Islam Makhachev wants Tony Ferguson next.

Makhachev enjoyed a dominant third-round submission win over Drew Dober on the main card of the UFC 259 pay-per-view event on Saturday night.

It put him on a seven-fight winning streak as there is no doubt that he deserves a top lightweight contender for his next outing. The Dagestan native went a step further by earmarking one fighter in particular — Ferguson.

“My dream fight is Tony Ferguson,” Makhachev said after his win. “That’s my dream fight. I just want to make him retire. He talks too much.

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“Khabib is retired, now he keeps pressuring him, for what? I’m here, I have a 7-fight win streak, make this happen.”

Ferguson, of course, is on a two-fight losing streak but was previously on a 12-fight winning streak and was slated to fight Nurmagomedov in a dream contest five times only for it to fail to come to fruition all five times.

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Perhaps the next best option is to have him face who many believe to be the successor to the now-retired Nurmagomedov in Makhachev.

UFC president Dana White is seemingly a fan of the idea as well.

Do you want to see Ferguson vs. Makhachev next?

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Experienced freelance sports writer covering mixed martial arts (MMA) extensively for the last few years. Likes a good body shot.