Former UFC lightweight champion and Conor McGregor’s worst nightmare, Khabib Nurmagomedov, doubts Topuria can defeat Tsarukyan.
The former champion gave up the spotlight in 2013 and has since gone on to train other Dagestani fighters, including his cousin Umar Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev. Earlier in the year, there were talks of former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria moving up to lightweight and facing Islam Makhachev in a super fight, but the bout never came to fruition as Makhachev moved up the division.
Following the move, Topuria faced Charles Oliveira for the vacant belt and won via KO. Now, he is set to defend the title against Tsarukyan. Despite his past record of defeating Volkanovski and Oliveira, Nurmagomedov believes Topuria won’t be able to defend his title successfully against Arman Tsarukyan.
“I don’t see a chance for Topuria,” Nurmagomedov said. “A big punch is [not going to work]. Arman fights with strikers from a distance too much. He keeps his distance well, works better with his legs, and now Arman is too good. He already has material he can watch and study well. If three fights ago he fought with him, maybe he wouldn’t, but now you can already see what to fear from Topuria.
“I think right now, the best lightweight is [Tsarukyan]. Arman can take him down,” Nurmagomedov said. “He has good elbows on the ground. Very good elbows. He can wrestle, armbar, take the back. But he simply won’t fight at this dangerous distance with Topuria. There are too many fights already he can watch, study. If at the beginning they somehow fought, maybe he would have a chance.
“I’d say it’s 80-20 in Arman’s favor. … Wrestling has always ruled, especially in such fights. We all know the level of wrestling that Holloway and Charles Oliveira had. It’s practically nonexistent. … He’s only fought strikers. [Alexander] Volkanovski doesn’t wrestle. His other opponents didn’t wrestle. Who did he fight [that wrestles]? Just name at least one.”
Nurmagomedov recognizes Tsarukyan as the best lightweight in the world and sees no chance of Topuria winning in the cage with him. Despite these high praises, Tsarukyan may not be getting a title shot as the UFC has a lineup of opponents like Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje. For now, it is uncertain who will be facing Topuria, but Nurmagomedov reiterates that a title shot won’t take long and such a matchup will be fascinating to watch.
“It will be an interesting fight,” Nurmagomedov said. “I know the UFC is cautious, they don’t want to throw him to Topuria too quickly. Right now, Topuria is a bigger star than Arman. … But if Arman gets a big win, where can they hide him? They won’t be able to.”
