UFC offered chance to sign 'future GOAT' as Dana White confirms talks

The UFC now have the chance to sign one of the most exciting fighter in Mixed Martial Arts thanks to a clause in his contract.

In the 32 years since it was founded, the UFC has prided itself for bringing the best fighters in the world together to settle who the real number one is in the cage.

With that in mind, it's expected that President and CEO Dana White will now make a major move to secure the signing of Usman Nurmagomedov following the end of the Professional Fighters League (PFL)'s exclusive negotiating period.

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Why the UFC must sign Usman Nurmagomedov

As the the younger brother of UFC bantamweight fighter Umar Nurmagomedov and he cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Usman has long been linked with a move to join the UFC.

Instead, the 28-year-old has been putting together a stellar run fighting for the PFL, where he recently won the last fight of his contract when he knocked out Archie Colgan in the first round to retain the lightweight title.

Following the fight, MMA fans quickly started demanding that White and the UFC picked up the phone to get the lightweight star, who boasts a 22-0 record, signed up.

However, a clause in his PFL contract stated that other promotions couldn't negotiate with Nurmagomedov until after heir exclusive negotiating period of 90 days.

But this period has now passed, leaving the unbeaten fighter available to start talks with the UFC, or any other promotion for that matter.

According to Nurmagomedov's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, the PFL had the chance to tie Nurmagomedov down to a longer contract ahead of his most recent fight, but turned it down due to the numbers he was looking for.

After the fight, he was reportedly offered $2million to stay, but he turned it down due to the hype surrounding his future.

And the hype is absolutely valid, with some fans arguing he could go on to become the greatest of all time if he is manager well and joins the UFC with his next move.

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Dana White confirms talks with Usman Nurmagomedov as potential UFC opponent named

This fact clearly isn't lost on Nurmagomedov, as he recently attended UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi, sparking rumours that negotiations over his future were already taking place.

But White appeared to shut down these rumours, but confirmed that they would be taking place following the end of the exclusive negotiating period.

“Well, not that I’m aware of (we haven’t opened talks with him) and I don’t know where he is on his contract situation," White said.

"I just said whenever the f*** I said it a couple of days ago, when his contract is up and he can negotiate."

If Nurmagomedov does sign for the UFC, it's likely he will be thrown in with a big name right at the top of the lightweight divison, with his team reportedly eager to have their debut against former featherweight and lightweight champion Ilia Topuria.

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