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Usman Nurmagomedov welcomes ‘little short’ guy Archie Colgan to try and wrestle him: ‘He’s not going to win’

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9 hours ago

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Usman Nurmagomedov welcomes ‘little short’ guy Archie Colgan to try and wrestle him: ‘He’s not going to win’

Usman Nurmagomedov has been one of the most dominant fighters in the PFL but much like his coach and cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov, there's always going to be certain stylistic matchups that makes it look like he's vulnerable.

Throughout Khabib's illustrious career, the question always came up ‘what happens if he faces a dominant wrestler?' The former UFC lightweight champion answered by putting together a perfect 29-0 record before retiring from the sport to focus on coaching.

Now it's Usman's turn to provide his own answers as he takes on former college wrestler turned top lightweight contender Archie Colgan in his latest title defense. But don't expect the reigning PFL lightweight king to show any fear going up against another wrestler in his latest title defense.

“He's a little short, uncomfortable fighter,†Nurmagomedov said about Colgan when speaking to MMA Fighting. “He's wrestling very well but I'm from Dagestsan. I can wrestle, I can grapple, I can do Muay Thai. I can do anything. Whatever he will compete with me, I am going to be better at. All respect for Archie and his team. He's not going to win.

“I don't think he's going to take me down. This is very hard to take me down, to be honest. I know how I have to fight with little short guys. I always love to fight with the little short guys. I have a longer reach. I can control everything.â€

While the wrestling question is going to come up often leading into this main event clash, Nurmagomedov is quick to point out that he's not wrestling Colgan — they are fighting. Nurmagomedov is confident he can match Colgan anywhere on the feet or on the ground and if they want to settle the wrestling debate there's another way that can happen.

“I think I'm going to grapple with him, too,†Nurmagomedov said. “I think I can take him down. My wrestling is not bad. We can do it like this. I'm going to beat him or knock him down, I know I'm going to beat this guy. For the people if they want to see who is better in the wrestling, we can do it in RAF.â€

If anything, Nurmagomedov really hopes that Colgan can bring out the best in him because that's what he always wants when he's going out to defend his title.

“I think I have a big potential inside of me,†Nurmagomedov said. “I have very big ambitions. I just need somebody with who I can show this for the people.â€

As far as the future goes, Nurmagomedov is undoubtedly going to be bombarded with questions about what comes next as he competes on Friday's PFL card on the final fight of his contract.

There's been heavy speculation that Nurmagomedov plans to leave PFL and sign with the UFC, especially now that his teammate and friend Islam Makhachev left the lightweight division to compete at welterweight instead.

Nurmagomedov hasn't made any decisions yet and he's doing his absolute best to shut out all the noise until after his fight.

He knows getting distracted is the perfect recipe for disaster if he's not putting his full focus on Colgan and the fight directly ahead of him.

“Archie, he's undefeated,†Nurmagomedov said. “You can't stay like this for a long time [being undefeated] if you're not in the top five. That's why he's the No. 1 contender and of course, he wants to take everything what I have.

“I don't want to look ahead and thinking about the future for my career. I have a fight. I have a name. We're going to fight. I have a fight and we have to do this.â€

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MMA

Dan Hooker vows to ruin Salahdine Parnasse’s UFC debut at UFC Paris

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1 minute ago

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July 30, 2026

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Dan Hooker vows to ruin Salahdine Parnasse’s UFC debut at UFC Paris
Dan
Hooker is eager to “ruin†Salahdine
Parnasse's
Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

The longtime UFC lightweight will square off against the former
two-division
KSW champion in the
UFC Paris main event on Sept. 5 at Accor Arena. While the
French standout looks to announce himself on the sport’s biggest
stage, Hooker plans to silence the home crowd.

Dan Hooker targets Salahdine Parnasse's UFC arrival in UFC
Paris main event

Hooker has revealed that the bout announcement was quickly followed
by a barrage of hostile messages from Parnasse’s supporters,
including death threats.

“The death threats have been outrageous,†Hooker told Submission
Radio. “I didn't get it when I fought [Benoit St.
Denis]. French people have been speaking French and telling me
I'm going to die and telling me they're going to kill me… Whoever
this c*nt's fans are, they're outrageous. It's going to feel pretty
sweet to shut this kid's lights out and making these guys eat their
words.â€

The Kiwi added that he's excited at the opportunity to upset the
French crowd by derailing Parnasse’s hype train.

