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Usman Nurmagomedov has spent enough time hearing about the UFC lightweight monster, and now he is swinging back at the whole top-10 conversation. The PFL lightweight champion, already tied to a possible UFC move after Khabib Nurmagomedov called him the next great lightweight behind Islam Makhachev, took aim at Paddy Pimblett, Ilia Topuria, Arman Tsarukyan, and the idea that the UFC field is automatically miles ahead of everyone else. The timing is spicy because Nurmagomedov just closed his latest run with a first-round knockout of Archie Colgan. That win made him one of the loudest names around the 155-pound market, and he is talking like a man who believes the UFC shark tank has been getting a little too much mythology around it. Here is the translated clip making the rounds: Usman Nurmagomedov isn't impressed with the current UFC lightweight roster 👀 "Just look at these guys in the UFC who are sitting in the top 10. They just keep fighting each other and staying in the top 10. That's it. Chandler is in the top 15. Pimblett lost to a 37 year old… pic.twitter.com/I5ijZlwAdH — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 27, 2026 Nurmagomedov did not do the usual vague fighter dance where everyone respects everyone and then quietly asks for a belt. He started naming names and throwing elbows. “Just look at these guys in the UFC who are sitting in the top-10. They just keep fighting each other and staying in the top-10. That’s it. [Michael] Chandler is in the top-15. [Paddy] Pimblett lost to a 37 year old veteran,” Nurmagomedov said in the translated interview. Nurmagomedov Turns The UFC Door Into A Lightweight Argument The sharper part came when he moved from Pimblett to the bigger names circling the belt picture. Nurmagomedov pointed at Topuria’s loss, Tsarukyan’s defeats to Mateusz Gamrot and Islam Makhachev, and his own title activity as proof that the gap between his current lane and the UFC lane is being oversold. “[Ilia] Topuria, who was praising, lost, sat down on his stool and said, ‘I’m not continuing.’ Arman [Tsarukyan] lost to [Matuesz] Gamrot and Islam [Makhachev]. He sits around waiting, fights once a year and says he’s the best fighter in the world. While he’s had two fights, I made four title defenses.” He added one more swing at the machine around the division. “People can talk about how strong the UFC’s PR machine is, but I wouldn’t say their fights are necessarily that much stronger.” That is the kind of talk that gets a lightweight thrown into an absolute meat grinder if the contract math ever works. The UFC’s 155-pound group is still packed with recognizable names, even if the belt picture keeps turning into a traffic jam. Pimblett has been part of that noise before, including when he compared Arman Tsarukyan and Ilia Topuria as lightweight problems, while Topuria and Tsarukyan have had their own nasty debate about who really has the better path to gold. Umar Nurmagomedov has also backed his brother’s level, saying Usman can compete with Justin Gaethje, Topuria, Tsarukyan, Mauricio Ruffy, and anyone else in the world. He kept one foot on the brake by making clear that Usman’s next move is his own decision, but nobody around Team Nurmagomedov is pretending the UFC names are untouchable. The matchmaking part is where this gets nasty. A UFC arrival would not come with a soft welcome basket. Tsarukyan is still one of the division’s hardest style problems, Topuria remains one of the biggest names attached to the title scene, and Pimblett brings the kind of attention that can turn any fight week into a circus. Nurmagomedov has already heard Daniel Cormier push back on Team Khabib’s confidence around the lightweight race, and Javier Mendez has warned that tossing him straight into a UFC title shot would be a dangerous play. Now Usman is questioning the depth of the division out loud. That is gasoline looking for a matchmaker.