Umar Nurmagomedov, a cousin of UFC lightweight champ Khabib, made his octagon debut on Wednesday at UFC Fight Island 8, and won in a big way, putting opponent Sergey Morozov to sleep.
The second straight UFC Fight Island 8 bout on Wednesday to feature a pair of newcomers was a bantamweight battle between Umar Nurmagomedov and Sergey Morozov. And the fight would garner attention for one reason above all others: the Nurmagomedov name.
While Sergey Morozov was a solid prospect in his own right, Umar was the cousin of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, creating a curiosity factor to draw fans in.
Right away, you could see the dexterity from Nurmagomedov, who was throwing a lot of kicks while frequently switching stances. Nurmagomedov was finding his rhythm early and timed a nice takedown to get the back of Morozov. After a scramble, the fight was back on the feet. Good defense by Morozov. Nurmagomedov throwing kicks down low and up high, mixing it up. To close the first round, Nurmagomedov secured another takedown and took the back.
Right away to start round two, Nurmagomedov stunned Morozov with a left head kick. Morozov recovered quickly and survived. Nurmagomedov was putting on a kickboxing display going to the legs, body, and head throwing with both legs. Morozov was just overwhelmed by Nurmagomedov, and was being taken apart at distance. Nurmagomedov again took the fight down and got right on the back of Morozov. Morozov tried to scramble out but this time Nurmagomedov stuck to him. Nurmagomedov locked in a rear-naked choke and put Morozov to sleep. An impressive debut from Umar Nurmagomedov, who may end up carrying the mantle for the Nurmagomedov clan. He improved to 13-0 with the win over Morozov on Wednesday.
Make that 11-0!
A sub win for @UmarNmgdv's UFC debut 😤
[ LIVE NOW on #ESPNPlus | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/DDeA2ysEWe
— UFC (@ufc) January 20, 2021
Official Result: Umar Nurmagomedov def. Sergey Morozov by technical submission (Rear-naked Choke), Round 2, 3:39
