Usman Nurmagomedov isn’t getting big-fight feels from Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje.
Lightweight champion Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) unifies his belt with interim champ Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) in the UFC Freedom 250 main event on June 14 from the White House in Washington D.C.
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PFL lightweight champion Nurmagomedov (21-0) recalls how his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov sold the most pay-per-views in UFC history when he fought Conor McGregor, and how Topuria isn’t generating nearly as much hype for his fight against Gaethje.
“Can you imagine brother? I didn’t even know when they were going to fight,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Junkie. “I swear, I don’t know. I remember when Khabib was fighting with McGregor, every kid knew about that fight. Every even grandmother, grandfather, even kings from some countries, everybody knew.
“But they do some big tournament, White House, but nobody knows about it. I don’t know why. Maybe because of this short guy, he’s not so famous. I don’t know why the people now don’t like the lightweight division in the UFC. But if I will come there, I’m going to fix it.”
That could be because Gaethje is a massive underdog against Topuria, but Nurmagomedov isn’t entirely ruling out his chances.
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“I think yes, he can,” Nurmagomedov said on Gaethje beating Topuria. “To fight with Ilia Topuria, you don’t need too much skills – just enough, like know how to wrestle, grapple and kickboxing. Just kick his leg. He goes like this (with his movement), just kick his leg and like move around him. That’s it.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Usman Nurmagomedov: Topuria not generating buzz around UFC Freedom 250
