Usman Nurmagomedov prepares for title defense against Archie Colgan

Usman Nurmagomedov knocked out Archie Colgan in the first round to retain the PFL Lightweight World Championship in the PFL New York main event on Friday. UBS Arena played host to an night of mixed martial arts as PFL New York lit up the Big Apple with unforgettable performances and ...

Usman Nurmagomedov demolished Archie Colgan with a first-round KO at PFL New York

Usman Nurmagomedov just made a statement to the lightweight division, and to Dana White. On Saturday night, Nurmagomedov put his PFL lightweight title on the line against Archie Colgan in the main event of PFL New York at UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York. It was the final fight of Nurmagomedov’s PFL contract, and with his eyes potentially set on a move to the UFC, Nurmagomedov wanted to make a statement. He did exactly that. Nurmagomedov demolished the undefeated Colgan, setting him up across the first round with front kicks and teeps to the body, before switching to a question mark kick that cracked Colgan upside the head, sending him to the canvas. Colgan did his best to survive, and quickly got to his feet, but Nurmagomedov stepped on the gas, dropping him a second time with an uppercut. That time, Colgan didn’t get up, and Nurmagomedov jumped on top with strikes, only to get pulled off moments later by the referee. USMAN NURMAGOMEDOV WITH THE FIRST ROUND KO 😱#PFLNY | Main Card Live NOW on ESPN pic.twitter.com/mikFN1ZLFx — PFL (@PFLMMA) August 1, 2026 slow motion pic.twitter.com/z2KYdkBVzG — Open Note Grappling 📝 (@OpenNoteGrapple) August 1, 2026 After the fight, Nurmagomedov kicked off his free agency by saying he’ll see what Dana White is offering, before then addressing new PFL co-owner Jake Paul. “Money will,” Nurmagomedov said when asked what will keep him in the PFL. “Why? Jake Paul talks about Dana White doesn’t pay his fighters. Now’s his chance to show how he pays people when they deserve it. 22-0, undefeated, undisputed lightweight champion of the world. Do we think I deserve it?”

Usman Nurmagomedov ended his current PFL contract with a BANG!

This is the live blog for Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Archie Colgan, the lightweight title fight main event on Friday’s PFL card at UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York. One of the best fighters in the world outside of the UFC, Nurmagomedov has never lost in the cage, amassing a 21-0, 1 no-contest record in MMA. Hailing from the famed Nurmagomedov Eagle Fight Team, Nurmagomedov has already followed in the footsteps of his teammates, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, by capturing lightweight gold, but on the final fight of his PFL contract, Usman might soon leave the promotion to pursue the UFC lightweight title. Also undefeated, Colgan sports a 13-0 professional MMA record, with most of those bouts coming under the Bellator banner. Colgan has gone 2-0 in the PFL, most recently winning a unanimous decision over Jay Jay Wilson in October, setting himself up for this lightweight title opportunity. Check out the live blog for Nurmagomedov vs. Colgan below. Preamble Well, that is shocking. Ditcheva was so underwhelming that they didn’t even give her an interview. Can Usman save the day? Pre Fight Colgan gets a quick walkout while the commentary team is talking. Usman jogs to the cage with a bit more fanfare. He’s ready to get down to business. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Official Decision Post Fight

Live play-by-play updates of Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Archie Colgan, the PFL New York main event

WICHITA, KS - JUNE 20: Archie Colgan looks on before fighting Mansour Barnaoui during the semifinals of the PFL 2025 World Tournament at INTRUST Bank Arena on June 20, 2025 in Wichita, Florida. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) | Getty Images Archie Colgan has been not so quietly waiting for his title opportunity and he finally gets his chance when he faces lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov in the PFL New York main event Friday. With an undefeated record and coming from the same camp as UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, Colgan has been chasing this fight ever since he was in Bellator, but his climb to the top took a little longer than expected. Colgan admits it angered him a little bit to watch other contenders get that opportunity while he was still waiting, but he’s putting all that behind him now that the title fight is official. “Three years ago, two and a half years ago when he first won the belt in Bellator, that became the goal,” Colgan told MMA Fighting. “That became the guy that I was like that’s who we’re chasing. That’s who we went to beat. That’s who we want to beat for the Bellator world title and then they got purchased and it became the PFL world title. None of that has changed. “It’s been the same goal. It’s been consistent. To get the opportunity I set the goal against, it’s what I want. The frustrations are real. When we were talking about this, it was real frustration. Now the frustration, not that it’s gone, but we’re going to see now. Now it’s time.” So much of the narrative around this fight has been built around two tenets: How will Nurmagomedov fare against another high-level wrestler and is this his final fight in the PFL with one bout left on his current contract? Colgan can’t concern himself with the latter, but as a lifetime wrestler who spent four years at Wyoming competing Big 12 conference, he knows what it takes to deal with the best grapplers in the world. It also doesn’t hurt that he works alongside somebody like Gaethje or former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who is also a top wrestler in MMA. View this post on Instagram Colgan knows this is a fight and not a wrestling match, but he’s keen to find out if Nurmagomedov is ready for everything he plans to throw at him when they finally clash. “I think that’s what I have been preaching about this whole time,” Colgan said. “He’s a very well-rounded fighter, very good striking, distance management, good wrestling, good grappling as well but it’s always been out of operation of offense, offense, offense and never having to consider the defense to it. July 31, we’ll have those answers.” As far as taking the title off Nurmagomedov as he potentially reaches free agency where he’s long been rumored to end up in the UFC, Colgan has nothing to do with that but he would like to show the world that elite competition absolutely exists in the PFL. He couldn’t imagine a better way to bolster the PFL lightweight division than to go out and dethrone Nurmagomedov in dominant fashion. “I think that me going out there and doing what I believe I will do in getting the job done, it just goes to show that the PFL is very legitimate and the lightweight weight class here at the PFL is high caliber,” Colgan said. “It’s up there with everybody and it’s not just one guy who’s up there with everybody. It’s a roster of very talented guys and it should get its shine.”

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - SEPTEMBER 30: Usman Nurmagomedov speaks to media during the media day ahead of PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai on September 30, 2025 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) | Getty Images 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.” 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.” 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.” 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.”

Usman Nurmagomedov isn’t afraid to grapple with Archie Colgan in their title fight