Conor McGregor may have his sights set on a long reign as lightweight champion - but he'll likely first have to overcome the dominant man in the division.
The Irishman takes on Dustin Poirier next weekend in the first step towards regaining the title he held briefly in 2016.
He then intends to win - and retain - the belt as part of his plan to dominate the division as he did as a featherweight.
But waiting in the shadows is Brazilian Charles Oliveira who has put together an eight-fight win streak culminating in last month's impressive win over Tony Ferguson.
He could clash with McGregor for the vacant belt later this year, assuming current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov does not reverse his decision to retire.
And analyst and former UFC title contender Dan Hardy believes the Brazilian will go on to end the year as top dog.
"Of all the weight classes that could be up in the air, the one person I'm watching in the sport at the moment who has the potential to be a champion is that man," he told Mirror Fighting .
"The way he ran through Kevin Lee last March and the way he dominated Tony Ferguson in every range.
"Justin Gaethje had a fantastic performance against Ferguson as well but Oliveira wasn't even out of third gear and I don't think we've seen an nth of his skill set yet.
"He's a great grappler, he holds the record for submissions but now he's stopping people with single punches.
"The Nik Lentz fight... he caught his kick, punched him right down the pipe, caught his foot so he couldn't get away from him while he finished him on the floor.
"The application of his full mixed martial arts skill set right now, I don't think there's anyone else at lightweight who can bring all the tools to the table like he can.
"Whether he can apply them all or not is what we're going to find out this year, but as far as technical ability, Charles Oliveira is the guy in this division."
BT Sport Box Office will show UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 exclusively live from 3am on Saturday, January 23.
UFC 257 can be watched on on BT TV, Virgin TV, Sky, online via the web or the BT Sport Box Office App and is available to buy at www.bt.com/sportboxoffice
