Prelim Preview: Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Raoni Barcelos | UFC Vegas 67
Another Prelim Preview for the upcoming UFC Vegas 67 card is here. This one has the potential to be the best on the card. Today we are looking at the bantamweight bout between Umar Nurmagomedov and Raoni Barcelos! If you missed the previous Prelim Preview on Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Claudio Ribeiro, catch up on that here!
Umar Nurmagomedov: 15-0 Record, 1 KO/TKO, 7 Submissions – UFC Vegas 67
The cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Umar Nrumagomedov looks to grow the Dagestani champion list to three. A win at UFC Vegas 67 will do just that. At a perfect 15-0, Umar Nurmagomedov has been a submission machine, producing seven total in his career.
Nurmagomedov has been great in the UFC and has some good wins. In PFL, Nurmagomedov has wins over Sidemar Honorio and now-UFC contender Saidyakoub Kakhramonov. But his best work has been with the UFC. 3-0 with the UFC, Nurmagomedov won his first two fights by rear naked choke over Sergey Morozov and Brian Kelleher. In June of 2022, he took Nate Maness to a decision, getting the win again.
Barcelos is a tough task for Umar Nurmagomedov and with a win, he can knock off one of the most avoided fighters in the bantamweight division.
Raoni Barcelos: 17-3 Record, 6 KO/TKO’s, 1 Submission
Raoni Barcelos was once the bigger names in the bantamweight division and was an incredibly avoided fighter. With a 17-3 record, Barcelos went on a nine fight winning streak from 2015 to 2020. While he’s a Brazilian national champion in wrestling and a seventh degree black belt in jiu jitsu, it’s his hands that gets the job done for Barcelos. He has only won one fight via sub and has six knockouts to his name. At UFC Vegas 67, he will be right in his wheelhouse against the Dagestani wrestler.
In the UFC, Barcelos has wins over Kurt Holobaugh, Chris Gutierrez, and Said Nurmagomedov (no relation to Umar Nurmagomedov). After he dropped a tough fight to Timur Valiev and a beating to Victor Henry, Barcelos finally rebounded in October of 2022 and beat Trevin Jones via decision.
Barcelos looks to rebound against Umar Nurmagomedov and finally make his way into the rankings of the UFC’s bantamweight division.
Keep your eyes peeled for this fight. It’s bound to be one of the most fun grappling fights of the year in only the first card of the year.
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In addition to covering MMA for My MMA News, Blaine Henry, the author, also analyzes fights from all combat sports across the globe.
Blaine Henry can be found on Twitter, on his Substack, an YouTube.
