Outside Source
PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov (21-0) will look to defend his title against fellow undefeated fighter Archie Colgan (13-0) on July 31 at UBS Arena in Long Island, New York. This is the last fight on the current contract of Nurmagomedov.
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Martin recently revealed that the PFL hasn’t talked to Nurmagomedov yet about the renewal of his contract. Martin wants to see how things play out after Nurmagomedov’s fight against Colgan. While Martin would love for Nurmagomedov to continue with the PFL, he is not too bothered about the concept of a longtime lightweight champion going elsewhere. Martin believes that, like the Ultimate Fighting Championship, PFL should prioritise its brand over any single athlete. Martin is looking to build a system where they can build multiple stars under the PFL brand.
“For Nurmagomedov, his legacy is clear,” Martin told Home of Fight. “He is a fantastic champion… This is his last fight under the agreement. We haven’t engaged in any discussions with him yet. Let’s get through the fight and see what he wants to do. He’s a great part of the PFL. We love having him here. And if it makes sense for us to keep him, and he wants to do it, we’d love to have him stay. We just have to wait and see what happens. If he really wants to go off and go somewhere else, then we’ll have to deal with that, too. In our job and in our position, and it’s something the UFC has done brilliantly throughout the years, is that the brand really has to be first and foremost. Then you have a portfolio of fighters and an ecosystem of finding the next great star early in their career. And I think we’ve got a number of those really exciting young fighters coming up. And then you try to create stars and then keep them for as long as you can, as long as it makes sense. But there’s no one star or two stars that will effectively represent the entire organization.”
🤩 PFL CEO John Martin says he has no issue with Usman Nurmagomedov moving to UFC after his next fight which is last in his PFL contract.
PFL plans to make Usman an offer, but Martin says the company isn’t focused on creating individual stars, they’re focused on building a… pic.twitter.com/k1KNLD2tki
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) June 9, 2026
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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