Healy vs Nurmagomedov Set for UFC 165

Healy vs Nurmagomedov Set for UFC 165
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

An intriguing lightweight match between Pat Healy(29-16 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Khabib Nurmagomedov (20-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) has been added to UFC 165, which takes place September 21st in Canada.

Healy who is ranked in the UFC Lightweight top 10 rankings, return to the octagon following a 90 day suspension following a positive drug test (majunana) after beating Jim Miller in a fight that earned Healy fighter of the night honours as we as sub of the night honours.

Healy who holds notable wins over Carlos Condit, and Brits Dan Hardy, & Paul Daley, entered the UFC on a 6-1 win streak in Strikeforce which was enough to earn Healy a lightwight title shot against Gilbert Melendez, which Melendez withdrew from due to injury on two occasions before both men joined The UFC when Strikeforce closed its doors.

His opponent, Russian import Nurmagomedov enters the bout having never been beaten in 20 professional MMA fights. Nurmagomedov, a combat Sambo champion made his UFC debut in January 2012 and his picked up wins over Kamal Shalorus, Gleison Tibau, Thiago Tavares, and Abel Truijillo. In his most recent fight at UFC 160 Nurmagomedov set a new UFC record for the number of takedowns landed in a single fight - 21 out of 27 attempts.

Although unconfirmed it is likely Healy vs Nurmagomedov will likely feature high on the main card, with the winner likely to enter the lightweight title picture.

UFC 165 takes place on September 21st at The Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with the main card fighting 2 title fights, with Jon Jones defending the light-heavyweight title against Alexander Gustaffason, and Reneo Barao defending his title between Eddie Wineland.

Stay tuned to kingdomMMA.co.uk for more on UFC 165