Connect with us

MMA

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

Published

3 months ago

on

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€

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MMA

Joaquin Buckley vows to livestream UFC comeback after 3 straight losses

Published

3 hours ago

on

October 19, 2026

By

Joaquin Buckley vows to livestream UFC comeback after 3 straight losses
Joaquin
Buckley remains undeterred after his third consecutive defeat
in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Buckley faced Mike Malott in the Canadian's home country at

UFC Edmonton on Saturday. Malott landed a knee in the second
round and followed with a punch before the referee stopped the
bout. Despite the setback, “New Mansa†remains optimistic about his
future.

Joaquin Buckley plans to document his rebuild after Mike
Malott’s UFC Edmonton knockout

Buckley won six straight fights before his current skid. He now
plans to livestream his efforts to rebuild, inviting fans to follow
the process.

“Right now, we rebuilding and I want y'all to see the process, not
just the results,†Buckley wrote in the caption of his postfight
Instagram post. “The highs, the lows, and everything it takes to
become who God called me to be.â€

In the accompanying video, Buckley said he wants to share his
training and introduce fans to his team.

“I realize that I want to document everything,†Buckley said. “I
want to document the process, I want to document the work, I want
to document the team. This is really just starting back over from
scratch; creating a new foundation and making something happen… I'm
not going to stop; I'm going to keep working. And I'll make sure
that everybody remembers that name.â€

Continue Reading

MMA

Joaquin Buckley vows to livestream UFC comeback after 3 straight losses

Published

3 hours ago

on

October 19, 2026

By

Joaquin Buckley vows to livestream UFC comeback after 3 straight losses
Joaquin
Buckley remains undeterred after his third consecutive defeat
in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Buckley faced Mike Malott in the Canadian's home country at

UFC Edmonton on Saturday. Malott landed a knee in the second
round and followed with a punch before the referee stopped the
bout. Despite the setback, “New Mansa†remains optimistic about his
future.

Joaquin Buckley plans to document his rebuild after Mike
Malott’s UFC Edmonton knockout

Buckley won six straight fights before his current skid. He now
plans to livestream his efforts to rebuild, inviting fans to follow
the process.

“Right now, we rebuilding and I want y'all to see the process, not
just the results,†Buckley wrote in the caption of his postfight
Instagram post. “The highs, the lows, and everything it takes to
become who God called me to be.â€

In the accompanying video, Buckley said he wants to share his
training and introduce fans to his team.

“I realize that I want to document everything,†Buckley said. “I
want to document the process, I want to document the work, I want
to document the team. This is really just starting back over from
scratch; creating a new foundation and making something happen… I'm
not going to stop; I'm going to keep working. And I'll make sure
that everybody remembers that name.â€

Continue Reading

MMA

16-0 Farid Basharat fires back at Dana White over UFC exit comments

Published

21 hours ago

on

October 19, 2026

By

16-0 Farid Basharat fires back at Dana White over UFC exit comments
Farid
Basharat is pushing back against suggestions that he was
difficult to work with.

Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana
White addressed Basharat's departure after
UFC Edmonton. White suggested there were reasons beyond the
unbeaten bantamweight's results for the decision not to renew his
contract, prompting a response.

Farid Basharat denies refusing UFC fights, cites Victor Hugo
weight miss and torn MCL

The UFC did not offer Basharat (16-0) a new contract despite his
7-0 promotional record. After White raised difficulties with
matchmakers and declined fights as possible reasons for such
departures, “Ferocious†reiterated that he had never turned down an
opponent and cited instances in which he competed under unfavorable
circumstances.

Basharat pointed to his victory over Victor Hugo, who weighed 145.5
pounds for their originally scheduled bantamweight bout in 2024 —
9.5 pounds above the non-title limit. He also said he competed with
a torn medial collateral ligament in his knee during his
Dana White's Contender Series appearance in 2022.

“He kind of alluded to, maybe I was turning down fights, or maybe I
was difficult to deal with,†Basharat said on Instagram. “I
definitely didn't turn nobody down. In fact, we're talking about
the same guy that, in Abu Dhabi, I fought in 2024; my opponent
missed weight by 10 pounds and I still went ahead with the fight…
Still put on a good show and won. In my Contender Series fight, I
had a torn MCL, still went ahead with the fight… These are facts
you can ask your UFC staff; you can ask the physio team.â€

Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending