As the mix martial arts world continues to wait to see what will be the conclusion and punishments for Conor Mcgregor and the current UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov it is kind of unclear how the division will move forward from this point. It is uncertain how long suspensions will be if that is the case for the fighters who took part in the brawl after the main event of UFC 229.
Shifts have begun to take place in top 10 rankings of the Lightweight division especially after #4 ranked fighter in the division Al Iaquinta's huge victory over Kevin Lee in their rematch at UFC On Fox 31. Iaquinta is definitely on his way to a huge fight as he even spoke on thoughts on a potential fight with Conor Mcgregor after he feels Conor disrespected him during the UFC 229 press conference.
Dana White has also expressed his interest and has continued to push for Max Holloway to move up in weight as he knows the UFC Featherweight Champion has been struggling to make the weight cut to defend his title constantly. As we have seen in the past with Max Holloway suffering from serious weight cut issues time and time again. Tony Ferguson expressed his personal interest when it comes to Max Holloway moving up in weight but leaves the question of what would Max do with his belt?
More fight rumors have been floating around as the division continues to shape itself around the Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor Mcgregor's court situation as it constantly keeps getting pushed back. It has been said that Anthony Pettis who is coming off of a phenomenal war with "El Cuyuy" Tony Ferguson that he, unfortunately, loss by stoppage is looking to take on the highlight reel that is Justin Gaejthe but nothing has been completely set in stone yet as this would be huge for the division.
The #15 ranked Paul Felder is gonna face #11 James Vick at UFC on ESPN 1 on February 17th, 2019 in what is set to be the UFC's first big event on ESPN. Paul Felder. is coming off of a huge war he had with Mike Perry that took place in the Welterweight in the bout where he broke his arm and continued to throw it with no hesitation. It is exciting to see what will take place as Paul Felder will make his shift to the Lightweight division. James Vick is coming off of a knockout loss to the human highlight reel Justin Gaejthe. It will be nice to see what adjustments Vick will make in his camp and see him try to break into the top 10 fighters in the lightweight division.
Another huge announcement that was made was that Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone will be making his return to the Lightweight division with his eyes on a title shot as he will take on the dominant force that is Alexander Hernandez in his debut fight back in the division. Cowboy is coming off of an incredible victory over "Platinum" Mike Perry while Alex is coming off of a decision victory over Olivier Aubin-Mercier.
