Usman Nurmagomedov is looking forward to a potential showdown between his brother Umar Nurmagomedov and Petr Yan, which would be a massive fight for Russian MMA.
First things first, Umar has to handle business in his upcoming fight next month against former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 324, a UFC-ranked No. 2 vs. No. 6 matchup. If, for some reason, Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t get an immediate rematch against Petr Yan for the title, Usman believes Umar would be the next man up, assuming he has an impressive performance against Figueiredo.
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“It’s gonna be very big fight for Russia, and very interesting fight,” Usman told MMA Junkie. “We’ll see how Umar gonna beat Figueiredo. If Umar gonna finish him, of course, for my opinion, he’s for sure gonna be No. 1 contender. I think he’s gonna fight for the title after Ramadan. Umar has to show very good performance; for that, we’re here in the mountains.”
In January at UFC 311, Umar earned a crack at then-champ Dvalishvili. While he took home his share of the Fight of the Night award, he did not win the title, ending on the wrong end of a unanimous decision. Umar rebounded with a decision win over Mario Bautista at UFC 321 in October.
Usman was impressed with how Yan performed in his rematch against Dvalishvili to reclaim the bantamweight crown, but wasn’t necessarily surprised because he knew injuries played a factor in the first meeting.
“He did very good work on his mistakes from the first time,” Usman said. “First time, I know he was injured. It was his arm or his shoulder. Like it was two or three injuries. I asked him why he take this big risk, he said, ‘Why not? They give me fight, and I don’t want to say no – so I take.’ I say, ‘Brother, in this level, sometimes you can choose your own health.’ But it is what it is. Now he’s champion. He deserves this because of how we see him. He make very big work and with that we congrats him.”
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The UFC’s bantamweight title picture will be clearer in the coming weeks, but if things unfold to a matchup between Umar and Yan, Usman knows the perfect location for that title fight.
“If it happens in Abu Dhabi, I think Abu Dhabi gonna be full.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Usman Nurmagomedov hopes brother Umar face Petr Yan in Abu Dhabi
