Meet Undefeated 125 lb Talent, The Eagle’s Cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov
Umar Nurmagomedov just picked up the biggest victory of his young career last Wednesday at UFC Fight Island VIII, as he defeated Sergey Morozov via technical submission (rear naked choke) at 3:39 of round two.
This was an incredibly impressive performance over the multiple-time M-1 Challenge flyweight champion.
Nurmagomedov himself is a former BOV & GFC flyweight champion, and he improved his professional record to 13-0 with this victory, marking his sixth victory via submission.
As we saw, Nurmagomedov has wicked wrestling and grappling, of course, but we also saw he has some pretty skillful and dangerous striking. His kicks of all sorts are polished very well, and he’s very effective in using them. He’s a very well rounded talent, as we’ve come to expect.
Nurmagomedov is still just 24-years-old as well, turning 25 in March. That gives us a lot of time to really see what he could become, and by our guess, he’ll be the UFC flyweight champion before his career is all said and done. Maybe even sooner rather than later.
This young man stands 5’8” and has a reach of 69” as well, a pretty favorable frame for the 125 lb division. He’s going to be a big problem for potentially everyone he faces in the future.
That brings us to the question, who could Umar Nurmagomedov face next? Well, he just handily finished a multiple-time world champion, but that performance didn’t give him a number next to his name, surprisingly.
Swedish talent, and No. 13 ranked Amir Albazi just picked up his second octagon victory, this one over four-time FNG flyweight champion Zhalgas Zhumagulov. He’d make for a great fight with Nurmagomedov. Albazi is 14-1 himself, he’s 27-years-old, and his only defeat comes to Jose Torres, a very elite flyweight in his own right.
Czech talent, and No. 12 ranked David Dvorak would also make for a good next opponent for Nurmagomedov. Dvorak is 28-years-old, he holds a record of 19-3, including a 2-0 stint thus far in the UFC, and he’s finished 15 of those 19 victories.
Lastly, is a match up with No. 15 ranked Hawaiian talent Tyson Nam, who’s coming off a split decision defeat to No. 8 ranked Matt Schnell. Before that, Nam had finished his last two opponents via knockout, and he himself has held a couple titles in his day.
He has a record of 20-12-1, and he’s 37-years-old, but don’t let that fool you.
Nam is one of the most experienced flyweights in the world, he’s fought everyone, and beat some of them. For
instance, when former UFC flyweight title challenger Ali Bagautinov left the UFC, his first fight outside the organization was against Nam, who KO’d him with a head kick.
There aren’t too many flyweight talents signed to the UFC that don’t have fights booked, which is incredibly exciting. To think, the UFC nearly got rid of this division, they cut half of the 125 lb roster, and now we have more elite names in it than ever before.
This is a very exciting time to be a fight fan!
Who would you like to see this Russian assassin face next?
