Star American fighter Michael Chandler can win the UFC title, according to former opponent Eddie Alvarez

• Michael Chandler has everything he needs to win the UFC championship.
• That's according to one of his old rivals Eddie Alvarez, a One Championship athlete.
• Chandler is booked in a title fight May 15 against Charles Oliveira at UFC 262.

American fighter Michael Chandler "can get it done" in his UFC title fight, Eddie Alvarez told Insider recently.

Chandler became one of the UFC's newest stars when the former three-time Bellator MMA champion finished Dan Hooker in a savage first-round knockout in January.

It was the fighter's first appearance in the UFC and he could be heard yelling that he wanted "UFC gold" in his next match.

Earlier this month, the UFC President Dana White confirmed Khabib Nurmagomedov is retired forever, meaning that Chandler and Charles Oliveira will fight for the vacated UFC lightweight championship at UFC 262 on May 15.

Alvarez, a former opponent of Chandler's, spoke to Insider before the title fight was announced, but seemed confident Chandler could perform well against anyone in the UFC's 155-pound division.

"I think he matches up well with a lot of the guys in the division right now," Alvarez told us. "I think he could beat mostly all the guys in that top five if he comes focused on any given night as he has the toolset.

"He's a better wrestler than most of them, he's athletic, strong, and he has a champion mindset. He can get it done, man.

"It's really up to him - his desire, his work ethic, and going in there and believing he is worthy of that world title, so we'll see."

Alvarez has his own title plans, albeit in One Championship not the UFC. He hopes victory over Iuri Lapicus on April 7 will springboard him into a One Championship title fight against the Singapore-based promotion's current champion Christian Lee.

But, regardless of his confidence in Chandler, he did stress that anything can happen in mixed martial arts.

"I really think sometimes that I'm sharp and I know what's going to happen but this sport has a weird way of twisting and turning things and letting us all know that we don't know s---."