{"id":878794,"date":"2026-09-03T19:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/878794\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T19:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:20:11","slug":"free-agent-usman-nurmagomedov-is-toughest-matchup-for-justin-gaethje-says-henry-cejudo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/878794\/","title":{"rendered":"Free agent Usman Nurmagomedov is &#8216;toughest matchup&#8217; for Justin Gaethje, says Henry Cejudo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Trending:<a class=\"exactmetrics-inline-popular-posts-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bjpenn.com\/mma-news\/islam-makhachev\/pros-react-after-islam-makhachev-defeats-ian-machado-garry-at-ufc-330\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pros react after Islam Makhachev defeats Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Usman-Nurmagomedov-poses-during-the-PFL-New-York-ceremonial-weigh-ins-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"nlz w-full h-auto wp-post-image\" alt=\"Usman Nurmagomedov poses during the PFL New York ceremonial weigh-ins\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   data-eio=\"p\"\/>Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n<p>While many believe that Arman Tsarukyan would be a tough challenger for Justin Gaethje, Henry Cejudo thinks Usman Nurmagomedov is even more of a threat.<\/p>\n<p>Nurmagomedov is currently the biggest free agent in MMA, and if he joins the UFC roster, he\u2019ll be in for stiff competition right away. Cejudo believes Nurmagomedov is as good as advertised. \u201cTriple C\u201d took to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9TgySqQPp7Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">\u201cPound 4 Pound\u201d podcast<\/a> to explain why he believes Nurmagomedov could give Gaethje the most issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe toughest matchup for Justin Gaethje, it is Usman Nurmagomedov,\u201d Cejudo said. \u201cBefore then, I was thinking it was Arman [Tsarukyan], but dude, Justin Gaethje\u2019s dad said something that triggered Ilia [Topuria]. Justin Gaethje has a really good time with shorter guys. [Rafael] Fiziev, Ilia Topuria, anybody that\u2019s shorter than Justin, Justin kind of tends to have his way. A guy like Usman Nurmagomedov, that\u2019s his biggest matchup.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nurmagomedov is the current PFL Lightweight Champion, but he\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bjpenn.com\/mma-news\/usman-nurmagomedov\/usman-nurmagomedov-turns-down-2-million-pfl-offer\/#disqus_thread\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">free to sign with any promotion<\/a>. He fulfilled his prior deal at the end of July when he knocked out Archie Colgan to successfully retain the 155-pound gold.<\/p>\n<p>Gaethje <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bjpenn.com\/mma-news\/ufc\/justin-gaethje-remains-sidelined-until-2027-amid-injury-update-both-of-my-hands-are-still-hurt\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">won\u2019t be back in action until 2027<\/a> as his hands still haven\u2019t fully healed after his undisputed title win over Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250. Tsarukyan is scheduled to take on Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event of UFC 331 on Sept. 19. \u201cBatman\u2019s\u201d team is under the belief that a title shot is next with a win.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019ll be interesting to see who Nurmagomedov\u2019s first test will be against if he ultimately signs with the top MMA promotion. Names such as Paddy Pimblett and Charles Oliveira have been discussed among fans, but that conversation only holds weight if Nurmagomedov signs with UFC. We\u2019ll keep you posted on the details once Nurmagomedov has made his decision.<\/p>\n<p>Do you agree with Henry Cejudo? Is Usman Nurmagomedov the toughest challenger for Justin Gaethje, or do you have someone else in mind? Drop a comment below.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-1 mt-0 os-source\">This article appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bjpenn.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BJPENN.COM<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trending:Pros react after Islam Makhachev defeats Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330Zuffa LLC While many believe that Arman&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":878795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-878794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/878795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}