Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Coach Denies Jon Jones’ Hard-Earned P4P Status as He Claims Islam Makhachev Is Making “History”

Published 03/10/2023, 10:15 AM EST

Jon Jones may have climbed 9 places in the UFC pound-for-pound to grab the first place, but he isn’t everybody’s P4P No.1. Recently, Javier Mendez, the head coach of AKA has named his no.1 P4P fighter in a story on Instagram. Mendez has trained the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and will soon be cornering ‘The Eagle’s cousin Usman Nurmagomedov in Bellator 292.

What’s more interesting for fans is that UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will also be in Usman Nurmagomedov‘s corner along with his brother Umar Nurmagomedov who fights in the UFC bantamweight division.

Javier Mendez claimed that it would be history in making when an active UFC champ will be in a Bellator fighter’s corner. Javier Mendez is known for coaching some champions. The Dagestani camp is ensuring that their skills and experiences help them control supremacy in the sport across promotions, but it remains a mystery why Javier Mendez dismissed Jon Jones as the No.1 P4P fighter.

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Jon Jones is not the best P4P for Mendez

In a story he shared on Instagram, Mendez mentioned a possible history in making. He shared a picture of Usman Nurmagomedov and captioned it, “Never in the history of MMA an active UFC champion and P4P #1 cornered active bellator champion. History in the making.”

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He also shared the complete list of corners who will be with Usman Nurmagomedov on his title Defense. Islam Makhachev, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Islam Mamedov will accompany Mendez at Bellator 292.

Islam Makhachev was ranked #2 in the UFC pound for Pound rankings going into UFC 284. He fought #1 pound-for-pound Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 and defeated him. This, however, didn’t affect the UFC p4p rankings, and ‘The Great’ maintained his top position. Things changed when Jon Jones lit up the cage at UFC 285 with his fire performance and took a giant leap in rankings to claim the top spot. However, it seems that for Mendez, the official rankings don’t matter; according to him, Makhachev is already the P4P number 1.

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What’s your take on Usman Nurmagomedov’s fight? Let us know.

Watch This Story: Dana White makes huge revelations involving Conor McGregor, Islam Makhachev, Alexander Volkanovski, others

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Written by:

Akshay Pallav is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. Having completed his undergraduation from National Institute of Fashion Technology in Apparel Production, he has been a sports enthusiast all his life and has several medals at the University level across multiple sports including basketball, badminton, track and field. He aspires to interview Conor McGregor and Cristiano Ronaldo someday.

Edited by:

Vineet Nandwana

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Coach Denies Jon Jones’ Hard-Earned P4P Status as He Claims Islam Makhachev Is Making “History”

Jon Jones is not the best P4P for Mendez

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