Who will succeed Khabib as king of the lightweights?

The UFC’s light-weight division is lastly prepared to maneuver on from Khabib Nurmagomedov, greater than half a yr after the undefeated champion retired within the Octagon.

And it’s fairly exceptional that Charles Oliveira (30-8) or Michael Chandler (22-5) would be the one to take Nurmagomedov’s throne. Once they sq. off at UFC 262 on Saturday in Houston, it will likely be the primary UFC light-weight title struggle since July 2016 to not characteristic both Nurmagomedov or Conor McGregor. As a substitute, it’s going to match up two of the most effective, however usually neglected, lightweights of the previous decade.

Tips on how to purchase UFC 262 on ESPN+ PPV

Oliveira was 20 years previous when he made his UFC debut in 2010. When he steps into the Octagon this weekend, he might be making his twenty eighth UFC look — essentially the most it has taken any fighter within the promotion’s historical past to achieve a title struggle.

Chandler received Bellator MMA’s light-weight title in simply his ninth skilled bout in 2011. In actuality, he wished to struggle within the UFC from that second on, to check himself in opposition to the premier group’s greatest. He went on to signal 4 extra contracts with Bellator, partially as a result of the promotion handled him so properly, earlier than lastly signing with the UFC late final yr. Saturday is simply his second UFC struggle.

It’s a pairing of two title challengers who’ve handled very lengthy however very totally different waits to achieve this level. And so as to add to that theme, within the co-main occasion, former interim champion Tony Ferguson, who received 12 consecutive fights within the UFC however by no means fought for the undisputed championship, will attempt to finish a two-fight shedding streak and show his title hopes aren’t useless when he faces Beneil Dariush.

Nurmagomedov’s resolution to step away has opened the door for lots of lightweights to take benefit. Saturday will see the primary domino fall in figuring out the most effective 155-pounder on the planet post-Khabib.

By the numbers

28: Fights within the UFC for Oliveira (together with Saturday’s), who made his Octagon debut in August 2023 as a 20-year-old. If he wins the title, he would surpass Michael Bisping for essentially the most fights in a UFC profession earlier than capturing an undisputed championship. Bisping did it in his twenty sixth look.

2: Fighters who’ve received titles in each the UFC and Bellator (Eddie Alvarez, Cris Cyborg). Chandler, a three-time Bellator light-weight champion, is looking for to be the third.

6: Methods Oliveira has used to safe his 14 submissions: guillotine choke (UFC-record 5), rear-naked choke (4), anaconda choke (two), armbar (one), triangle choke (one), calf slicer (one in all simply two in UFC historical past).

8: Consecutive victories by Oliveira, the longest energetic successful streak within the UFC’s light-weight division. Islam Makhachev is correct behind with seven wins in a row, yet one more than Beneil Dariush, who additionally fights on Saturday’s card.

2:30: Time it took Chandler to win his UFC debut, a knockout of Dan Hooker in January. It was the fourth-quickest win in a UFC debut in opposition to a top-10 opponent since rankings started in 2013. If Chandler wins the title this weekend, he would grow to be the 14th fighter to take action of their first two UFC fights. The listing consists of Ronda Rousey, Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Sources: ESPN Stats & Data and UFC Stats

When Oliveira made his UFC debut on Aug. 1, 2010 …

• Oliveira was the Tenth-youngest fighter in UFC historical past at 20 years, 288 days previous.

• Seven of the 12 weight lessons at present within the UFC didn’t but exist: strawweight, males’s flyweight, girls’s flyweight, males’s bantamweight, girls’s bantamweight, males’s featherweight and girls’s featherweight.

• Six present UFC champions had not but made their professional MMA debuts: Francis Ngannou, Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, Alexander Volkanovski, Deiveson Figueiredo and Rose Namajunas.

• The light-weight champ was Frankie Edgar, who had dethroned BJ Penn lower than 4 months earlier and would beat him once more in a rematch later within the month.

• No girls had fought within the UFC.

• The newest UFC PPV earlier than Oliveira’s debut was UFC 116, at which Brock Lesnar needed to make a comeback to defend his heavyweight title in opposition to Shane Carwin.

• The No. 1 music on the Billboard Sizzling 100 was “Love the Means You Lie,” by Eminem that includes Rihanna.

• The No. 1 film on the planet was “Inception,” starring MMA fan Leonardo DiCaprio.

