Umar Nurmagomedov willing to defend top contender status as he refuses to wait for bantamweight title fight
09/23/2024 12:59 PM
Umar Nurmagomedov has insisted that he would rather fight within the next few months than wait for his shot at UFC gold.
The Russian prospect has won his way to the number two contender spot at bantamweight, which essentially makes him the top contender in the division. The only man ahead of him is former champion Sean O’Malley who just lost his belt, and is expected to take a long break before returning.
But with current champion Merab Dvalishvili claiming that Deiveson Figueiredo is a more rightful contender, it remains to be seen what will be Nurmagomedov’s next move. And he would rather stay active than sit around in order to get a fight.
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Merab Dvalishvili believes Deiveson Figueiredo is true top contender at bantamweight
After his win at UFC 306, the consensus with fans was that Dvalishvili’s first title defence would come against Umar Nurmagomedov. The Russian’s defeat of perennial challenger Cory Sandhagen saw him climb the rankings, and it is believed the unbeaten prospect is the rightful next contender.
But the newly-crowned champion felt differently, telling the media that former flyweight king Figueiredo made more sense as a contender. "Whoever they want, I will fight next," he told the media after his victory.
“I think Figueiredo would be my fifth champion on my list. He is more dangerous, knockout power, good jiu-jitsu, makes people sleep. Coming from three straight wins, top guys, that's why this fight excites me, makes me motivated, makes me work hard.
"Umar is OK, but I'm telling you guys, from the top 15 he's only won one fight and that was Cory Sandhagen. We all saw what Aljamain Sterling did against Cory Sandhagen, made him sleep in first round. I respect Cory Sandhagen, but yeah."
Sean O’Malley claims he will be willing to fight Umar Nurmagomedov next summer
Since the fight with Dvalishvili, Sean O’Malley has come out insisting that he was robbed on the scorecards and that he is still the legitimate bantamweight champion. The feeling on fight night was that he had been dominated over five rounds, but he disputed this in a recent social media series of videos.
O’Malley now says that he will be ‘defending his title’ against Nurmagomedov, and declared Dvalishvili is scared of the potential fight. "Merab is f***ing terrified of Umar," he said. "Doesn't want to fight Umar. I don't know why.
“Umar is good, don't get me wrong. But Merab is terrified. He's not a champ. I'm the champ. I would fight Umar next. I can fight Umar next for the belt. I'm the champ. I should defend my belt against Umar.
“I have to get surgery October 3, I'll be back probably June or July. I'm going to come back as quick as possible because I love this s***. God it feels good to be the champ again!"
Umar Nurmagomedov says he will fight anyone as long as it’s soon
Now, Umar Nurmagomedov has a decision to make. With his status as the top contender cemented, he can likely wait until getting his shot at the belt, or he could opt to defend that status and risk a first career loss.
But speaking to Gorilla Energy, he appeared more keen on the latter, insisting that he just wants to fight at this stage of his career. His cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov went unbeaten in his career, but suffered through lengthy periods of inactivity.
“I don’t want to wait until next year – I want to fight," Nurmagomedov told the outlet. "Anyone, even if it’s King Kong – let them make weight and we’ll fight. I really don’t care – I don’t want to wait for these guys . I have my own goal, I’m going to be the greatest, so I have to be active!"
