Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Arman Tsarukyan? Blood, Doping and Drama at ACA 200

Hello, friends! You're watching the weekly discussion of the main news in the world of MMA on the portal mma-tv.com. My name is Julia Mirei, my co-host is Artem Novopavlovskiy, and joining us is Match TV commentator and sports journalist Roman Sofronov. Hello, guys!

Hey, friends!

"Greetings to everyone, and today we'll start our discussion with the PFL tournament where the main event taking place was the fight between Usman Nurmagomedov and Alfie Davis. The reigning number 1 Pound for Pound fighter against the 2025 Grand Prix winner. The fight unfolded in a fairly routine manner, in my opinion

"I have a complex set of conflicting emotions about fights that involve our Russian athletes. I either watch the match as a commentator and can provide a detailed and critical analysis of the performance, or I simply choose to offer my personal perspective and professional insights as a commentator. And then there's the fan perspective. So, let's start with the fan perspective. Everything's great, Usman won, as a Russian... that is, we always support our own on international stages. This also applies to the broadcast

Now, regarding the second question. Is it now time, perhaps, to make the move to the UFC? And if so, exactly which opponent could we wish for Usman?

If we want to give him a relatively smooth and easy introduction into the league, then anyone near the lower end of the top 15 contenders would do just fine. However, if we are talking about making some truly significant and serious waves within the division, and setting our sights directly on the championship title right away, well, there is Arman Tsarukyan, and there is Ilia Topuria. It's definitely too early for that. Let's imagine we're all on Khabib's team. No, not Topuria, not Tsarukyan. Let's have a few fights first, and in principle, the UFC does have a practice of giving title shots to newcomers, but that happens extremely rarely, and definitely not in this case. That would be a loss of a certain asset, because the Nurmagomedovs are an asset—a very significant one.

"I really want to share my personal impressions of this incredible fight. First of all, even before I actually watched it, I saw numerous different posts all over social media with the following dramatic headline: ""Usman Nurmagomedov's corner."" And standing there are simply the best fighters at the moment, at least in my opinion, in the world. That includes legendary fighters like Khabib, Islam, and Umar. And honestly, as a dedicated fan, I really feel the incredible power coming from these photos. I think to myself, just how awesome is that? All these guys, they are elite Russians. they represent our country, and they all gathered in one corner. That was just really cool. And when Usman entered the arena, the crowd was chanting. Of course, it was Dubai, their territory, but it was still really nice. And from the perspective of the fight's aesthetics. Three rounds. Honestly, I think Usman really entertained the crowd, because for almost three rounds he was trading in the stand-up, showing off beautiful high kicks, which, by the way, I honestly didn't expect from this team. It kept building up, building up, and then ended very quickly. It really felt like he just pulled out a superweapon and instantly destroyed his opponent. Well, that's it, time to wrap it up. It was cool. I really enjoyed that fight. Regarding the situation with the UFC, I think Usman feels very comfortable and happy in the PFL at this point in his career, where he has truly become a major star for that promotion. There are many stars in the UFC, but not as many in the PFL, and of course, he's right at the top there. I think he has a good contract, and I see no reason for him to even consider switching, unless he wants to set some personal challenges for himself. But speaking of this league, Roman, who do you think could really challenge him in his weight class? Because the opponent he faced this weekend, Alfie, seemed to me to be at a distinctly lower level than Usman Nurmagomedov."

To add to your point, I’d say he’s probably one of the rare participants whose background is in Muay Thai. So, he’s not a wrestler by profile. That is, his He was trained at the highest level. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. In other words, he wrestles excellently. He’s got that completely under control. But originally, his base is striking. So for him, that’s a more natural environment, so to speak. As for his opponents. Honestly, he doesn’t really have any opponents there. Well, there’s one more undefeated guy. But to me, that’s already a thing of the past. So, he’s just graduated from college now, and next comes university. And at this university, he needs to get a higher education. Let’s call it a UFC higher education, so to speak. And right now, as I see it, the question of admission is being decided. Although I’m not sure, I haven’t read about it anywhere, but I know how these things work, and they could very well take him. This was basically a kind of audition for the UFC. This is the impressive professional resume he is carrying with him to the UFC. I think it’s pretty solid.

