The 2020 LW landscape

Underground
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It sounds like Khabib vs Tony will happen in March/April. The return of Conor is in January he claims but Dana is holding his cards close to his chest at the moment.

Conor, Poirier, Cowboy, Barboza, Iaquinta, Taisumov, Khabilov, Ramos, Trinaldo, Teymur and Gillespie have all had different but significant levels of hype and excitement behind them over the past couple years, they are all coming off tough loses. Things change quick at LW. Trinaldo once had a seven UFC fight win streak, Gillespie was just undefeated, the man to beat Khabib in the eyes of some fans, Conor was the champ-champ, Iaquinta was a title challenger.

Gaethje, Santos, Hooker, Lee, Makhachev, Ferriera, Hernandez, Felder, Dariush, Tsarukyan, Klose, Dober and Oliveira are the surging winners looking for something big at the moment.

On a fun nostalgic note, somehow, Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon are still out there kicking ass and winning fights.

There are also new arrivals like 12-0 Azaitar and 9-0 Greco World/Olympic champ Mark Madsen.

Fans have been interested in the fights of fighters like Vannata, Pena, Duffy, and Diakiese as well.

A couple months ago Lee was just another RDA victim, with one brutal and quick win over a rising contender he is right there back in the mix. Fighters like Barboza and Johnson have had their moments with big wins over fighters like Ferguson, Poirier, Hooker and Pettis and now they find themselves coming off controversial loses, were to go from here.

It is a vast and every changing landscape. If you like the skill, heart, and talent on display in MMA… then look no further than the UFC’s LW division. 2020 promises to bring great fights in the most talent rich and exciting division the sport has ever seen.

I’ve never been more interested in a division overall in the history of MMA so I’ll continue to update this thread with 2020 LW fight news and results.

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I'll continue to update the notable UFC LW fights booked for 2020 here:

Conor vs Cowboy 1/18 winner Conor

Pettis vs Ferreira 1/18 winner Ferreira

Dober vs Haqparast 1/18 winner Dober

Medeiros vs Vannata 2/15

Miller vs Holtzman 2/15

Mustafaev vs Riddell 2/22

Hooker vs Felder 2/22

Pena vs Munoz 2/29

Dariush vs Klose 3/7

Madsen vs Hubbard 3/7

Lee vs Oliveira 3/14

Trinaldo vs Makdessi 3/14

Moicano vs Hadzovic 3/14

Diakiese vs Ray 3/21

Azaitar vs Worthy 4/18

Khabib vs Ferguson for the UFC LW title 4/18

Patrick vs Giagos 4/25

Johnson vs Dunham 4/25

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Maybe even GSP will show up in the mix at some point.

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StrikingMMA - Maybe even GSP will show up in the mix at some point.

I think Firas said the GSP at LW ship has sailed. There has been so much speculation with GSP ever since he retired after Hendricks and all it ever produced was a single fight. GSP is the last thing I'm paying attention to when it comes to the 2020 LW division.

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Oliveira should fight a top 5 next.

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Good post. Lightweight is by far the most interesting division in MMA for me right now.

I'm very excited to see what matchups we'll get in the coming months. 

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Magomed Mustafaev vs Brad Riddell on Feb. 22nd per mmajunkie.

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Hooker vs Felder on 2/22

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BJ Penn Forever -

I'll continue to update the notable UFC LW fights booked for 2020 here:

Pettis vs Ferreira 1/18

Dober vs Haqparast 1/18

Mustafaev vs Riddell 2/22

Hooker vs Felder 2/22

Please do! VU

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With both of them having their last fights at LW I am very surprised Conor vs Cowboy will be up at WW. Still if Conor wins he will be able to insert himself in the LW title picture if he wants to. I'm sure if Conor vs Nate III happens next that it will happen at WW but if Conor wins that then he can step right into a LW title fight with the Khabib vs Tony winner. Conor said he wanted two fights and then a LW title shot, never said the two fights had to be at LW. I think his plan is to beat Cowboy and Nate at WW in the winter and spring/summer and then get a title fight vs the Khabib vs Tony winner in the fall/winter. It would be hard to imagine he wants to pursue a fight with Jorge at WW before a title shot at LW.

Regardless of who wins, I expect we see both Conor and Cowboy back in LW action in 2020. Cowboy won't retire off three loses in a row, he will likely end his career like Jim Miller, a tough gatekeeper to the top 15.

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I just saw Khabib vs Tony is official.

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Damn

Lightweight of UFC is the deepest division I have ever seen. That is literally a row of absolute savages. 

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Chael thinks Gaethje vs Lee is a good co-main on the Khabib card so Gaethje can get the shot if Khabib or Tony get injured. Great idea and one I'm sure the UFC is already talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7O2rear6d0

 

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Lee and Makhachev have have gone back and forth about fighting one another for a while. Rumors of an upcoming fight between them existed long before their most recent fights.

The winner would be “in the mix” in terms of the title picture, of course Khabib vs Makhachev will never happen but Khabib’s camp hopes Makhachev can take the title when Khabib retires.

Hopefully it gets announced for the Khabib vs Tony card in April.

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Medeiros vs Vannata booked for 2/15. Fun fight.

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https://www.mmafighting.com/2019/12/21/21033094/drakkar-klose-vs-beneil-dariush-rebooked-for-ufc-248

Drakkar Klose and Beneil Dariush booked for 3/7, both riding three fight win streaks.

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Yet another fantastic thread. Glad I saw it this time around. Op you were nominated by someone as poster of the year. I agreed.

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Praise Allah that Khabib/Tony finally got made.

If Kev Lee can keep his weight ok for 155, he’s gonna remain tough. He always had the tool - despite the KO over Gillespie, I think he should focus on striking more to set up his tds. His ground game is great - one of the best wrestlers with GNP and a sub game right now.

People are so quick to sleep on someone when they get KTFO but I wouldnt forget about Gillespie.