Michael Chiesa is shooting for the stars in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) lightweight division.
Chiesa, who sits at the eighth spot on the UFC 155-pound rankings, hasn’t competed since April 2016. He submitted Beneil Dariush in the second round, earning him a “Performance of the Night” bonus. It was also Chiesa’s third straight victory.
The “Maverick” was going to face Tony Ferguson back in July, but Chiesa went down with a back injury. Ferguson went on to beat Lando Vannata, followed by Rafael dos Anjos to earn an interim title bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 209 on March 4.
Chiesa is ready to step back inside the Octagon and he’s ready to throw down with former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. At a recent Q&A, he laid down the challenge:
“Eddie lost the title to Conor, but it makes sense. Eddie’s a tough guy, former champion in other promotions, but he’s had his time. I think it’s mine and he said he wants to sit around and wait and see what happens on March 4 but why don’t you fight somebody? Don’t just sit around and wait for it. You gotta go get it, so if he’s man enough to step up to the challenge there’s a big bearded guy in the Pacific Northwest waiting to get in a 15-minute fistfight with him. Let’s see if he takes the bait.
