Ilia Topuria is widely recognized as the best lightweight on the planet at the moment, but Usman Nurmagomedov disagrees.
After knocking Charles Oliveira out cold at UFC 317 earlier this year, Ilia Topuria became the new UFC lightweight champion in the premier promotion.
Following his extremely impressive win, Topuria continued his longtime feud with former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, with both fighters continuing to claim a future clash could happen.
However, a feud could be sparked between ‘El Matador’ and the cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Usman Nurmagomedov.
Usman Nurmagomedov has claimed his resume is better than Ilia Topuria’s
The 27-year-old is widely regarded as the best talent outside of the UFC, with the Russian phenom continuing to dominate the lightweight division in the PFL.
Earlier this year, Nurmagomedov scored a majority decision win over Irish star Paul Hughes, and because of the controversy attached to the result, they immediately booked a rematch.
And now just a month out from his rematch against ‘Big News’ Hughes, the Russian has claimed that he has a better resume than the UFC lightweight champion, Topuria.
“We’ll see (who’s the best lightweight in the world), I don’t want to put myself (as the best lightweight) because Islam is still in lightweight and he’s not moving, when he moves, let’s see,” Nurmagomedov told MMAFighting.
“Come on brother, Ilia Topuria, how can he be the number one lightweight in the world, he cannot be, he has had only one fight, I’ve had 20 fights at lightweight.
“I beat former champions, champions and I think my resume is better than his… I have 14 finishes in my career. After I finish (Hughes), I will call myself the best lightweight,” he continued.
Will Usman Nurmagomedov move to the UFC?
When Makhachev was reigning over the UFC lightweight division, it made it extremely unlikely that Usman would ever move over to the premier promotion.
However, now the 33-year-old is on the way up to the welterweight division, it has left the door open for the 27-year-old to make the move over to the UFC.
And with him claiming he has a better resume than ‘El Matador’, it could set up for an immediate super fight with the Spaniard.