"Ali, you know what I'd tell you? Shut up!" That was manager Malki Kawa's answer to Ali Abdelaziz, who had already gone on record with a bold call of his own, insisting that Usman will knock Ilia out in the third round. The feud between the two managers has sharpened since Usman Nurmagomedov picked up another win in the PFL and staked his claim to a place in the UFC's top 15. Ilia Topuria may have lost to Justin Gaethje by technical knockout, yet his team puts it down to nothing more than a bad night and maintains that the Georgian is still the number one fighter in the world. Abdelaziz sees the potential fight as the simplest job going. Kawa says the opposite, promising that Nurmagomedov, Makhachev and Pimblett will all be taken apart. The comeback pencilled in for the octagon in 2027 will settle the argument once and for all and show who really holds the power at lightweight.