Close your eyes and ears, Gregor Gillespie, because you aren’t going to like this one bit. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White teased a potential Lightweight war he and his matchmakers are targeting between Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson for an event later this year.
During a recent Q&A on ESPN+, White said that while nothing is official at the moment, that is the direction the company is leaning toward. In addition, White went on to make it crystal clear that nothing had been signed to avoid another Paddy Pimblett vs Jared Gordon fiasco.
As far as a potential scrap between Chandler and Ferguson, the two were briefly linked to throw down at UFC 254 but Chandler says “El Cucuy” wasn’t up to it. The two have been jabbing at one another ever since and it seems that they may soon trade the tweeting for punching.
Ferguson hasn’t competed since losing to Beneil Dariush at UFC 262 in May 2021. The loss was “El Cucuy’s” third straight, a drastic downward spiral from a man who had won 12 straight prior to the skid.
Chandler, meanwhile, competed at UFC 268 in a back-and-forth war against Justin Gaethje, losing a unanimous decision after 15 minutes of action-packed fisticuffs (see it again here). Prior to that loss, the former Bellator MMA Lightweight champion came up short in his bid to win the vacant UFC strap against Charles Oliveira.
The fight would be guaranteed fireworks, though it will be a devastating blow for one of them because it would mean they will have a much deeper hole to climb out of if they ever want another shot at winning UFC gold.