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Javier Mendez recently made a bold claim regarding who he considers the top lightweights in the world and noted that two Bellator fighters are in the top four. He explained his reasoning and held the two in high regard in terms of how they should be viewed by fans.
The AKA head coach has witnessed the top lightweights in the sport up close and personal, especially considering experience coaching the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev. Mendez is a well-respected coach, so his opinion holds a lot of merit.
During the latest episode of his podcast, the AKA coach recapped his pupil Usman Nurmagomedov's successful title defense against Alexandr Shabliy this past Saturday at Bellator Champions Series: San Diego. Mendez mentioned that he has a great deal of respect for Shabliy and believes that both he and Nurmagomedov are among the top four lightweights in the world regardless of promotion:
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"The sky's the limit for [Nurmagomedov], he's unreal. To me, I stand by what I said, he's the second best [lightweight] in the world. Only Islam Makhachev is above him and that's pound-for-pound the number-one guy in the world, rightfully so and Usman is right behind him. And I think [Alexandr] Shabliy is either number three or number four in the world. I really believe that also." [13:28 - 13:50]
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Check out the full episode of Javier Mendez's podcast below:
Javier Mendez names who he'd like Usman Nurmagomedov to defend his lightweight title against
In addition to naming who he considers to be among the top four lightweights in MMA, Javier Mendez named who he would like to see Usman Nurmagomedov defend his Bellator lightweight championship against next.
During the aforementioned podcast, Mendez noted that the promotion's upcoming event in Dubai this coming January would be the ideal location. He mentioned that he would like to see Nurmagomedov fight former Bellator featherweight champion and Grand Prix winner AJ McKee, who is unbeaten since moving to 155 pounds:
"I know [AJ] McKee wanted to fight Usman [Nurmagomedov] in that million dollar [Bellator Grand Prix] tournament. That was part of the deal, [Bellator] wanted [him] to meet with Usman and we wanted that too because McKee is top notch. You know, it would be a high-profile match, we definitely want that match." [12:40 - 12:56]
Check out Usman Nurmagomedov addressing his next bout below:
