Javier Mendez sees one particular fighter as a challenge for Usman Nurmagomedov in the UFC.
PFL lightweight champion Nurmagomedov (22-0) completed the final fight on his contract when he knocked out Archie Colgan in the first-round of Friday's PFL New York main event at UBS Arena in Elmont.
As he enters free agency, it is unknown if Nurmagomedov will re-sign with PFL. However, if he is UFC bound, his coach Mendez thinks he dives straight into the shark tank.
"If he does jump in (to the UFC), I'm looking at the top two dogs, someone like a (Arman) Tsarukyan, someone like a (Ilia) Topuria. Those are the two I look at as the dream fights," Mendez told Submission Radio. "Not the dream fights, but the fights to want to have.
"How it's going to work if
we do jump over, they're probably going to give us someone like a Paddy (Pimblett), someone of that stature, which is fine, too. Maybe Max Holloway – who knows. But it's going to be somebody in the top five, I believe."
Mendez envisions a championship in Nurmagomedov's future, but sees former two-division UFC champion Ilia Topuria (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) as the sternest obstacle – even though he was battered in a title loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250.
"He matches up extremely well with every one of those guys," Mendez said. "The guy who's going to be the toughest puzzle, in my opinion, is Topuria. He's going to be the toughest puzzle, but we'll get him solved, too. He's the one I would have the most respect going up against. ... Our toughest task that we have to work on is Ilia."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Javier Mendez: Ilia Topuria toughest fight for Usman Nurmagomedov in the UFC
