Michael Chandler loves the prospect of a fight with Justin Gaethje.
With Khabib Nurmagomedov retiring from mixed martial arts this past weekend, the lightweight title is now vacant which means a number of contenders can stake a claim for the next title shot.
Although Gaethje was only just submitted by Nurmagomedov at UFC 254, he is ready to compete again and has even stated he’s open to facing Chandler if that’s what was offered to him.
Whether that fight would be for the vacant title remains to be seen, however, Chandler would love that fight for December and feels it’s worthy of being a title fight as well.
More than anything, it excites him and he feels it would excite mixed martial arts fans around the world.
“Absolutely. That’s a fight that I’d love for myself and for the fans,” Chandler told TMZ. “It’s a fight that scares me, it’s a fight that gets me excited. It’s a fight that—it gets your juices flowing. If you’re a mixed martial arts fan, a UFC fan, you wanna see us step into the cage together.”
“… He didn’t take much damage [against Nurmagomedov], he’s ready to fight four, six, eight weeks from now. I just made weight, I’m in shape. I can fight four, six, eight weeks from now — whenever they need. Man, if you wanna put that UFC title on the line in December, me and Justin Gaethje seem like the two best contenders to be able to do it. Let us know, my phone is on.”
For now, all we can do is see how things play out in the next few weeks as the UFC schedule returns to Las Vegas.
However, it does seem that if there is a vacant title fight, it will likely involve Dustin Poirier.