Petr Yan and Movsar Evloev were asked to pick the best active Russian fighter in the UFC, and they came up with VERY different answers 👀 Yan went with Islam Makhachev, while Evloev picked Umar Nurmagomedov. 🇷🇺 Do you agree with their picks? 🤷 Via @ufconparamount Who is the best active Russian UFC fighter according to you? 🤔 #ufc #mma #petryan #mmarussia #russia
Two Russian stars offered split opinions on who stands as the top active Russian fighter in the UFC, with Petr Yan siding with Islam Makhachev and Movsar Evloev backing Umar Nurmagomedov in a segment that aired on UFC on Paramount.
Makhachev, 29-1, is the reigning welterweight champion and holds the number-one spot in the pound-for-pound rankings. The 34-year-old Dagestan native trains out of Eagles MMA and has built his dominance on a blend of suffocating grappling — averaging 3.22 takedowns per fifteen minutes — and above-average striking efficiency, landing 58 percent of his significant strikes at a pace of 2.27 per minute.
Nurmagomedov, the man Evloev endorsed, is ranked fourth in the bantamweight division at 20-2 and is coming into his prime at 30 years old. Also representing Eagles MMA and Russia, the orthodox southpaw is one of the busier strikers in his weight class, landing 3.76 significant strikes per minute at 56 percent accuracy, while also averaging 3.94 takedowns per fifteen minutes. He is widely regarded as one of the most complete prospects in the 135-pound division.
Evloev himself is no afterthought in the conversation. The 32-year-old featherweight sits at number one in his division with a perfect 20-0 record, training out of American Top Team. He is one of the most active grapplers in featherweight, averaging 4.78 takedowns per fifteen minutes, and carries an unusually long 72-inch reach for a fighter listed at five-foot-seven.
Why it matters
- The debate highlights the remarkable depth of Russian talent currently competing at the highest level of the UFC.
- Makhachev's champion status and top pound-for-pound ranking give Yan's pick obvious weight, while Nurmagomedov's unbeaten run through bantamweight contenders supports Evloev's case.
- Evloev's own standing as the division's top-ranked featherweight means his opinion carries credibility, even as he modestly declined to nominate himself.
