Khabib Nurmagomedov thinks Islam Makhachev still holds pole position when it comes to putting together the biggest MMA fight possible.
This Saturday, Makhachev challenges Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight
title in the main event of UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Makhachev had to vacate the lightweight championship—a title he successfully defended a four consecutive times—to set up this matchup, leaving the door open for rival Ilia Topuria to capture the vacant belt with a spectacular knockout of Charles Oliveira this past June.
For now, Makhachev and Topuria are on different paths, but the possibility of a future fight still looms, whether it’s at 155 or 170 pounds. Should it take place, Nurmagomedov believes the pairing would surpass the magnitude of the often-discussed Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira matchup.
“I think right now, yeah, I think Topuria-Islam can be the biggest fight,” Nurmagomedov told Josh Thomson on YouTube when asked to compare the fights. “Not Jon Jones and Pereira.”
Jones is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, having won 28 of 30 bouts, with his lone blemishes being a disqualification loss and a knockout of Daniel Cormier that was overturned to a no-contest when Jones later tested positive for banned substances. The 38-year-old retired this past June, but quickly announced an interest in fighting again at the proposed UFC White House event in 2026 with Pereira frequently mentioned as a possible opponent.
Pereira, 38, is currently in his second reign as UFC light heavyweight champion, a title Jones successfully defended 11 times in total, and also briefly held the UFC middleweight championship. He is on the same page as Jones as far as wanting to book what would be a historic matchup.
As highly anticipated as Jones vs. Pereira would be, Nurmagomedov still thinks it falls short of Makhachev vs. Topuria, which would pit arguably the current top 2 pound-for-pound fighters in the world against one another.
“Still a big fight, but not on that level,” Nurmagomedov said of Jones vs. Pereira. “I don’t think it’s same level.”
Asked about how the UFC White House card should be constructed, Nurmagomedov hinted that the Jones-Pereira fight would be more suitable as a showcase bout than anything else, given the location.
“I think if you’re making a White House fight, it has to be more American fighters,” Nurmagomedov said. “It’s very interesting. If a Georgian fighter fights against a Russian fighter, it’s not interesting in front of White House. It has to be American fighters representing their country and they fight against other guys. It seems like it has to be like this, the way how I see it.”