A glance again

5 vs. 5

Charles Oliveira’s most up-to-date outcomes
Win: Tony Ferguson (UD, Dec. 12, 2023; watch on ESPN+)
Win: Kevin Lee (Sub3, March 14, 2023; watch on ESPN+)
Win: Jared Gordon (KO1, Nov. 16, 2019; watch on ESPN+)
Win: Nik Lentz (TKO2, Might 18, 2019; watch on ESPN+)
Win: David Teymur (Sub2, Feb. 2, 2019; watch on ESPN+)

Michael Chandler’s most up-to-date outcomes
Win: Dan Hooker (TKO1, Jan. 24, 2023; watch on ESPN+)
Win: Benson Henderson (KO1, Aug. 7, 2023)
Win: Sidney Outlaw (KO1, Dec. 29, 2019)
Loss: Patricio Freire (TKO1, Might 11, 2019)
Win: Brent Primus (UD, Dec. 14, 2018)

Dom & Gil’s movie examine

Gilbert Melendez on Oliveira’s large push:

play

On this excerpt of Unlocking Victory, Gilbert Melendez breaks down Charles Oliveira’s push kick and the way utilizing it might impression Michael Chandler’s technique.

Dominick Cruz on Chandler’s large energy:

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On this excerpt of Unlocking Victory, Dominick Cruz breaks down Michael Chandler’s knockout of Dan Hooker in his UFC debut.

And the winner is …

“I believe it’s going to be a surprisingly shut struggle,” mentioned former Bellator light-weight champion Will Brooks, who fought each males, Oliveira within the UFC. “If there’s something we’ve discovered about Oliveira, it’s that exterior of his jiu-jitsu and talents on the bottom, the dude can take a shot, man. He doesn’t have a glass chin. He’s a type of guys that the extra you beat up on him, the longer he lasts virtually — the stronger he will get. You see it generally, guys get uninterested in punching him. They get uninterested in hitting him.”

Take a look at how Brooks and different fighters and coaches break down the primary occasion.

Saturday’s struggle card

PPV (through ESPN+), 10 p.m. ET
Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler | Light-weight
Tony Ferguson vs. Beneil Dariush | Light-weight
Matt Schnell vs. Rogerio Bontorin | Males’s bantamweight
Katlyn Chookagian vs. Viviane Araujo | Ladies’s flyweight
Shane Burgos vs. Edson Barboza | Males’s featherweight
ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET
Jacare Souza vs. Andre Muniz | Middleweight
Lando Vannata vs. Mike Grundy | Males’s featherweight
Jordan Wright vs. Jamie Pickett | Middleweight
Andrea Lee vs. Antonina Shevchenko | Ladies’s flyweight
ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET
Gina Mazany vs. Priscila Cachoeira | Ladies’s flyweight
Kevin Aguilar vs. Tucker Lutz | Males’s featherweight
Christos Giagos vs. Sean Soriano | Light-weight

Tips on how to watch the fights

Watch the PPV and all different fights on ESPN+. Get ESPN+ right here.

Watch the prelims on ESPN or ESPN+. Obtain the ESPN App | WatchESPN | TV schedule

Don’t have ESPN? Get prompt entry.

Bought the struggle in your telephone and wish to stream in your TV? Learn the way right here.

There’s additionally FightCenter, which presents reside updates for each UFC card.

4 extra issues to know (from ESPN Stats & Data)

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On this excerpt of Unlocking Victory, Gilbert Melendez explains how Tony Ferguson has used the D’Arce choke to win a number of instances within the Octagon

1. The co-main occasion additionally options lightweights, with former interim champion Tony Ferguson trying to snap a two-fight shedding streak as he takes on Beneil Dariush, a winner of six straight. Ferguson, an underdog (+145) for simply the second time in his 19-fight UFC profession, has an 81% end fee, with 12 knockouts and 9 submissions in 26 wins. Dariush’s 14 wins at light-weight are essentially the most within the division since his 2014 debut (Ferguson is tied for third with 11).

2. Sizzling flyweight Matt Schnell, who has received 5 of his final six fights, faces a 125-pounder trying to get again on monitor, as Rogerio Bontorin has misplaced two in a row. Schnell lands 4.23 important strikes per minute, fourth greatest amongst energetic flyweight males, and has the division’s second-best important strike protection, avoiding 65.7% of what’s thrown his means.

3. Katlyn Chookagian, simply over a yr faraway from a problem for the ladies’s flyweight championship, might be trying to get again within the title image when she takes on the surging Viviane Araujo, who has received two straight and 4 of her 5 UFC fights. Chookagian has simply three finishes amongst her 15 UFC wins (20%), whereas Araujo has a 70% end fee (4 submissions and three knockouts in 10 wins).

4. Shane Burgos, who has landed the fourth-most important strikes per minute in UFC historical past (7.31), faces one other high-action featherweight, Edson Barboza, the one UFC fighter with knockouts by head kick, physique kick and leg kick. Barboza’s spinning wheel kick KO of Terry Etim in 2012 stays one of the vital viral knockouts in Octagon historical past.

ESPN’s Jeff Wagenheim contributed to this struggle preview.