DUBAI – Javier Mendez is expecting big things from Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 321.
Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) will look to rebound from his title loss to bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili when he takes on Mario Bautista (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) on Oct. 25 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Although the Dvalishvili setback was the first of Nurmagomedov’s career, Mendez says he can’t afford to lose this fight.
“There’s extreme pressure on him,” Mendez told MMA Junkie of Nurmagomedov. “He’s had a lot of pressure in this one because you’ve got to understand (that) he carries the last name. There’s a big honor in that, and Usman his brother is undefeated, Khabib is undefeated, he was undefeated. There’s a lot of pressure. He was doing what Khabib was doing at an earlier stage, so there was a lot of comparisons. I called him ‘Young Eagle.’ Come on, you’ve got to be realistic.
“There’s a lot of pressure on him, and now he has to rebound from the loss and come stronger, and it was not an easy journey. It was a physical and a mental journey for him. He’s such a fighter and fierce competitor, and he wants it. So, he showed it to us yesterday in his sparring. Yes, I base everything on their sparring. I don’t base it on what they think. No, I base it on how I see, what I feel, when I see, and I’ve seen some great sparring from him that it was unbelievable for me.”
With Dvalishvili lapping the division and taking on another rematch in Petr Yan on Dec. 6 at UFC 323, Nurmagomedov could earn himself another title shot with a win over Bautista. However, Mendez insists it’s not about getting one back against Dvalishvili.
“It’s super tough for him,” Mendez said. “What he needs to do is just focus on winning and winning with a great, big exclamation point like, ‘Boom, there I am. I’m the next guy.’ So after Petr Yan and Merab go, whoever the victor is – and I’m not pulling for any one guy or another because we’re not after anyone but the title. So whoever wins, that’s the best. That’s who we want.”
