PFL champion Usman Nurmagomedov has long deferred Islam Makhachev as the best lightweight in the sport, although he always expected to claim that top spot once his friend and teammate either retired or moved onto a new weight class.
That’s finally happening with Makhachev relinquishing his UFC title at 155 pounds and moving to welterweight to clash with champion Jack Della Maddalena in his next outing. For now, Nurmagomedov is still touting Makhachev as the best lightweight in the sport, because he hasn’t
actually hit the scale as a welterweight yet but that time is rapidly approaching.
“I don’t want to put myself [at top] in lightweight because Islam is still in lightweight,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Fighting. “He’s not moving. After he [moves], then we’ll see.”
As soon as Makhachev made the decision to move to welterweight, the UFC wasted no time crowning a new lightweight champion with Ilia Topuria knocking out Charles Oliveira in June to claim the vacant title.
As a former featherweight champion, Topuria has now captured belts across two divisions but Nurmagomedov isn’t so quick to crown him as the best in his division.
For all the hype surrounding Topuria right now, Nurmagomedov believes “El Matador” still has some work to do before he can truly stake a claim to that No. 1 spot, especially while he’s still taking care of business in PFL.
“Come on, Ilia Topuria, how he can be lightweight No. 1 in the world? He cannot be,” Nurmagomedov said. “He did only one fight. I have 19 fights in lightweight [division]. I beat former champions. I beat champions. I think my resume is better than him. How many fights does he have? 14? I have 14 finishes in my career.”
In the past, Nurmagomedov has teased his interest in eventually testing himself in the UFC so perhaps he’ll actually get the chance to face Topuria one day in the future.
For now, Nurmagomedov’s only focus is defending his own title with a rematch booked against Paul Hughes in October after their first fight ended with him claiming a majority decision win.
Nurmagomedov acknowledges that he wasn’t at his best going into the Hughes fight so he plans on a much more dominant showcase this time around and then maybe he’ll revisit that conversation about where he sits in the hierarchy of the lightweight division.
“After I finish this guy, I will call myself the best lightweight,” Nurmagomedov said.
As far as Makhachev moving to welterweight, Nurmagomedov has every confidence that his teammate is going to adapt and evolve to compete in a bigger division.
While he gives reigning UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena a lot of credit was very tough matchup for anyone in the world, Nurmagomedov truly believes that Makhachev is just a different kind of monster.
“I think he’s going to be champion in welterweight,” Nurmagomedov said about Makhachev. “Because he has everything. His skills, I think is better than Maddalena because Maddalena has only boxing. But Islam, if he takes you down, he’s going to hold you the whole round whereas Belal [Muhammad] has a problem with that. He let Maddalena up. He let him up, he tried again.
“When Islam holds you, it’s done. We’ll see. Of course, it’s not going to be easy for Islam. Because this is a different weight but mentally, Islam is a very strong guy.”
Of course, Nurmagomedov knows he’ll be working alongside Makhachev as they both get ready for upcoming title fights and he never shies away from heaping praise on his teammate.
“He’s a pound-for-pound champion, lightweight champion and he beat a lot of records in lightweight,” Nurmagomedov said about Makhachev. “Now he’s going to go for a second belt and soon we’re going to see, Inshallah.”
