Usman Nurmagomedov knows there’s a lot riding for his team over the next two weeks.
Damon Martin is a veteran journalist and insider covering combat sports since 2003.
It all starts on Saturday night when Islam Makhachev defends his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311, and Usman’s older brother Umar Nurmagomedov attempts to become bantamweight champion when he faces Merab Dvalishvili on the same night. Teammate Tagir Ulanbekov is also competing at UFC 311 in a fight of his own against Clayton Carpenter.
Just seven days later, Nurmagomedov then defends his Bellator lightweight title against Paul Hughes in Dubai, but he’s confident that his team will have plenty of momentum already built up after going 3-0 in the UFC.
“I believe all these guys, Inshallah, will win on Jan. 18,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Fighting. “it’s going to be a wonderful night for our team.”
Nurmagomedov actually had to separate from the rest of his team to travel to Dubai so he could acclimate to the time and climate difference before he defends his belt on Jan. 25. He’s stayed in constant contact with his coaches, which includes his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is expected to fly from UFC 311 in Los Angeles to Dubai so he can be there for the PFL card the following week.
It’s not an ideal situation but Nurmagomedov promises none of it has bothered him.
“It’s not pressure for me or because I’m not with my team, it’s not pressure for me,” Nurmagomedov said. “I’m online, we have phones, now we can talk real time. It’s all good. Not a problem.”
When it comes to the two title fights at UFC 311, Nurmagomedov has obviously spent a lot of time on the mats training alongside Makhachev considering they both compete at 155 pounds.
He has no doubts about Makhachev winning but Nurmagomedov believes the reigning UFC lightweight champion might even surprise a few people with his performance in a rematch against Tsarukyan.
In their first encounter, Tsarukyan gave Makhachev a much tougher fight than most expected, especially considering he took the matchup on short notice and he was making his UFC debut. Now Tsarukyan has clearly defined himself as the No. 1 contender in the division, which includes notable wins over past opponents such as Charles Oliviera and Beneil Dariush.
As impressive as Tsarukyan has been to earn his title shot, Nurmagomedov doesn’t see him really offering up anything that Makhachev hasn’t already dealt with before.
“My opinion, Islam can finish Arman Tsarukyan this time,” Nurmagomedov said. “Because I know what happened with Islam in his first fight with Tsarukyan. I see how I can beat Arman, I see his mistakes. But Islam is better than me, and my opinion, he will finish him.”
He offers a similar prediction for his brother Umar to beat Dvalishvili and become UFC champion for the first time in his career.
“About Umar and Merab, Umar is going to finish him in second or third round,” Nurmagomedov said. “Umar is going to finish him. This is for sure because I know Umar’s skills and I believe it.”
Nurmagomedov might be setting lofty expectations for his teammates but he’s confidence both can get the job done inside the distance.
In fact, Nurmagomedov is putting the same pressure on himself after going to decision in three of his past four fights.
“Same thing what I do always,” Nurmagomedov said about his strategy. “If I will understand I can beat him with striking, I will beat him with striking. If I understand I can finish this guy [taking him down], I will take him down and finish him there.
“This time I will try to finish my opponent because I’m tired. I did 75 minutes in the cage in the last three fights. I’m tired. I don’t want to stay there almost a half hour. This time it’s going to be shorter.”
