1. Max Holloway vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
UFC 223 “Holloway vs. Nurmagomedov”
April 7 | Brooklyn, New York
With Conor McGregor conspicuous by his absence and showing no real urgency about returning to the cage anytime soon, the Holloway-Nurmagomedov winner will likely be promoted to undisputed lightweight champion. Even without those stakes and far-reaching ramifications, this would have been a pass-the-popcorn matchup. Holloway stepped in on less than a week’s notice for an injured Tony Ferguson and now has the opportunity to join McGregor as the only fighters in history to hold UFC titles in two weight classes simultaneously. The Hawaiian has rattled off 12 consecutive victories since his August 2013 defeat to McGregor -- a run that includes wins over Jose Aldo (twice), Anthony Pettis, Ricardo Lamas, Jeremy Stephens, Charles Oliveira and Cub Swanson. Nurmagomedov has been downright dominant since he made his Octagon debut against Kamal Shalorus a little more than five years ago. The Dagestani sambo stylist’s record now stands an almost unimaginable 25-0.

Sherdog’s Top 10 series is voted upon by a panel of Sherdog.com staff members and contributors: Tristen Critchfield, Mike Fridley, Brian Knapp, Eric Stinton, Jesse Denis, Todd Martin, Josh Stillman, Nick Grinups and Anthony Walker.