The Lightweight UFC picture became a little more clear in Abu Dhabi Saturday afternoon at UFC 242.
Over the past year, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson all have laid claim to the UFC Lightweight Championship, and heading into Saturday night only McGregor had lost his. By the end of Saturday, Poirier was also eliminated from the conversation.
"At his mauling best in round one!" --
— UFC (@ufc) September 7, 2019
-- The champ is in prime form! #UFC242 pic.twitter.com/T7sIHTmV14
Inside the smothering makeshift arena, Khabib did even more smothering. His unmatched wrestling game dominated the interim champion Poirier. Outside of a brief flurry in the second round, Poirier had no offense and no answer for Nurmagomedov and subsequently tapped out in round three.
OOOOOOOOH! --@DustinPoirier tags the Khabib! #UFC242 pic.twitter.com/c9M7YE8wda
— UFC (@ufc) September 7, 2019
Both fighters agreed ahead of time that Tony Ferguson is up next. A former UFC Interim Lightweight Champion, Ferguson never lost his title, instead forfeiting it due to injury. A Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson fight now appears to be in the cards, after being canceled four times, in four years in a row.
Total respect! #UFC242 pic.twitter.com/SDPwWlp0Kp
— UFC (@ufc) September 7, 2019
You can see our full UFC 242 coverage at this link, and our post-show podcast at this link.
