The UFC’s lightweight division is, to borrow a phrase from Joe Rogan’s fight vocabulary, a murderer’s row right now.
Conor McGregor was supposed to be next up for Rafael dos Anjos’ lightweight crown in March. Nate Diaz, who stepped in for dos Anjos at UFC 196, strangled his way into the title picture with a victory over ‘The Notorious.’
Eddie Alvarez is the next contender and meets the Brazilian on July 7. Khabib Nurmagomedov, who holds a victory over dos Anjos, made a successful return to the Octagon. Donald Cerrone, in spite of his adventures at welterweight, remains in the discussion.
But it’s Tony Ferguson, the fighter supposed to be Nurmagomedov’s first opponent in two years, who dos Anjos has identified as the next guy in line for the belt.
Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson has been scheduled and scrapped on two occasions over the past six months, with injuries to both men leading them down different paths.
Nurmagomedov defeated late stand-in, and relatively unheralded fighter, Darrel Horcher in April while Ferguson is slated to face Michael Chiesa in the main event of UFC Fight Night 91.
And Rafael dos Anjos believes that Nurmagomedov’s victory was not impressive enough to earn him the next shot at 155 lbs.
“His (Nurmagomedov’s) last fight was against a guy with a full-time job, and I beat Diaz, Pettis, Ben Henderson, Cerrone, and I earned it,” dos Anjos said, in quotes appearing on MMA Junkie. “I earned my title.
“You can’t just beat a guy that went there just to cover some guy that got an injury and then this guy, after two-and-a-half years, get a title shot.”
Ferguson is the owner of one of the most impressive win-streaks in the UFC, with seven in a row catapulting ‘El Cucuy’ into third place of the lightweight rankings.
And it’s he who dos Anjos foresees being the next contender if he gets passed Chiesa next month.
“I think Ferguson’s the guy,” said dos Anjos. “He’s fighting Michael Chiesa now, probably will be the next contender.”
