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UFC bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov shares his roots with former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Umar and Khabib are cousins and hail from Dagestan in Russia.
The 28-year-old started his career in smaller MMA promotions across Russia. He has previously fought at PFL (Professional Fighters League) as well. Khabib rivalry with Conor McGregor affected Umar's UFC debut as well.
He was set to make his UFC debut at the UFC 257 pay-per-view event headlined by Conor McGregor. However, citing the rivalry between the Irishman and Khabib Nurmagomedov, Umar's fight against Sergey Morozov was rescheduled to UFC Fight Island 8 which took place a week before.
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Umar made his UFC debut with a technical submission win and tested the waters at featherweight in his next fight against Brian Kelleher. Although the 28-year-old emerged victoriously with a first-round submission, he went back to bantamweight and has amassed two straight wins in subsequent bouts.
At the time of this writing, Umar is the No.13-ranked bantamweight contender in the UFC. In his last fight, the Dagestani fighter defeated Raoni Barcelos via a devastating body kick and punch.
Umar Nurmagomedov will return to competition in March
Umar Nurmagomedov has been widely regarded as a future title challenger, if not champion, by many due to his dominant grappling and respectable striking arsenal. However, injuries and bout cancellations have slowed down the Dagestani fighter's march towards title contention in recent times.
The 28-year-old was scheduled to fight No.3-ranked bantamweight contender and former interim title challenger Cory Sandhagen in August 2023. However, he was forced to pull out of the fight due to a shoulder injury and was replaced by Rob Font.
Having recovered from the injury, the No.13-ranked bantamweight was eager to set his foot inside the octagon. He appeared to have been frustrated for not getting an opponent for a fight and called out former two-time UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo for a fight.
The Dagestanig fighter will return to action at UFC Fight Night 238 on March 2, 2024, and face Bekzat Almakhan. He is a massive favorite heading into the contest.
In a recent interview, Umar Nurmagomedov's coach Javier Mendez said that Merab Dvalishvili is his toughest test in the division.
