Michael Chiesa will beat Conor McGregor because he’s a huge lightweight and ‘Notorious’ is not

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Conor McGregor, who was also king of the 145-pound castle before galloping off to the land of big men, likes to collect mixed martial arts (MMA) championships without defending them.

Good thing, too, because “Notorious” might run into a gigantic lightweight like Michael Chiesa, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 15 champion who recently won three straight fights — with two submission finishes — to cement his place in the top 10 of the division.

The 14-2 “Maverick,” who stands 6’1”, talks to ESPN:

"I know he's good. I'm not knocking him. We have to recognize the guy can f---ing fight. But you have to look at the guys coming up in the lightweight division. Tony Ferguson and Khabib, you have to fight the winner of that fight. I mean, dude, you're good, but you're going up against a guy who is 24-0, multiple samba world champion, or a guy that would be on a 10-fight win streak. Conor is good, but I really don't think he's a true lightweight. That's what I'm saying. With the landscape of this division, I don't see Conor ending his year as champion. And you put me in there, I'm going to drag him to the ground and beat him too. I'm a huge lightweight. I'm as big as Nate (Diaz) or bigger, and we saw how many problems Nate gave him."

Diaz submitted McGregor at UFC 196.

While McGregor is off trolling Floyd Mayweather Jr., or playing Papa, or whatever the hell he plans to do with his 10 months off, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson will collide to determine the next division title contender at UFC 209.

Where — if at all -- do you put Chiesa in the lightweight title hunt?