Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the most impressive fighters in the UFC (Image credit: Getty)
Khabib Nurmagomedov thinks there is a new #1 pound-for-pound fighter in UFC after his retirement
Kamaru Usman has been called the new #1 pound-for-pound fighter in UFC by Khabib Nurmagomedov recently.
It is, of course, the Russian that held that honour before making his MMA retirement official last month.
Now, light heavyweight legend Jon Jones has reclaimed that position. But ‘The Eagle’ stated that his training partner, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, deserves that spot.
Usman has, of course, just lost once in his entire professional MMA career, which was almost 8 years back. He is still undefeated in the UFC.
He has won 13 consecutive fights in the promotion and is the undisputed UFC welterweight champion ever since he got the belt from Tyron Woodley at UFC 235..
This includes 3 back-to-back title defences, the last of which came at UFC 258 when he dismantled Gilbert Burns to score a round 3 TKO win.
And Usman reacted to Khabib calling him the #1 PFP fighter in the promotion as the Nigerian spoke to ESPN MMA earlier this week.
“It’s a big honour. I know myself, what I think about the situation and it’s a big honour to have someone, who was the number 1, acknowledge that. Because now that he is out of the rankings, why shouldn’t I be number 1?”
In a sly dig to Jones, who currently holds that spot, Usman states that right now, he is better than everyone else.
Jones has 14 title fight wins to his name but his last two fights have come by way of decision, which many think he even went on to lose.
“Are we talking about number 1 ever, in the history of the sport? Or are we talking about number 1 right now. Because right now, since Khabib is retired I’m the only guy who is active and doing it on that level.”
Usman now has to defend his belt against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 in a rematch of their UFC 251 title bout, which the defending champion won.
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