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Published 12:14 23 Sept 2020 BST
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Zooming Chandler to the top of the lightweight queue, with a potential title fight in his near future, has ruffled several feathers.
Poirier and Ferguson both have legitimate claims to be first cab off the rank, for UFC 254. Indeed, Ferguson was due to fight Nurmagomedov at UFC 249 in May, but agreed to take on Gaethje when the champion remained in Dagestan due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other lightweights have openly questioned the logic of Chandler parachuting in and being told to get ready for a potential title fight. Kevin Lee told MMA on Sirius XM:
"The fact that they are trying to make him the endorsement of Gaethje-Khabib, I really don't understand. I think it's just a way of trying to upset Bellator... Against Gaethje he might have a chance. But against Khabib, he is too small. I think Chandler is too small for this whole division."
Fellow lightweight Charles Oliveira went a couple of steps further. Currently on a seven-fight win streak, including a submission victory over Lee, the 30-year-old says he would have jumped at the back-up chance.
"I’m in the best moment of my life, seven wins, man, and I don’t have an opportunity to fight someone in the top five," told MMA Fighting, "and now some guy from Bellator, who got knocked out in the first round (last year), he gets signed and is the next challenger for the belt. How come? I don’t get it. I don’t understand it."
While the lightweight picture may become clearer after UFC 254, White is not ruling out a McGregor wild card in 2021.
"I came up with an idea a couple days ago, and I reached out to him to see what he thought, and he was interested," White told TSN last week.
"We're kicking some stuff around. It's not done. When it's done, I would love to share the idea with you when it's ready to roll. It's just an idea right now. Yeah, late 2020 or early 2021."
If McGregor truly is retired from fighting, perhaps he could come in to mentor up-and-coming fighters or even provide some extremely colourful colour-commentary on ESPN.
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