Umar Nurmagomedov's coach makes shocking admission about UFC 311 title fight… 'We weren't told'
01/21/2025 12:25 PM
Umar Nurmagomedov’s head coach, Javier Mendez isn’t too pleased with his fighter following UFC 311.
The undefeated Russian went into his UFC 311 title fight against Merab Dvalishvili as the favorite to leave the Intuit Dome as the bantamweight champion.
Despite that, ‘The Machine’ Dvalishvili showed his championship credentials and exposed a side of Umar Nurmagomedov‘s game, retaining his title after an incredible five rounds of action.
Javier Mendez admits he knew nothing about Nurmagomedov’s broken hand
Despite losing the fight via unanimous decision, Nurmagomedov won the first two rounds on the judges’ scorecards but unfortunately suffered a broken hand in the opening round.
However, now a few days removed from the event, Nurmagomeedov’s head coach Javier Mendez has revealed that the 29-year-old didn’t tell his corner team about his broken hand till after the fight.
“If he had told me he broke his hand, I would have changed the game plan,” Mendez told Submission Radio.
“Khabib (Nurmagomedov) and I would have changed the game plan completely around because Khabib is a great cornerman. He’s one of the great ones that I’ve encountered cornering with.
“So, we could have changed the game plan, but we weren’t told. Umar didn’t tell us. That just shows you the kind of warrior he is. We would have changed the plan had he told us that. Why would we do what we did, having him throw that broken hand, if we knew he broke his hand? That would be stupid,” he continued.
Nurmagomedov did attempt to showcase his Dagestani wrestling throughout the fight but only landed two of his 15 attempts.
“I would have had him kick more. Keep the distance, keep him at a distance, keep kicking because he’s a great kicker. But no, the game plan was to stay inside and pick him apart, and I was wondering ‘What the hell?’ And he kept putting his head down… But I didn’t know Umar broke his hand, he didn’t tell us,” Mendez stated.
Merab Dvalishvili thinks Umar Nurmagemedov will fight for the title again
With his win over Umar, Merab has cemented himself as one of the greatest bantamweights of all time and he has been given that plaudit by former champ Henry Cejudo.
Despite believing that Nurmagomedov will be ‘humbled’ by the loss, Dvalishvili has admitted that he thinks the 29-year-old will fight for the title again.
If he does, it won’t be for a while as he attempts to lick his wounds and will climb back up the 135lb rankings.
