Usman Nurmagomedov would love nothing more than to focus on his upcoming PFL title defense against Archie Colgan, but he also understands it’s impossible to ignore the reality that he’s on the final fight of his current contract and may soon become one of the most coveted free agents in recent history.
With an undefeated record at 28 years old and coming from the same lineage that produced fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, it’s understandable why so much attention is being paid
towards his future. The widespread assumption is that Nurmagomedov wins in July and then moves on to the UFC, where he would immediately become a major player in the lightweight division, especially now that Makhachev has moved up to welterweight.
But Nurmagomedov maintains no decision has been made yet and refuses to say a bad word about the PFL, especially with how he’s been treated since first arriving in the promotion.
“I have a very good relationship [with PFL] with all of this team,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Fighting. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. We will see. If they hold me, keep me in this promotion, I think it’s going to be good. Why not?”
Because he’s entering the prime of his athletic career, Nurmagomedov finds himself in an enviable position where he could effectively create a bidding war for his services.
If he joined the UFC roster, Nurmagomedov would actually be the youngest fighter in the top five, with Ilia Topuria and Arman Tsarukyan both one year older than him. The rest of the fighters comprising the top five in the rankings are over 30.
But in the PFL, Nurmagomedov is one of the faces of the promotion, and he would remain one of the most important pieces of the puzzle, especially as the organization seeks out a new broadcast deal at the end of 2026.
So what exactly is most important to Nurmagomedov as he looks towards the future?
“Of course, money is important,” Nurmagomedov said. “This time when everything is so expensive, and you have a big family, you have to think not only about you, you have to think about the people around you. We’ll see.
“Most important things, first of all, it’s legacy. Second, it’s money. I think this is two inside the one.”
PFL CEO John Martin has made it clear that the promotion would love to retain Nurmagomedov, but he also said recently that the company hasn’t engaged in any serious talks with him outside of booking his latest title defense.
For his part, Nurmagomedov plans on leaving negotiations on his next contract with his manager and he wants to put all of his attention on the upcoming fight against Colgan.
Nurmagomedov knows what happens when fighters get distracted thinking about something other than the task at hand. That’s why he’s deep in training camp and working hard to remain undefeated.
He’ll truly think about what comes next after July 31.
“These kinds of things, Ali [Abdel-aziz] has to fix,” Nurmagomedov said. “I will sign before or after or what we’re going to do. My opinion, if I will show my best performance in my life, maybe I’m going to do some crazy things and it’s going to be very nice highlights, maybe then people are going to be interested in me. We’ll see. I don’t want say something bad because I have a very good relationship with PFL, and I love PFL, and I see how many lions they have in PFL right now who want to take this belt. Like Archie, he is undefeated, and you can’t stay like this undefeated for a long time if you’re not top five. That’s why he’s a [No. 1 contender], and he wants to take everything what I have.
“I don’t want to look ahead and thinking about the future for my career or something like that. I have fight, I have a name, and we’re going to fight. If something happens before the fight, we will see. But it doesn’t make some reason. I have a fight, and we have to do this.”
