Islam Makhachev has claimed it is his team’s ‘dream’ for Usman Nurmagomedov to join the UFC and become a champion.
This past Friday, Usman Nurmagomedov fought in the final fight of his PFL deal, knocking out Archie Colgan in the first round of their PFL New York main event.
Immediately after his win, talks continued regarding a potential move to the UFC, with the 28-year-old still widely regarded as the best lightweight fighter on the planet.
And not long after his fight, UFC boss Dana White dropped a huge hint that negotiations have already begun between the promotion and Nurmagomedov for his signature.
You’re Dana White and can only sign one PFL star — who are you picking? 👀
Both Usman Nurmagomedov and Dakota Ditcheva stayed undefeated at PFL New York.
Islam Makhachev on who Nurmagomedov should fight in potential UFC debut
The UFC have been told to give Nurmagomedov as much money as he wants to secure his services as it would send a message to MVP MMA after their recent merger with PFL.
With the Dagestani’s future being one of the most talked about topics in the MMA world at the moment, his head coach has already commented on who the 28-year-old’s ‘toughest puzzle’ would be in the UFC.
And now, his longtime teammate Islam Makhachev has commented on his potential move to the UFC, saying that it is their team’s dream for him to become a champion, following on from himself and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“It’s now a good time for Usman to jump to a real jungle,” Makhachev told MMAJunkie.
“I don’t see any opponents for him in PFL or MVP… In the UFC, I see many good opponents for him and he is gonna grow so fast in the UFC.”
The welterweight champion went on to speculate who Nurmagomedov could fight in his promotional debut, saying that he could immediately jump into a fight against one of the division’s top ranked fighters.
“Someone in the top 5, lightweight top 10 has some good fighters, you know. Usman can fight with anyone, (Ilia) Topuria, Arman (Tsarukyan). I know his skills, I know what he can do.
“It’s a dream for our team because of Khabib and because of myself, we have many tough guys at lightweight and welterweight because we’re always training together giving hard rounds, that’s why these two divisions grow in our gym so fast,” Makhachev continued.
Usman’s attention will now likely return back to Makhachev and helping him in the final weeks of his preparation for his UFC 330 title defense against Ian Machado Garry.
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