Mario Bautista believes a win in his next UFC fight should be more than enough to get him a shot at the bantamweight belt.
Bautista takes on former UFC title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov on Oct. 25 at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi. It’s a high-profile bout that could put the MMA Lab fighter on a nine-fight winning streak. Bautista (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) sees a victory over Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) getting him a shot at the winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen, which goes down at UFC 320 a couple of weeks before his fight.
“I think it has to. If you look at it, it’s going to be nine straight wins,” Bautista told MMA Junkie Radio. “Getting this win, then my last three performances would be Aldo, Patchy, Umar. Nine-fight win streak. I don’t know what else you could possibly do, and I think that’s exactly what Merab had. I think Merab had a nine-fight win streak, and I think he really had to really fight for that title shot. Hopefully he sees that and gives me that same kind of grace, and we’ll figure something out.”
Bautista has put together quite the record in recent years. He hasn’t lost a fight since March 2021, and in the process has beaten some of the division’s best, including former UFC champion Jose Aldo and former Bellator champion Patchy Mix.
Despite the resume, some would argue that Nurmagomedov is the toughest test Bautista has ever faced in his career. Bautista doesn’t fully disagree but also doesn’t see Nurmagomedov as something he’s never seen before.
“Your next fight is always going to be your toughest fight,” Bautista explained. “You have to have that kind of mindset because it doesn’t get easier. You go through the UFC and you think, ‘OK, I’m going to have an easy fight or the next one might be easy.’ For me, I’ve never thought like that or had that mindset, but just comparing him to the other guys, he’s a different challenge. I’ve fought some good grapplers: Ricky Simon, and probably a few other ones here and there. I’ve got ready for wrestlers. I’ve had those cams, but this is just a more high profile one.”
