Usman Nurmagomedov is arguably the hottest free agent in MMA right now, and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, believes he would make light work of Ilia Topuria in a potential UFC debut.
Abdelaziz has such confidence in his client that he is even willing to cover Nurmagomedov’s fight purse out of his own pocket if the UFC were to book Topuria as his debut opponent.
The Dominance MMA CEO has been campaigning for some time for UFC matchmakers to book Topuria vs. Nurmagomedov immediately if the PFL lightweight champion makes his move to the world’s premier MMA promotion.
During a recent interview with Submission Radio, Abdelaziz was asked whether he’d welcome a matchup between Nurmagomedov and Topuria; he responded:
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“If the UFC wanted to do that, I’d pay the difference from my pocket. If it’s $1M or something from my pocket, I will cover Usman’s purse. I’d love to see that. I think Ilia cannot beat Usman. And I’m not saying Usman is gonna run through everybody, that it’s gonna be easy. Of course it’s never easy, but I believe one of his best matchups is stylistically against Ilia.”
Furthermore, Abdelaziz explained why he believes Topuria is a favorable stylistic matchup for his client, saying:
“He’s 5 foot 7. Usman is almost 5 foot 11. He can kick like a horse, and he has power like a mule. And he is fast, and he moves like water. It’s hard to get a hold of this guy, man.”
Check out Usman Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz’s comments below (31:35):
Ali Abdelaziz says Usman Nurmagomedov is superior to Ilia Topuria
Ali Abdelaziz has long maintained that Usman Nurmagomedov is the worst stylistic matchup for Ilia Topuria and believes ‘El Matador’ cannot match his client in any facet of MMA.
During the aforementioned interview, the MMA manager insisted that the former UFC lightweight champion can’t match his client in either stand-up exchanges or on the ground, saying:
“I think [Nurmagomedov] is the worst matchup for Ilia Topuria… What is Ilia gonna do to him? Box with him? No. Kickbox with him? No. Take him down? Good luck with that. It’s my belief, you know.” [29:16 mark of the interview]
Edited by Ujwal Jain
