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Archie Colgan plans to find out if Usman Nurmagomedov is really that great or not: ‘July 31, we’ll have those answers’

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3 months ago

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Archie Colgan plans to find out if Usman Nurmagomedov is really that great or not: ‘July 31, we’ll have those answers’

Archie Colgan has been not so quietly waiting for his title opportunity and he finally gets his chance when he faces lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov in the PFL New York main event Friday.

With an undefeated record and coming from the same camp as UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, Colgan has been chasing this fight ever since he was in Bellator, but his climb to the top took a little longer than expected. Colgan admits it angered him a little bit to watch other contenders get that opportunity while he was still waiting, but he's putting all that behind him now that the title fight is official.

“Three years ago, two and a half years ago when he first won the belt in Bellator, that became the goal,†Colgan told MMA Fighting. “That became the guy that I was like that's who we're chasing. That's who we went to beat. That's who we want to beat for the Bellator world title and then they got purchased and it became the PFL world title. None of that has changed.

“It's been the same goal. It's been consistent. To get the opportunity I set the goal against, it's what I want. The frustrations are real. When we were talking about this, it was real frustration. Now the frustration, not that it's gone, but we're going to see now. Now it's time.â€

So much of the narrative around this fight has been built around two tenets: How will Nurmagomedov fare against another high-level wrestler and is this his final fight in the PFL with one bout left on his current contract?

Colgan can't concern himself with the latter, but as a lifetime wrestler who spent four years at Wyoming competing Big 12 conference, he knows what it takes to deal with the best grapplers in the world. It also doesn't hurt that he works alongside somebody like Gaethje or former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who is also a top wrestler in MMA.

Colgan knows this is a fight and not a wrestling match, but he's keen to find out if Nurmagomedov is ready for everything he plans to throw at him when they finally clash.

“I think that's what I have been preaching about this whole time,†Colgan said. “He's a very well-rounded fighter, very good striking, distance management, good wrestling, good grappling as well but it's always been out of operation of offense, offense, offense and never having to consider the defense to it. July 31, we'll have those answers.â€

As far as taking the title off Nurmagomedov as he potentially reaches free agency where he's long been rumored to end up in the UFC, Colgan has nothing to do with that but he would like to show the world that elite competition absolutely exists in the PFL.

He couldn't imagine a better way to bolster the PFL lightweight division than to go out and dethrone Nurmagomedov in dominant fashion.

“I think that me going out there and doing what I believe I will do in getting the job done, it just goes to show that the PFL is very legitimate and the lightweight weight class here at the PFL is high caliber,†Colgan said. “It's up there with everybody and it's not just one guy who's up there with everybody. It's a roster of very talented guys and it should get its shine.â€

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MMA fighter Jindrich Janecka resuscitated after cardiac arrest in cage

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10 hours ago

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November 12, 2026

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MMA fighter Jindrich Janecka resuscitated after cardiac arrest in cage

Jindrich Janecka went into
cardiac arrest during his bout against Tomas
Skalicky at Cage Game 2, according to Oktagon
MMA chief medic Norbert Bidrman.

Janecka appeared hurt after a kick to the body and was later
knocked out by a punch. The bout took place under Oktagon MMA's
stand-and-bang rules, which prohibit ground fighting.

Oktagon MMA chief medic describes CPR, defibrillation and
Janecka regaining consciousness at Cage Game 2

Bidrman said the medical team performed CPR, delivered a shock and
administered oxygen. Janecka regained consciousness in the cage and
was able to speak with the team before an ambulance took him to the
hospital. Bidrman said a blow to the chest may have triggered an
abnormal heart rhythm, but the cause had not been confirmed.

“I'm the head medic here at Oktagon. We just had a very emergency
situation here, where one of the fighters, specifically Jindra,
went into a sudden cardiac arrest. After some cardiopulmonary
resuscitation, we delivered a shock. He was given oxygen and
brought back to life. He is fully oriented to place, time, and
person. And BRNO, the ambulance service, whom we greatly thank for
arriving on time, has taken him over, and he is now already at the
hospital. Jindra, I want to repeat, was already fully conscious in
the cage. He was communicating with us. And now we just want to
find the cause of why this happened. Most likely this could have
been some kind of arrhythmia caused by a blow to the chest that he
received earlier,†Bidrman said in a statement shared on X.

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MMA

UFC 334 | Pro fighters make their picks for Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes title fight

Published

19 hours ago

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November 11, 2026

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UFC 334 | Pro fighters make their picks for Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes title fight
Trending:

Josh Hokit compared to Cain Velasquez by Ciryl Gane's coach ahead of UFC 334 showdown

The UFC heads to Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, for UFC 334. In the co-main event, Kayla Harrison defends her women's bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes. Heading into the bout, Harrison is a -196 favorite while the former champ is a +152 underdog on FanDuel.

