Dustin Poirer Out Wars Dan Hooker: Who Will Come Out On Top Of The UFC Lightweight Carousel?

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By Anthony “Zute” George

In combat sports, water cooler talk has been replaced with social media talk. Indeed, no fight in recent memory has generated more social media buzz than Dustin Porier’s five-round war over Dan Hooker. Not only is this classic a no brainer for fight of the year, but it will also be on the shortlist for fight of the decade in nine-plus years. There is nothing more you could ask for in a mixed martial arts contest. If you tried to, greed would not even begin to describe you.

With that said, now that the fight is over, let us look ahead to what is next for the lightweight division in the UFC. If all goes well, we are looking at a fantastic summer.

For starters, Leonardo Santos takes on Roman Bogatov on July 11th. The winner looks to climb up the rankings in the lightweight division. Bogatov is undefeated and making his UFC debut.

Then on July 18th, Marc Diakiese faces Rafael Fiziev. I am calling the fight of the night on this one. On that same card, Joe Duffy takes on Joel Alvarez, and Davi Ramos faces Arman Tsaarukyan. Lightweight contests that might not have much impact on the rankings, but should be fun fights, nonetheless.

Speaking of rankings, let us talk about what we are all waiting for in the lightweight division. Will we see Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje battle it out for lightweight supremacy in September? That is indeed the plan. The result of that fight would clear up a lot of the clutter.

Even with a clear winner in that anticipated lightweight battle, the room will indeed still be crowded. Charles Oliveira is not going anywhere. He has been an ultimate stud and deserves a big fight before the year is over. Charles is a guy that no mixed martial artist would volunteer to fight, but the beauty of the UFC is that you can avoid no one. It remains to be seen if that means he is next in line for the Khabib/Justin winner. If it is not Charles, Dustin Poirer should be first in line, assuming he can go again by the end of the year.

I failed to mention Conor McGregor. With all due respect, it is almost like he is in the way in the division. If he is not committed to fighting Oliveira, or anyone in the top five, just get out of the way. Perhaps Conor is more suited for a boxing match with Paulie Malignaggi, or, we all know how he fancies a rematch with Floyd Mayweather. With a sucker born every minute, people will buy that garbage again. Indeed, Conor has proved he is more interested in the biggest bang for his buck, rather than being committed to rising to the top of a very dense UFC lightweight division. His prerogative, of course, but Uncle Dana does not seem too keen on letting his favorite nephew go. If that is the case, let him fight a top contender on his way to a title shot. This division is too loaded with serious, committed, mixed martial artists for a circus act. Sadly, that is what Conor has become.

This assessment of McGregor does not suggest he cannot fit right in at lightweight. He certainly has the ability to do so. I just do not know if he has the mindset for that anymore.

The great news is MMA fans do not need him. By the end of the year, the lightweight division will have provided fans with great thrills and conversations. Who will reign as champion at the end of the journey? Khabib, Gaethje, Poirer, Oliveira…dare I say it, McGregor?

Stay tuned…

Anthony “Zute” George is the Author of Tough Man: The Greg Haugen Story, a new boxing book that covers the skilled champion from Auburn, Washington, as well as the scope of the times during his days of pugilism.

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