Michael Chandler predicts Justin Gaethje will be the UFC lightweight champion by the middle of next year

UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler predicts that Justin Gaethje will become the UFC lightweight champion by the middle of next year.

Chandler and Gaethje just went toe-to-toe in an all-out war that took place on the UFC 268 main card. It was one of the best fights of the year, but at the end of the 15 minutes, it was Gaethje who got his hand raised by unanimous decision. “The Highlight” is now expected to fight for the UFC lightweight title in his next fight against the winner of UFC 269’s main event between the champion Charles Oliveira and top contender Dustin Poirier.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com’s The MMA Hour, Chandler was asked what he thinks about Gaethje fighting for the belt next. Not only does Chandler agree that Gaethje should fight for the belt in his next fight, but he also thinks that he is going to wear the gold soon.

“I think Justin Gaethje is the clear-cut No. 1 contender. He just beat me. (Islam) Makhachev, obviously the way he dispatched Dan Hooker was absolutely phenomenal. What he did was great. Does it warrant a title shot? Not compared to what Justin Gaethje has done, that’s my thought,” Chandler said. “I think Justin Gaethje breaks Charles Oliveira. But the more likely scenario is Poirier wins that fight because I think he has more tools and he’s just better in certain areas and he’s not going to get submitted by Oliveira, even though we have seen an increased striking level by Oliveira, as we saw in our fight. But I think Justin Gaethje cleans up a couple of things, remembers how he lost to Dustin Poirier a couple of years ago, and I think he wins the title, middle of next year.”

Do you agree with Michael Chandler that Justin Gaethje will become the new UFC lightweight champion by the middle of 2022?