“I'm here to ruin hopes and dreams,†Hooker said. “This kid wants
to come in, make a name for himself, crack the Top 10; he wants to
be a superstar. Well, I'm going to fly to France, and I'm going to
f*ck everyone's night up. That is my plan.â€

Parnasse (23-2) previously turned down the UFC and fought on the
first-ever MMA event on Netflix under the
Most Valuable Promotions banner. The UFC then returned with a
far better offer, hence the main event slot and ranked opponent in
Hooker (24-14).

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MMA

Colby Covington vs. Belal Muhammad back on for RAF Crossover title fight

Published

2 hours ago

on

July 30, 2026

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Colby Covington vs. Belal Muhammad back on for RAF Crossover title fight
Two
Ultimate Fighting Championship-inspired crossover title bouts
are officially headed to Real American Freestyle.

Rivalries involving Colby
Covington, Belal
Muhammad, Merab
Dvalishvili and Henry
Cejudo are set to headline the promotion’s next two events. RAF
recently announced that Dvalishvili will meet Cejudo in the main
event of RAF 12 on Aug. 22 in Cleveland, while Covington will
defend his cruiserweight crossover championship against Muhammad at
RAF 13 on Sept. 19 in Miami.

Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad bring UFC rivalry to Real
American Freestyle RAF 13

Both Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo and Muhammad vs. Covington will be
contested for crossover championships, a division created to allow
active and former UFC fighters to compete on the wrestling
mats.

Covington became the inaugural cruiserweight crossover champion
with a victory over UFC lightweight Arman
Tsarukyan at RAF 11 in July. Muhammad confronted Covington
during the post-event press conference, igniting a brawl that
immediately fueled talk of a showdown between the longtime rivals.
While the matchup was initially targeted for RAF 12, promotion
officials have now pushed it back to the September event.

Dvalishvili and Cejudo will instead headline RAF 12. Their rematch
will crown the inaugural lightweight crossover champion. RAF 12
will also feature a stacked undercard, including Jordan Burroughs
vs. Sean
Brady, Bo Nickal vs.
Max McEnelly and Tyron
Woodley vs. Joaquin
Buckley.

A catchweight matchup between social media personalities Larry
Wheels and Mike Holston, better known as “The Real Tarzann,” has
also been added to the RAF 13 lineup.

Championship bouts include Evan Wick vs. Jason Nolf for the RAF
middleweight title, David Carr vs. Tajmuraz Salkazanov for the
welterweight crown and Kennedy Blades vs. Diana
Avsaragova for the women’s middleweight belt. Elsewhere,
Gable
Steveson faces Anthony Cassioppi, while Vladimer
Khinchegashvili, Jesse Mendez, Johnni DiJulius, Asu
Almabayev, Masanosuke Ono, Ben Davino and Will Lewan are also
scheduled to compete.


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MMA

Jan Blachowicz’s comeback faces a dangerous new threat at UFC Belgrade

Published

4 hours ago

on

July 30, 2026

By

Jan Blachowicz’s comeback faces a dangerous new threat at UFC Belgrade
Jan
Blachowicz’s journey back to title contention has taken another
unexpected turn.

The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder
was originally slated to rematch Bogdan
Guskov at
UFC Belgrade on Aug. 1 in Serbia. However, those plans changed
when Guskov was offered the
UFC Abu Dhabi main event spot against Magomed
Ankalaev following Khalil
Rountree’s withdrawal.

As such, Blachowicz (29-11-2) will now square off against Navajo
Stirling in the new co-main event in Belgrade and the Polish
veteran is unfazed by the change.

Jan Blachowicz prepares for UFC Belgrade fight against Navajo
Stirling

After Guskov accepted the short-notice bout against Ankalaev,
Blachowicz was paired with Stirling. The former champion insists
little has changed in his preparation.

“I am doing this all my life,†Blachowicz said in a recent
interview. “It's a new opponent. I have a lot of respect for him,
but it’s just another fighter who I have to stop. I don't think
about this mess around because I don't want to waste energy for
that. Okay, it's a new opponent; that's it. We do small changes and
we are here to win the fight against him, or a different opponent
doesn't matter.â€

The upcoming matchup gives Blachowicz an opportunity to halt the
longest winless stretch of his UFC tenure. He has gone four
straight outings without a victory and is coming off a majority
draw against Guskov this past December. His last win came all the
way back in May 2022 when he defeated Aleksandar
Rakic.

He'll have his work cut out for him against the surging Stirling,
who boasts a perfect 10-0 record.

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