Kiwi mixed martial arts star Dan Hooker could fight for the UFC lightweight title later this year, if he can produce the performance of his career against Michael Chandler.
Current champion Kabib Nurmagomedov retired after defeating Justin Gaethje in October, but UFC president Dana White has persuaded the undefeated Russian to consider another fight.
Speaking at UFC's latest event in Abu Dhabi, White says his meeting with Nurmagomedov was positive and the 32-year-old has challenged the lightweight contenders - including Hooker.
"The way he [Nurmagomedov] feels is that he has accomplished everything he set out to accomplish," White says.
"But, he thought [Charles] Oliveira looked really good in his last fight against Tony Ferguson and then next week, we have the McGregor-Poirer fight and the Chandler-Hooker fight.
"Khabib's words to me were 'I'm going to watch these fights next week, so show me something spectacular to make me want to come back and fight, be it the co-main event or the main event'.
"So we have these two fights coming up and Oliveira looked great, so if any of these guys can do something special, Khabib will fight them."
White notes that Nurmagomedov insists he does not hold up the division, so should he decide to stay retired after UFC 257, a new lightweight champion would need to be determined this year.
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