Michael Chandler was supposed to clash against Conor McGregor at UFC 303, but everything came crashing down for the former Bellator champion as ‘Mystic Mac’ injured himself. With a canceled fight, Chandler has only two options: either wait for McGregor or take whatever fight Dana White and Company throw at him. The UFC supremo advised Chandler to not wait for ‘Notorious’ and seems like that’s what Chandler is up to.

The Nashville, Tennessee resident has been going back and forth for a thing that seemed to be a bit far-fetched. What is it, you ask? Well, according to Chandler he is close to the lightweight title fight. When ‘Iron’ made this statement it caught the entire division by surprise. Regardless, White’s plans for the lightweight division appear to have been leaked by a UFC insider, let’s have a look at it.

Dana White’s plans for the lightweight title leaked by MMA analyst

After the Conor McGregor fiasco, Dana White at the UFC 303 press conference advised Chandler that it would be better for him to not wait for McGregor to fight as time is valuable in this business and since then the wind has changed from ‘Iron’s side. The MMA community suddenly witnessed Chandler talking about fights other than his fight with McGregor and in the momentum, he claimed that he had been offered a clash against Islam Makhachev for the title. “I’ve been offered @MAKHACHEVMMA in October,” wrote Chandler on X.

So is it real that Dana White has offered the lightweight title clash to Chandler? Well, no official confirmation has been made on this topic as of yet. None of the stakeholders spoke anything about it, however, renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has come forward to leak Dana White’s plans for the division. “We all saw the tweets back and forth with Michael Chandler talking about the title fight and all that. My understanding is that it’s not the plan. I say this with the utmost respect for Michael Chandler. He is the ultimate company guy. Michael Chandler is not breaking the news that he’s been offered the title fight on his Twitter,” said Helwani on The MMAHour.

He further added, “He is keeping that under wraps if that’s true. This is all part of a game, and it’s turned into a whole thing with RDA [Rafael Dos Anjos] and Dustin Poirier and Makhachev. Conor really didn’t seem to get in the mix, but the plan is still Arman Tsarukyan vs. Islam Makhachev, and the hope is still that we are going to get Conor vs. Chandler. The date is still TBD.”

Apparently, Chandler started a wildfire that spread across the entire lightweight division with Islam Makhachev, Dustin Poirier, and even Raferl Dos Anjos commenting on it. Why, you ask? Well, that’s because Chandler has not competed since 2022. Regardless, Dana White has a plan and he will stick to it but what about the fate of the division? Let’s find out.

The future of the lightweight division

The ‘155’ lbs division is arguably the most premium division in the UFC. It has given some of the biggest stars to the promotions such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. Well, the division is a bit stagnant as of now. Why, you ask? That’s because the champion, Islam Makhachev has been so dominant no challenger is able to put him down. His recent clash against Dustin Poirier broke multiple records making him one of the best lightweight champions to have ever set foot inside the Octagon.

Makhachev’s next challenger is Arman Tsarkuyan, who has been suspended by the commission for clashing with a fan at UFC 300. If everything works out fine we could witness a clash between Tsaurkyan and Makhachev by the year’s end. Well, what if Tsarukyan doesn’t come back by the year’s end? Then there’s a high possibility that either Charles Oliveira or Justin Gaethje get the shot ahead of him.

The top brass of the lightweight division are going on a tussle to dethrone Makhachev for the title but who will get the chance first is the question. What’s your take on the entire fiasco? State your thoughts in the comments below.