Ahead of the bout at UFC 334, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the women's bantamweight title fight. The pros believe Nunes will upset Harrison in her return and reclaim the bantamweight title.

BJPENN.com Fighter Picks Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes:

Julian Erosa, UFC featherweight: I think Nunes. She has less muscle than Harrison, and muscle takes oxygen, and I think Nunes wins in the later rounds.

Dustin Jacoby, UFC light heavyweight: This is a good fight. Amanda is coming back, so there are some questions, and she has the knockout power. But, I do think Kayla will get the win with her wrestling.

Gillian Robertson, UFC strawweight: Amanda. I've trained with and known her for a long time, so I might be bias. But I do think she is the greatest woman in combat sports, and I think Amanda won't be scared of Kayla's judo and will be aggressive on the feet with her striking.

Mario Bautista, UFC bantamweight: I think Amanda Nunes gets the win. Kayla cuts a lot of weight, and I do worry about that with how hard Amanda hits.

Modestas Bukauskas, UFC light heavyweight: A very tough fight to pick. Kayla has been great in the UFC, but I can never pick against Amanda. Although she does have a layoff, I think she wins.

Terrance McKinney, UFC lightweight: I think Kayla Harrison wins. She will be able to take Amanda down, and Nunes will get tired as we have seen in the past. Kayla defends her belt.

***

Fighters picking Kayla Harrison: Dustin Jacoby, Terrance McKinney

Fighters picking Amanda Nunes: Julian Erosa, Gillian Robertson, Mario Bautista, Modestas Bukauskas

ICYMI: Pro fighters also made their picks for the UFC 334 main event featuring Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit.

Who do you think will win the UFC 334 co-main event between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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Kayla Harrison’s coach downplays past experience with Amanda Nunes playing any real part in UFC 334 fight  

Published

1 day ago

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November 11, 2026

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Kayla Harrison’s coach downplays past experience with Amanda Nunes playing any real part in UFC 334 fight  

As Kayla Harrison prepares to face Amanda Nunes in the UFC 334 co-main event, a lot of the focus for the fight is going to center around them previously training together at American Top Team and even sharing the same coaches at times.

But Mike Brown, who previously coached Nunes and has served as Harrison's head coach since the first day she stepped foot in the gym, says that narrative is really being blown out of proportion. While Brown knows that Harrison and Nunes crossed paths from time to time, they were never that close long before they were scheduled to compete for the women's bantamweight championship.

“It's a big gym,†Brown told MMA Fighting. “There's a lot of training partners. They weren't training partners that often. Very seldom.â€

Of course, Brown gets pulled into that conversation a lot because he did coach both fighters but even that doesn't really cause a conflict of interest. At least in his book.

“I have a job,†Brown explained. “I work for Kayla and I work for ATT. That's my job. I trained with Amanda, but I was never her official head coach. But I did work with her for a handful of fights.

“But this is business. It's a big fight, and they're both going to make a bunch of money and everyone is in a good situation.â€

Now Brown obviously has an intimate knowledge about the good, the bad and the ugly working with both fighters but even that doesn't necessarily serve as an advantage.

Nunes left American Top Team, and effectively started her own gym, and that's continued as she prepares for her comeback from retirement. But Brown knows that Harrison and Nunes both have enough footage out there that the strategy come Saturday night isn't going to be some revolutionary change from what each has done in the past.

“I think they both each other's strengths and weaknesses,†Brown said. “Amanda's a big power puncher and everyone knows that. Kayla is a world class grappler and a multiple world champion, a world champion in judo, so there's no secrets in what each fighter's going to want to do.

“I don't think you would have had to coach them to figure that out. I think everyone knows what everyone wants to do here. It comes down to who can implement their game plan.â€

Since the day she started in the sport, Harrison has long talked about defining her legacy by becoming the greatest of all-time.

With two Olympic gold medals in judo along with a UFC championship and several PFL championships, Harrison could already make a compelling argument as the greatest combat sports athlete in history.

That said, Brown acknowledges that Nunes' accolades are undeniable and adding that win to her resume should help separate Harrison from any past competition when it comes to that greatest of all-time conversation.

“I believe so just because of her track record,†Brown said about Harrison. “Her near perfect record. Amanda's beaten every champion I believe at 135 except for Kayla. She's beat every champ that's ever been at the weight. That's pretty damn impressive except for Kayla. Obviously, she's done more in the sport than Kayla, but Kayla's record is near perfect. One blemish with [Larissa] Pacheco in their third fight. She had beat her twice before that.

“She's clearly head and shoulders above the competition. She also has a very high finish rate I would consider her the greatest of all-time if she wins this fight.â€

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