Michael Chiesa made his UFC welterweight division debut at UFC 232, defeating former UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit by second round submission.
Kamaru Usman recently captured the UFC Welterweight Title at UFC 235, which has lead Chiesa to believe that the path to a title shot has become less murky.
“The water’s a lot less murky,” he told MMA Junkie. “That’s the best way to say it. I can see the bottom. I can see where I’ve got to go. I like the landscape of the division, and that it’s a lot more clear path to the title.”
Former UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Colby Covington is expected to get the first shot at Usman, but nothing has been made official at this time.
Chiesa also believed a fight with Neil Magny would happen at UFC 238, but it didn’t come to fruition and Chiesa isn’t dwelling on the lost opportunity.
“I’m not going to dwell on it,” he said. “If (Magny) is going to move on and do something else, that’s up to him and his team. I’m just looking to get in the rankings. It was hard for me to leave the lightweight division having a number next to my name, but I feel like beating a guy like Condit, I don’t want to sound entitled, but I do kind of feel like I should be fighting a guy at the bottom of the top-15. I want to fight ranked guys. I’ve fought ranked guys before. I feel like I should be doing the same now.”
Magny will instead fight Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos this coming May at UFC Fight Night Rochester.
