Another Dagestani is on the cusp of becoming an MMA champion. The remote and relatively undeveloped Russian province, of course, is known for many things- its hilly terrain, Muslim-majority population, and most importantly, its fighters and their other-worldly wrestling abilities. Home to the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, Dagestan is shockingly over-represented in the world of MMA. Another example of this is Islam Makhachev’s AKA gym teammate, Gadzhi Rabadanov, who is one step from becoming the PFL lightweight champion and winning the $1 million prize.

He will face former PFL lightweight champ and Usman Nurmagomedov’s past foe, Brent Primus at the PFL World Championship 2024 on November 29. The Dagestani is undefeated in his nine PFL-Bellator fights so far and is the overwhelming favorite going into the fight. His teammate and fellow Makhachkala native Islam Makhachev feels that Rabadanov will make the AKA gym proud because of his hard work.

“We’ve seen how hard he worked all year going through the entire season. Now only the final remains. May he bring that $1 million and come back to the gym,” Makhachev said of his fellow Dagestani. PFL, of course, took over Bellator last year and acquired its full roster. While it also holds PPV events like the ‘Battle of the Giants’ featuring Francis Ngannou last month, most of its events are part of the PFL’s annual tournaments.

Rabadanov is coming off three consecutive wins in this year’s PFL Playoffs and is within touching distance of becoming a champion. Khabib’s cousin, Usman, is Bellator’s reigning 155-pound champion, and if Rabadanov wins the PFL belt, he will be in line to fight Usman for his Bellator title. Whether he takes the fight, however, remains to be seen since Usman is his teammate and the Dagestanis never fight their teammates. In the meantime, however, the PFL has a lot to worry about- especially regarding its biggest star.

Francis Ngannou still keen to box

Francis Ngannou of course, left the UFC last year and joined the PFL with a favorable contract with many terms that the UFC just wasn’t willing to give him. And one of these was giving ‘The Predator’ the permission to box along with his MMA career. Of course, the Cameroonian has fought thrice since leaving the UFC- only one of those fights being at the PFL.

Despite his disastrous boxing match against Anthony Joshua this March, the PFL champ is undeterred. To the point that his next fight, too, could be in the boxing ring. Speaking to Ariel Helwani after defeating Renan Ferreira on his PFL debut, the Cameroonian revealed that he is in the market for good fights in early 2025, whether under the Unified rules, or the Queensberry ones.

“It could be either one. I don’t know yet. I don’t have any hand in that one, I don’t have a decision. I think it also depends on promotion. I don’t know. If next PFL they come up with something with a fight or a date, maybe we’ll work on it. If it’s boxing, same thing,” he said.

This makes it seem like Ngannou would not be willing to just fight whoever the Donn Davis-founded promotion puts in front of him, and is only interested in big fights. Given the lack of stars on the PFL roster, this prospect would be daunting for the promotion, which risks losing its biggest star if it cannot scrounge up a big name for Ngannou to face. Denis Goltsov won the heavyweight tournament finals at the PFL World Championships and has called ‘The Predator’ out. And how Ngannou responds to the challenge will probably tell us whether his next appearance will be in the cage or the ring.

What do you think about Islam Makhachev’s comments about Gadzhi Rabadanov’s upcoming title clash?