Khabib Nurmagomedov thinks Islam Makhachev nonetheless holds pole place on the subject of placing collectively the largest MMA combat doable.
This Saturday, Makhachev challenges Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title in the primary occasion of UFC 322 at Madison Sq. Backyard in New York. Makhachev needed to vacate the light-weight championship—a title he efficiently defended a 4 consecutive occasions—to arrange this matchup, leaving the door open for rival Ilia Topuria to seize the vacant belt with a spectacular knockout of Charles Oliveira this previous June.
For now, Makhachev and Topuria are on totally different paths, however the potential of a future combat nonetheless looms, whether or not it’s at 155 or 170 kilos. Ought to it happen, Nurmagomedov believes the pairing would surpass the magnitude of the often-discussed Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira matchup.
“I believe proper now, yeah, I believe Topuria-Islam could be the largest combat,” Nurmagomedov informed Josh Thomson on YouTube when requested to match the fights. “Not Jon Jones and Pereira.”
Jones is extensively considered one of many best fighters in MMA historical past, having gained 28 of 30 bouts, together with his lone blemishes being a disqualification loss and a knockout of Daniel Cormier that was overturned to a no-contest when Jones later examined constructive for banned substances. The 38-year-old retired this previous June, however rapidly introduced an curiosity in preventing once more on the proposed UFC White Home occasion in 2026 with Pereira incessantly talked about as a doable opponent.
Pereira, 38, is presently in his second reign as UFC mild heavyweight champion, a title Jones efficiently defended 11 occasions in whole, and in addition briefly held the UFC middleweight championship. He’s on the identical web page as Jones so far as desirous to e-book what could be a historic matchup.
“Nonetheless an enormous combat, however not on that degree,” Nurmagomedov mentioned of Jones vs. Pereira. “I don’t suppose it’s identical degree.”
Requested about how the UFC White Home card ought to be constructed, Nurmagomedov hinted that the Jones-Pereira combat could be extra appropriate as a showcase bout than the rest, given the placement.
“I believe should you’re making a White Home combat, it must be extra American fighters,” Nurmagomedov mentioned. “It’s very fascinating. If a Georgian fighter fights towards a Russian fighter, it’s not fascinating in entrance of White Home. It must be American fighters representing their nation and so they combat towards different guys. It looks like it must be like this, the way in which how I see it.”
