Beyond the UFC - Coach Javier Mendez highlights the world’s second-best undefeated lightweight fighter outside the Octagon

The world of MMA has seen some of the finest fighters who excelled in the sport and were not part of the highly decorated promotion, UFC. One of the most prominent fighters was Fedor Emelianenko, who took the combat sport to a different level without ever joining the promotion. In a recent episode of Redhawk Recap, coach Javier Mendez talked about one such fighter who probably would never join the UFC and credited him as the second-best lightweight fighter after Islam Makhachev.Islam Makhachev, the former UFC lightweight champion, recently vacated the title to move up to the welterweight division, intending to challenge the newly crowned welterweight champion, Jack Della Maddalena. This has placed the former featherweight Ilia Topuria against Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317. Topuria instantly predicted his successful lightweight conquest and plans to take his MMA record to 17-0 post- bout. Oliveira, on the other hand, is on a mission to reclaim his title, which was previously lost to Islam Makhachev. While analysing the upcoming events within the UFC, Makhachev’s coach, Javier Mendez, talked about the unsung fighters of the sport. The coach was asked about the possibility of one such fighter joining the UFC - Usman Nurmagomedov. The current PFL and former Bellator lightweight champion is the younger brother of Umar Nurmagomedov, the UFC bantamweight fighter and cousin of the former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Usman has shown extraordinary skills inside the ring and has taken his undefeated strike record to 19-0. His last win was a title run against Paul Hughes at the PFL Champion Series, Dubai. When asked if the fighter would ever be a part of the UFC, Coach Mendez dismissed the idea saying, “No. Usman, you know, he is with the PFL. And no, there is no talks about it. I mean they are taking good care of him.” He continued, “But you know at the end of the day, the contracts are up when the contracts are up. So, whoever bids the highest and then if the fighter wants to go, that’s where the fighter will go. But the present time, he has got an obligation to the PFL.”Coach Mendez even went on to tag the fighter as the second best in the lightweight category across the world after Islam Makhachev. “I happen to think and I have said it on many occasions, I think he is the second-best lightweight in the world.”Also read: “Ilia will KO both of them” - Fans troll Jean Silva as the fighter proposes to spar with Charles Oliveira ahead of UFC 317Usman has maintained the legacy of his family’s tradition of the undefeated streak. Khabib retired with a 29-0 pro-MMA record. Usman’s brother Umar was also riding on a 17-0 undefeated streak before getting handed his first defeat by Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311.