Wow, you’ve really built up the intrigue. Now I’ll be waiting for news in the near future, because I definitely haven’t heard any talk about him possibly moving there. Well, let’s see what happens. Maybe you’re reading the future. ACA 200, the anniversary tournament. The main event featured Magomedrasul Gasanov and Albert Tumenov. Gasanov is 31 years old, with a record of 22 to 2. Tumenov is 34, with a record of 26 to 6. Earlier, we discussed the main event in the PFL. Here... the main event was completely different, in my honest opinion. Personally, at times I found it to be a bit boring and repetitive, because for all five rounds, as your fellow commentators often say, it was just 'top control.' This dominant top control continued right up until the very end of the fight, making it feel quite long. And by judges' decision, the champion defended he has claimed this title for the seventh time already. Magomedrasul Gasanov won this fight. I'll let Artem ask the first question, and then I would like to add something extra on this topic.

Regarding the overall rating of the tournament out of ten, for example, could you explain the reasons why you gave that score?

A solid nine. The fly in the ointment was this particular fight. The main event. This was likely to have been completely inevitable, especially when you consider Magomedrasul's unique stylistic features. No matter what we do, he still ends up here, and actually, I'm about to connect two topics here, he was finishing out his contract. There have long been talks about him signing with the UFC. But take a moment to observe, if we consider it in general terms, the positions these two specific individuals are coming from. Both represent the Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov school. Usman Nurmagomedov, who fought standing up and put on an exciting, spectacular fight. And Magomedrasul, who, let's say, outwrestled former UFC fighter Albert Tumenov, a striker. And at the same time, he didn't show a high level of work on the ground. I mean, we remember how Khabib would take his opponents down, pound them hard, try to choke them, wear them out, drag them around, hit them, wear them out, drag them around. This goes on for an incredible amount of time. There was nothing like that here. That's why I give it a nine out of ten. In my view, every single tournament lineup should always be built around certain essential key points. I'll tell you exactly which ones they are. For instance, one crucial element is a truly dramatic injury, something that inevitably provokes strong negative emotions, deep compassion, or whatever the case may be for the audience. Second is an early finish—of different levels, different styles. These are submissions, knockouts, and other options—basically, anything goes. Third is the overall internal pace, the rhythm within the tournament. That was present here. We were basically galloping through it at a very fast pace, so to speak. From one fight to the next. Bang, bang, bang. They just slid from one to another throughout the tournament. And the cherry on top would have been if there had been an awesome fight, a real slugfest— a twenty five minute one—then it would have been a ten out of ten.

So Roma, in your opinion, which fight would you call the fight of the night, and again, why would you choose that specific one?

I’d probably name a few, actually, instead of just one. The first is Makharbek Karginov versus Bekhruz Zugurov. In this regard, I’m going to step away from the mainstream opinions about the tournament, because there was some great hype building up to the fight. Karginov is always messing with his opponents on social media, teasing them, making funny videos, hyping up the match, and then finally the fight happened. Karginov was really good here. Zugurov always fights hard. And probably, yes, the second matchup that I really liked was Iskandar Mamadaliev versus Ali Bagov. I believe that Mamadaliev, as my father even said when we were just discussing this, he said that if Albert Tumenov in the main event had been able to do what Mamadaliev did in his fight with Bagov, then the main fight would have turned out completely differently. Iskandar knew that his opponent would try to wrestle him, and he himself is quite skilled in wrestling, and he handled this game plan brilliantly in the confrontation, and I am very pleased with how he performed.

When I tuned in to the main fight, the entire canvas was covered in blood. What were those bloody fights, the top two? What can you recommend to those who especially love violence to watch?

So the story goes that Rasul Magomedov was competing up against Lesha Polpudnikov. I believe he threw a powerful low kick right at the leg. And Lesha, I believe, put up a block. Well, in the form of... He simply blocked it with his bare shin. And then the nightmare began. He got a deep and nasty gash that was probably as thick as half the length of a finger's phalanx. Yeah, and blood immediately started oozing out from it quite steadily. So, Lesha, Volodin, my colleague, and I at first thought the fight would be stopped after the first round, but the doctor allowed it to continue. And as a result of this, you could actually track these bloody traces, effectively like a heat map inside the cage, showing where they moved the most. And judging by the fact that there was blood everywhere, they moved around a lot throughout the entire fight. It didn't get in the way, but it really was pretty gruesome. But one way or another, he won the fight.

