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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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3 weeks 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

Yair Rodriguez out, Jose Delgado steps in against Jean Silva at Noche UFC 4

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2 minutes ago

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August 19, 2026

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Yair Rodriguez out, Jose Delgado steps in against Jean Silva at Noche UFC 4
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship's fourth edition of Noche UFC
reportedly has a new main event.

Jean
Silva was originally scheduled to face Yair
Rodriguez in the main event at
Noche UFC 4 on Sept. 12 at the Desert Diamond Arena in
Glendale, Arizona. However, per a new report by Guilherme Cruz, Rodriguez has pulled out for unknown
reasons and will now be replaced by Jose
Delgado.

Jose Delgado replaces Yair Rodriguez in Jean Silva's Noche UFC
4 main event

Delgado (12-2) is 4-1 in the UFC since making his Octagon debut in
2024. Coming off decision wins over Andre Fili
and Austin
Bashi, he will face his biggest step up in competition by far
against Silva (17-3).

Meanwhile, Silva is coming off a decision win over Arnold
Allen, rebounding from his lone UFC loss to Diego
Lopes. “Lord†had finished all five of his previous UFC
opponents before losing to Lopes. The Brazilian reacted to the
change of opponent on X.

“Hunter took care of everything, we have a new target,†Silva
posted on X. “New opponent, same date, same goal.â€

Rodriguez (20-5) is now facing backlash for yet another withdrawal.
“El Pantera†hasn't fought since a win over Patricio
Freire last April, which saw him rebound from consecutive
stoppage losses to Alexander
Volkanovski and Brian
Ortega.

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MMA

Joshua Van reflects on knockout loss that changed his life

Published

3 hours ago

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August 19, 2026

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Joshua Van reflects on knockout loss that changed his life
Joshua
Van hasn’t forgotten the night Charles
Johnson handed him the first loss of his
Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Over two years after being stopped by Johnson, Van has gone from
prospect to UFC flyweight champion. The 24-year-old will return to
the Octagon on Sept. 19, when he rematches former champion Alexandre
Pantoja in the UFC
331 main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Joshua Van details how KO loss to Charles Johnson ‘humbled'
him

Van was stopped by Johnson via a third-round knockout in July 2024,
a setback that remains the second and most recent loss of his
professional career. He has since won seven straight fights and
captured the flyweight championship from Pantoja before defending
it against Tatsuro
Taira.

Speaking to Paramount+, Van explained how the defeat changed his
approach to training and discipline.

“Oh, for sure. I want to stay active,†Van said. “Like I say, that
loss kind of humbled me in a way. So, I never want to taste defeat
again. So, my work ethic that I put in the gym is just different
from that day on.â€

Van said that he doesn’t believe he needed to completely overhaul
his fighting style after the loss. Instead, he said the focus was
on remaining himself and avoiding the mistakes that preceded the
Johnson bout.

“Going into that camp, there’s a lot of things that I did that I
shouldn’t have done,†Van added. “Stuff like that, but there’s no
excuse… He beat me fair and square. And it humbled me to become a
better fighter.â€

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MMA

UFC 332 adds four bouts as Salt Lake City card takes shape

Published

4 hours ago

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August 19, 2026

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UFC 332 adds four bouts as Salt Lake City card takes shape
The lineup for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship's next trip to Utah is taking
shape.

Four bouts have been added to UFC 332,
scheduled for Oct. 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Notably, no
championship bouts have been announced for the card as yet, despite
the title fights for
UFC 333 already locked in and made public.

Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Payton Talbott and Johnny Walker vs.
Mick Parkin join UFC 332

Payton
Talbott (11-1) will look to build on the biggest win of his
career after defeating former two-division champion Henry
Cejudo by unanimous decision in December last year. The
27-year-old will take on another former UFC champ, Deiveson
Figueiredo (25-7-1), in his next bout. Talbott has won his last
two fights since suffering the lone defeat of his career to
Raoni
Barcelos.

Meanwhile, Figueiredo will attempt to halt a two-fight skid. The
former 125-pound champion has dropped four of his past five bouts,
with his lone victory in that stretch coming via split decision
against Montel
Jackson.

Also joining the UFC 332 card is a heavyweight clash between
Johnny
Walker (22-10) and Mick Parkin
(10-1). Both fighters enter the matchup coming off losses. Walker
is committing to a move up to heavyweight after a turbulent run at
205 pounds.

An explosive clash of strikers has also been confirmed for the
card, with Ateba
Abega Gautier (11-1) set to square off against Roman
Kopylov (15-5). Furthermore, Damian
Pinas, who competed at
UFC 329, takes on Andrey
Pulyaev.

Other previously confirmed matchups for the card include the return
of former title challenger Marvin
Vettori and Court
McGee's retirement bout.

The latest UFC 332 lineup, as of Aug. 18, is as follows:

Deiveson
Figueiredo vs. Payton
Talbott
Mick
Parkin vs. Johnny
Walker
Ateba
Abega Gautier vs. Roman
Kopylov
Damian
Pinas vs. Andrey
Pulyaev
Ismail
Naurdiev vs. Marvin
Vettori
Alden
Coria vs. Imanol
Rodriguez
Court
McGee vs. Eric
Nolan

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