anyone in the top 5, the UFC has to give the man a look. Be sure to keep an eye out for Makhachev as within the next year or two the fighter could be going for an opportunity to raise the gold belt.
Fighter #5 Conor McGregor
Image: From Forbes
This is probably the least surprising entry on this list as McGregor is the UFC’s most popular star and has been a huge star for the promotion within the last five years. “The Notorious” holds many distinctions within the company including having the highest buy rate of a UFC PPV, and becoming the first simultaneous double champion in the UFC’s history as well. The company knows that if Conor is going to fight it means two things, a lot of money is going to flow for the company and his fan friendly fighting style are going to make it a great card for the company. The downside of McGregor however since becoming a high profile celebrity and someone who has broken the MMA bubble into the mainstream is the inconsistencies within his appearance. Although Conor was the first double champion in the company’s history he never defended the featherweight or lightweight strap he claimed. McGregor has fought only 5 times since his featherweight title victory against Jose Aldo, which was the quickest knockout in UFC title fight history. The problem is that that fight occurred all the way back in December of 2015, already over 5 years ago. The Aldo fight was huge for McGregor but he has since gone 3-2 with a loss to Nate Diaz which was avenged and then the infamous UFC 229 card which saw Nurmagomedov gain a fourth round submission of Conor before the post fight brawl occurred. One cannot just look at the cons of the Irish fighters career as he always goes out ready to fight and when he is locked in and focused can be the top guy in his division. McGregor has a significant strike average of 5.43 per minute according to the UFC’s official statistics, and we have seen him put on dominating performances throughout his tenure with the company. McGregor has 19 KO/TKO’s in his career and has never been finished this way either. Opponents of McGregor often do not want to engage him in boxing range because his left hand has been proven to be a deadly strike with one punch KO power. In his 12 UFC fights, 5 of them have been first round stoppages. McGregor has the talent went fighting regularly to hang in there with the top fighters of his division and possibly finish all of them. The cons when looking at McGregor is partially who he is as a person, as the controversies surrounding the dolly incident as well as the punching the old man in a pub have reached mainstream media outlets. Another question analysts often have for Conor is his gas tank when facing a strong grappler which was seen in both the first Diaz and Khabib fights where Conor was just exhausted after the first 15 minutes. The ability to sell fights is a huge bonus for McGregor as any fight he is booked in will do extremely well as his trash talk has been legendary with many mentionable moments throughout his career. Another positive I will give to Conor is that he is very humble in defeat and is always willing to analyze the flaws in his game in order to better himself as a fighter and is always good with giving the credit to the opponents who defeat him. Conor McGregor is the other fighter I can see dominating at the top of the lightweight division if he once again bests Dustin Poirier inside the octagon on January 23rd. McGregor needs to stay active and actually defend the belt but if he can keep up his cardio and catch someone with a left hand or the nasty shoulder strikes we saw against Donald Cerrone last January there is nothing stopping him as he has the fans and the company behind him.