Nurmagomedov has faced a row of killers before and his last two title defenses have been against former Champion Conor McGregor, and former Interim Champion Dustin Poirier. The Diamond tried to unify the titles at Abu Dabhi but failed to pick up the win, getting submitted in the third round after nearly locking in a guillotine on the Russian.
Another name that’s seemingly next in line for a title shot is Justin The Highlight Gaethje, who is currently riding a 3-fight win streak. Following a first-round knockout win over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Gaethje stated that he intends to sit out and wait for a title shot, being the first to admit that Tony Ferguson was ahead of the line.
We’ll likely know what’s next for Gaethje following April 18th, but according to Dustin Poirier, it’s The Highlight who has the best chance in the Lightweight division to beat Khabib Nurmagomedov.
That’s a huge endorsement from someone like Poirier who has both knocked out Gaethje and shared the Octagon with someone as ruthless as Nurmagomedov. Gaethje seems to have made improvements to his game, though he hasn’t gotten out of the first round in his last three fights.
He’s the most exciting fighter on the roster and a fight against Khabib would undoubtedly be a massive PPV headliner. The only question would be whether Gaethje would use his wrestling ability to counter Nurmagomedov’s aggressive tendencies and to try and dictate the pace of the fight.
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