Umar Nurmagomedov, along with brother Usman of Bellator fame, is one of numerous fighters carrying on the legacy of Khabib Nurmagomedov and father Abdulmanap — and he returns to action at UFC Vegas 87 this Saturday.
It’s been a bit of a journey for the Dagestani to this point. Injury took him out of a fight in August, and opponents kept turning down offers to fight him. That situation became something of an ego boost, until he got back in the gym with his famous family.
“They make me think I’m the champion in this. Really, they make me think [that], and then I’m going to the gym and Khabib or someone else smashes me, and they bring me back on the Earth,” Nurmagomedov (16-0) explained during this week’s UFC Vegas 87 media day, ahead of his fight with newcomer Bekzat Almakhan.
That said, “I hope they will take these fights, they will approve with someone top five maybe, after this fight,” Umar said of his desire to fight up the rankings.
On taking a fight with a new face to the promotion, Nurmagomedov added that “for me, it’s being active. I didn’t think this fight was going to be a very easy for me and I didn’t train. No, I trained, I trained very hard, I trained like I will train for the title. I’m not sleeping. For my opponent, it’s a big opportunity, and I think he’s doing a very great job too. We’ll see, we’ll see this Saturday.”
He also doesn’t care about critics who will say he was expected to win, if that is indeed the outcome at UFC Vegas 87.
“No, I don’t care about what they’re going to think. I really don’t care. They have their life, I have my life. I didn’t do nothing for somebody [to be] nice with me, and they will say ‘yeah this guy is very good.’ I don’t care. I have family, about [whom] I care. I have my way, and I’m doing what I want to do.”
Asked if perhaps he needs to become more vocal and start calling out opponents for turning him now, Urmar Nurmagomedov questioned whether such a tactic would prove fruitful.
“You think it’s gonna work? I don’t know,” he replied. “They just talk about, ‘he don’t deserve it, he didn’t beat nobody.’ How I didn’t beat nobody? 4-0 is not bad. How many fighters are beginning like this?”
Nurmagomedov added that he didn’t want to be cocky and call himself high level or predict a knockout. Rather, he noted that “if somebody comes to the UFC, and he’s showing a good performance, and he smashes all his opponents, it means this guy has to fight with somebody strong. You can’t just say ‘he doesn’t deserve it, he has to beat somebody.’
Acknowledging that Merab Dvalishvili experienced the same issue, Nurmagomedov pointed out that you can’t beat somebody if no one is willing to take a fight with you. “How am I gonna beat somebody if they’re not approving [the fight]?”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 87 media day with Umar Nurmagomedov above.
