Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Ilia Topuria’s time at the top of the lightweight division will last only as long as the UFC doesn’t book him against Arman Tsarukyan.
Topuria is the UFC lightweight champion and Tsarukyan is ranked No. 1 in the division. It’s the toughest fight you could make for both men, but we probably won’t get to see it next. Tsarukyan pulled out of his last lightweight title opportunity with an injured back, giving everyone in the top five an excuse to refuse to fight him. And Topuria went
so far as to say he’d rather relinquish the belt than fight Tsarukyan next.
In Nurmagomedov’s mind, it’s also because Topuria has never faced a wrestler like Tsarukyan before.
“I don’t see Topuria having a chance,” Khabib said. “Arman fights too well at range against strikers. He keeps his distance well, works better with his kicks. And now Arman has improved a lot. He has footage that he can study and analyze. If they fought three years ago, maybe he wouldn’t have been as cautious. But now, you can clearly see what dangers Topuria brings. I believe right now, the best lightweight is Tsarukyan.”
“[He will win] due to his MMA style, not only wrestling,” he continued. “Arman can take people down, he has good elbows on the ground. Very good elbows. He can grapple, submit, take the back. He won’t [go into dangerous striking distance with Topuria]. There’s already enough footage to study. I’d say it’s 80-20 in Arman’s favor.”
“His wrestling, his pressure, his physicality, it all matters. He’s taller by almost 10 centimeters, if I’m not mistaken. He’s heavier, and on fight night he’ll be the bigger man. And of course, wrestling always plays a huge role. Especially in fights like this.”
Paddy Pimblett has said everyone loses to Topuria because everyone tries to strike with him. Khabib holds a similar opinion.
“We all know the level of wrestling that Holloway and Oliveira had, it’s practically nonexistent,” Nurmagomedov said. “They are strikers. They went forward and got caught. But a guy who grabs a leg, wrestles, grabs the body, wrestles, Topuria hasn’t faced that. He’s only fought strikers. Volkanovski doesn’t wrestle, the others don’t wrestle. Name at least one of his opponents who uses even 20% wrestling. Not 50%, just 20%.”
“It’s an interesting fight,” he concluded. “I know the UFC is cautious, they don’t want to throw him to Topuria too quickly. Right now Topuria is a bigger star than Arman. But if Arman gets a big win, where can they hide him? They won’t be able to.”
For now, Arman Tsarukyan remains on the sidelines with no fight (big or small) booked. Topuria also remains unbooked, so anything is possible. But we’d expect at least one more fight for both men before the UFC matches them up — hopefully before the end of 2026.
