Dana White shares rough plans for UFC lightweight championship

UFC President Dana White has shared loose plans for the future of the promotion’s lightweight championship.

The status of the UFC lightweight championship has been a mystery for several months, thanks to the retirement of long-time champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Nurmagomedov announced his retirement after submitting Justin Gaethje in October, and has since made it very clear that he doesn’t intend to fight again. White, however, has been optimistic that Nurmagomedov can be convinced to fight again, and has emphasized that the Russian star is still the lightweight champion despite his retirement.

If Nurmagomedov does stick to his retirement, of course, the UFC will eventually need to crown a new lightweight champion.

White slowly seems to be accepting that this will be necessary, and updated on how a new champion might be crowned during a conversation with UFC reporter Brett Okamoto.

From the sounds of it, the current plan is to have the UFC’s top-7 lightweights duke it out until a clear top dog emerges. White also emphasized that if Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor meet in a trilogy fight, as widely expected, there will not be a title on the line.

White also shared his seemingly inextinguishable hope that Nurmagomedov will, at some point, fight again.

Dana White tells @bokamotoESPN that Conor McGregor is "completely obsessed" with a rematch against Dustin Poirier now. White says "no" when asked if it would be for the title.

He expects that those ranked from 1-7 will all fight it out and the best guy will emerge as champion.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 12, 2021

Dana White tells @bokamotoESPN that Conor McGregor is "completely obsessed" with a rematch against Dustin Poirier now. White says "no" when asked if it would be for the title.

He expects that those ranked from 1-7 will all fight it out and the best guy will emerge as champion.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 12, 2021

White to @bokamotoESPN: "(Khabib) hates Conor McGregor so bad, the hate that these two have is as real as anything you've ever seen and I believe that if Conor came out of this thing and Conor was going to be the guy to win the title, I truly believe that he'd face Conor"

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 12, 2021

The top-7 in the UFC lightweight division is currently an absolute murderer’s row.

The No. 1 spot is held by Poirier, who recently picked up a career-altering knockout win over McGregor, who’s now ranked sixth. Justin Gaethje is currently ranked at No. 2, while Charles Oliveira is ranked third, and Michael Chandler his ranked fourth. Tony Ferguson holds the No. 5 spot, and Rafael dos Anjos is ranked at No. 7, behind McGregor.

Most fans and pundits agree that any potential fight for the vacant lightweight title should involve Poirier, so White claiming that a Poirier-McGregor rematch wouldn’t have championship stakes is somewhat surprising. Many members of the MMA community also feel Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler have claim to a lightweight title shot.

How do you think Dana White should handle the UFC lightweight title? Who do you think will emerge as the next champion?