When talking about underrated talent, you have to mention UFC lightweight, Mairbek Taisumov. Currently riding a 5-fight win streak, all by the way of TKO and KO, Taisumov has been on an absolute tear.

His last 3 wins have earned him performance bonuses and he feels it’s time for a step up in competition. Taisumov has called out pretty much the whole top 10 but it seems no one is interested in fighting him.

“From the top 9 there’s no one I didn’t ask to fight,” Taisumov said. “Pettis, Diaz, Poirier, Chiesa you name it. They all come up with excuses. None of them accepted my challenge but again I’m ready to fight any of them, once they’re brave enough to accept.”

For the past week, rumors have surfaced that Taisumov will welcome Cowboy Cerrone back to the lightweight division. When asked, Taisumov denied the rumors but said that this is most certainly a fight he’d love to take.

“After I heard Cowboy is going back to lightweight, I wanted to give him a warm welcome to the division and asked for the fight,” Taisumov said. “The fans asked for this fight as well, so I’m ready to give them the fight.”

Taisumov last competed back in September when he knocked out Felipe Silva at UFC Rotterdam in less than 2 minutes. His last 5 fights took place in Europe with the other 2 in Brazil and Singapore. He’s never competed in the US, which could be one of the main reasons the top ranked fighters are refusing to fight him.

There’s a reason for that, as Taisumov has had visa issues throughout his UFC career and is hoping that they will be resolved in the near future.

“The majority of my fights took place outside of the US due to my visa issues,” Taisumov explained. “But the problems should be solved very soon, together with my lawyers we’re taking care of this issue. Once I have my visa I’m ready to train and fight in the US and I’d love to finally show the US fans a fight in their home country.”

He is currently doing some training at Tiger Muay Thai anticipating the call for his next fight. Coming out unscathed from his last performance in Rotterdam, Taisumov has been trying to get a fight ever since.

“I’m in Phuket, Thailand constantly training hard to be ready for a fight at any time. After my last fight I immediately asked for another fight in Shanghai or Canada but unfortunately no fight offer yet.”

“If everything goes well I might fight in Australia or England in 2018.”

And a frustrated Taisumov hopes to draw a top ranked opponent as he feels there’s nothing more he could be doing inside the cage. His performances speak for themselves.

“Respect is something you need to earn with your actions and as you said I’m on a 5 fight win streak with 5 finishes, isn’t that a strong argument for the Top 9 UFC LW fighters to accept a fight? I respect every fighter in my division who steps into the octagon to mess with me, but the Top 9 definitely needs to earn my respect.”