And for our dedicated viewers who also enjoy thrilling themselves with intense and bloody fights, if you haven't yet watched the incredible fight between Sergey Bobryshev and Bobur Kurbonov, I would strongly recommend that you go and watch it right now.

I get the feeling that Sergey Bobryshev almost never has... It is incredibly rare for his fights not to end in some kind of monstrous displays of bloodshed. But it is honestly quite easy to believe, and this... this is a certain factor that draws a massive amount of interest to the fights. It's like people say, 'Oh, it's Bobryshev, there is definitely going to be another wild brawl with even more blood, so let's watch.' That's pretty much the kind of motivation a viewer might have.

I noticed Magomedrasul's physical condition. Especially when you see him in direct contrast with other fighters from the American leagues, such as the PFL, he looked just like a bodybuilding star. And in this sense, I remember that in 2025, I think, yes, the vice president of the ACA organization, Aslanbek Badaev, officially announced that doping tests would be implemented for all fighters. Just about a month ago, there was another interview, this time with President Magomed. Bibulatov, about how this year the league will start publicly disclosing fighters who failed the tests. So, what are your thoughts on this— since doping tests were first introduced, has the overall quality of the fights actually suffered because of it, and how do you see the current situation playing out today?

No, I don't think it has suffered. Those who were boring have remained boring. There are such fighters. And those who fought spectacularly... There is a very wise saying— you simply cannot improve your actual skills with these banned substances. That is to say, you can certainly improve your physical conditioning and you can increase your raw explosive power. There are certain very specific metrics to consider. But much like energy drinks or coffee, they have this effect—a sudden surge of energy, but then there can be a devastating and serious crash afterwards. And you never really know exactly how your own body will react to it.

In this recent short interview, Magomed Bibulatov said that not all, but many top-tier professional fighters—which surprised him—have issues with this. And so they are introducing penalties, up to a full suspension.

I believe that's the right thing to do, but it's hardly a surprising development. I am well aware of the fact that only a very small handful of professional athletes within the entire ACA have never participated in any activities of that specific nature.

It is now 99% certain that Shlemenko will sign a contract with ACA. What do you think this signing will bring to the league? Could it perhaps yield some other useful benefits?

There are few big-name fights in the industry—not just in ACA, but in the industry as a whole. But the ACA organization truly has the potential to give him those very high-profile and significant fights he needs. And, in principle, this is quite a successful and strategic signing for the league, because he is one of the rare, big, veteran stars who are still left on the professional MMA scene today, in fact. So I would definitely like to see him sign the contract, but there are still many details to consider. As a valuable competitive sporting asset, he is probably not quite as important anymore, simply because there have been certain losses, a very long career in Bellator, all sorts of different stories, championship titles, and so on. But right now, he is just a truly cool, absolutely awesome fighter, of that same high caliber, who can still easily hype up a fight at a press conference, who can say something interesting, or give a sharp, engaging interview. So, over the course of time, these fighters inevitably turn into great, influential media personalities, first and foremost, above everything else. They become articulate, insightful analysts who know exactly which strings to pull, so to speak. So I’m only happy for Alexander Pavlovich—welcome aboard. I am truly hoping that he will officially sign the document very soon.

Well now, my friends, I’d also like to mention the fact that on February 7th, the UFC Fight Night: Bautista versus Oliveira event took place. Rizvan Kuniev finally made the most of his 2nd chance by successfully defeating Jailton Almeida from Brazil, and now he’ll officially enter the top 6 of the division. A huge congratulations to Rizvan for this win. we’re happy for his victory and will be following his future successes. Well, we’re wrapping up our video discussion. Thank you for spending this morning discussing MMA with us. Bye!

Thank you, goodbye everyone!

Good luck, friends, goodbye for now!