UFC president Dana White reacted to potentially signing PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, who is currently a free agent.
Nurmagomedov reached free agency following a first-round knockout win over Archie Colgan at PFL New York on Friday. It was another tremendous win for Nurmagomedov, who has now improved to 22-0, 1 NC in his spectacular MMA career.
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At just 28 years old, the Russian phenom is smack dab in the prime of his fighting career right now. We know that the UFC is in the market for signing the best fighters in the world, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect Nurmagomedov to the UFC.
Dana White Comments on Potential Usman Nurmagomedov Signing
Following UFC Belgrade, which took place on Saturday in Serbia’s capital city, White was asked if the UFC had any interest in signing Nurmagomedov, and White had a very blunt response to the question
“Sure,” White said with a smile.
Later on, White took to his X account and commented on the video post above with a smiley face, further indicating that he is interested in bringing Nurmagomedov into the sport’s ultimate proving grounds.
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Usman Nurmagomedov Has UFC Connections
Nurmagomedov has several obvious UFC connections that make his signing with the promotion even more likely to happen.
First, his older brother, Umar Nurmagomedov, currently competes in the UFC as one of the sport’s top bantamweights. Second, his cousin, UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. And third, his longtime training partner at American Kickboxing Academy, Islam Makhachev, is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC, as well as its current welterweight champion.
When a fighter hits free agency, they try to maximize on getting the most out of their free market value, so money is surely going to play an important role in any decision that Nurmagomedov makes.
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But money might not be the most important thing for Nurmagomedov, who comes from a wealthy family. Instead, the chance to become the best lightweight in the world could be more important, something that he can find only in the UFC.
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