Kiwi Dan Hooker is poised to capitalise on the retirement of Russian UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov last weekend.
'The Eagle' retained his lightweight crown on Sunday, dispatching American Justin Gaethje by submission, then announced that was his last fight, fulfilling a promise he made to his mother, after father and trainer Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov died earlier this year.
"If I give my word, I have to follow this," he sobbed afterwards.
Departing with an unbeaten 29-0 record - including 13 UFC wins - Nurmagomedov, 32, has been hailed as arguably the greatest mixed martial arts fighter ever, but he leaves a long list of contenders now eyeing his vacant crown.
"Khabib is probably the greatest fighter in the history of the sport," agrees City Kickboxing head trainer Eugene Bareman. "A lot of people give George St Pierre that title, but the difference is George lost - Khabib never lost at all.
"You can't throw people like Anderson Silva and Jon Jones into that conversation, because they've had too many discrepancies with their wins and all sorts of controversy, so that leaves Khabib at the top by himself.
"He retires at the top, which not many people get to do. Floyd Mayweather, Rocky Marciano... not many get to retire at the top, so it was a pleasure to see that happening."
Nurmagomedov's exit opens up the lightweight division to a power struggle, which Bareman and charge Hooker hope to exploit.
"The whole thing is open now," says Bareman. "That's one of the positive things for all the other contenders - when the champion leaves, there's a big void that needs to be filled.
"It's up to the management teams and fighters to put themselves in a position to start filling that void.
"That's going to happen now - there will be this vacuum that's going to be filled by the Gaethjes, the Connors, the Poiriers... Dan Hooker, obviously we're going to try to position him as best we can.
"That void will be filled in the next 6-9 months, so it's exciting times for the lightweight division, especially when you get rid of such a dominant champion who was going to be hard to beat. It opens up the division and makes it really interesting again."
As interim champion, Gaethje would presumably inherit the throne, but he has a handful of contenders snapping at his heels. He beat third-ranked Tony Ferguson for the interim title in May, but lost to second-ranked Dustin Poirier two years ago.
Hooker is currently ranked fifth in the division and was once considered a possible replacement, if either Nurmagomedov or Gaethje withdrew from their bout. His last outing resulted in a loss to Poirier in June.
