Unconquered in the pro MMA, bantamweight division Umar Nurmagomedov, (25) was born on 3rd January 1996, in Kizilyurt, the Republic of Dagestan, Russia.
He is the cousin of the undefeated and undisputed, Lightweight UFC champion Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov, and is also known as “Junior”.
During his early years, he fought in regional MMA promotions around Russia. He also fought two fights in the Professional Fighting League in 2018 and 2019 respectively, against Saidyokub Kakharamonov on August 30, 2018 and Sidemar Honorio on August 8, 2019.
He was also featured in the regional MMA promotion of Dagestan known as the “Gorilla Fighting Championship” (GFC) also known as “Battle on Volga”.
In Dagestan he was trained by his uncle and Khabib’s father, the legendary Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. He also has a background in combat sumo and Muay Thai.
Umar made his debut in pro MMA on December 16, 2016 at “AMC Fight Nights” also known as “Fight Nights Global” against Rishat Kharisov. Umar won the match decisively as Rishat submitted to a Peruvian necktie. Umar fought a total five battles at Fight Nights Global and emerged victorious in all of them. He fought against the likes of Alym Isabaev, Valisher Rakhmonov, Nauruz Dzamikhov, and Shyudi Yamauchi at AMC.
There was much hype surrounding his debut in the UFC as the cousin of never-lost-a-fight legend Khabib. Apart from that, everyone is speculating that he will take the undefeated legacy of his cousin forward as he’s already accumulated 13 victories without any losses to date.
Umar was scheduled to make his UFC debut fight against Sergey Morozov at UFC 257 on the card headlined by Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier, however, the bout was moved 3 days earlier where Umar won the match by submission via rear naked choke.
It is speculated that the match was moved so as to rule out any possibility of a face-off between Khabib and McGregor at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
His debut was cancelled three times in the UFC last year for one reason or another. Last April, he was supposed to make his debut against Hunter Azure at UFC 249 but that was postponed due to COVID-19.
Umar then withdrew from his bout with Nathaniel Wood in July following the death of his beloved uncle, Abdulmanap, to whom he was dearly attached.
The third time it was a staph infection that forced him to stay out of the octagon in his scheduled bout with Morozov, as mentioned above, at UFC 257.
Umar, like his cousin Khabib, possesses a very dominant style inside the octagon, always looking to get the clinch on as soon as possible in his fights.
Now you’ve got a bit of the back story on this very special Russian fighter, let’s get into the hotlist of his best, most eye-opening finales – in Umar Nurmagomedov: Top 5 MMA Finishes! (in descending order)
- Vs. Taras Grytskiv – GFC 14 Dagestan (July 13, 2019)
- Vs. Brian Gonzalez – GFC 20 (Nov. 23, 2019)
- Vs. Alym Isabaev – Fight Nights Global 62 (March 31, 2017)
- Vs. Sidemar Honorio – PFL 6 (Aug. 8, 2019)
- Vs. Sergey Morozov – UFC Fight Night (Jan. 20, 2021)
Umar was up against Ukrainian fighter Taras Grytskiv at the Dubai-based Global Fighting Championship. At 34 seconds into round one, Grytskiv charged at Nurmagomedov looking for a takedown as they sprawled at the side of the ring.
At a minute 37 seconds into the round, Umar mounted Grytskiv hurling punches at his head and face. At 2 minutes 27, Umar again rocked Taras’ face with brutal punches as he manages back control, making an opening to land the blows.
At 2 minutes 48 seconds into round one, Taras Grytskiv tapped to a rear naked choke executed by Nurmagomedov – thus winning the match via submission.
UFC undisputed Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was at ringside to support his cousin Umar as he fought against the Argentinian fighter Gonzalez.
Both fighters looked agile and changed stances so as to not give any chance opps away as the match began.
Nurmagomedov looked to rely more on his kicks – as he often does in his bouts – to inflict maximum damage on his opponent. At 1 minute 4 seconds into round one, a high kick from Nurmagomedov was caught midway and Gonzalez struck back with a right-hand punch. Umar then forced himself on his opponent going for a takedown on Gonzalez.
For around two minutes Umar applied immense pressure on Gonzalez, draining him with his full body weight as he mounted his grounded opponent.
At 4 minutes into round one, Umar rocked Brian’s head with solid jabs and punches as blood spilled from Gonzalez’s mouth. Then, Umar executed a rear naked choke to which Gonzalez tapped at 4 minutes, 34 seconds into round one. The referee poked Umar to release him from his high-intensity choke. Again, Umar won the match via submission.
This time, Umar was up against Alym Isabaev, a mixed martial artist from Kyrgyzstan.
Umar started off with high and low calf kicks as a part of his gameplan to make his opponent wary of his feet.
At 1 minute 8 seconds into round one, Umar struck upon Alym’s left thigh with a kick and instantly went in for a takedown by grappling his left leg as he stumbled to the ground. However, Alym smartly turned the tables as he executed an arm bar at 1 minute 20 seconds, getting free of Umar’s grip.
Unfortunately, Alym was soon out of fuel as Umar got himself mounted over him, whilst again exerting immense pressure continuously for more than 2 minutes in the second round.
At 3 minutes into round two, Umar started unleashing devastating punches to Alym’s face and stomach aiming to totally dominate him.
The referee intervened at 3 minutes and 32 seconds into the round as Umar fired stunning left hands to his opponent’s head to which there was simply no answer. Umar won the match via knockout.
Legendary WWE ring announcer, Lilian Garcia described this bout as the classic Russia vs America battle. Umar was up against Honorio, an opponent 16 years his senior thus way more experienced. There was no touch of gloves before the fight as they got right to work.
At 2 minutes 4 seconds into round one, Umar levied two quick, right-hand punches on Honorio and smothered his opponent with a mount looking for an opening to extend his attack.
At the beginning of round two Umar looked far more intimidating and confident than his opponent. At 3 minutes 36 seconds into the round, Umar rocked Sidemar’s head with a front kick. This enraged Sidemar who fired back two redundant punches at Umar who moved back swiftly without damage.
At 10 seconds into round three, Umar whacked Sidemar with a painful, inside leg kick causing Sidemar to start looking lost, unprepared to tackle the Nurmagomedov lightning-fast kicks.
With a minute left to the end of round three, Umar again went for a head kick and a couple of knee strikes before both fighters grappled each other on the ground. Umar Nurmagomedov ended up winning the match in round three via decision.
Umar made his UFC debut battling Sergey Morozov at UFC Fight Island 8. Nurmagomedov looked nimble from the very start of the match and continued his tactics of using leg kicks to decimate his opponent.
At 1 minute 34 seconds into round one, Umar attacked with a high kick to the head of Morozov that struck loud with unmistakable reverberation.
At 4 seconds into round two, Umar unbolted a fierce high kick right to Morozov’s jaw as the commentators exclaimed, “He’s hurt! He’s hurt!” whilst continuing to punish with right hand jabs and punches at the side of the ring.
Nurmagomedov, then, with a dazzling athletic display mounted himself on the back of Morozov looking for the takedown. By this time Morozov was clearly exhausted – being forced to bear the burden of Nurmagomedov’s weight on his back.
At 3 minutes, 23 seconds into round two, Umar went for the rear naked choke on Morozov who tried his level best to keep himself in the match before fading out…
The referee intervened at 3 minutes and 39 seconds of the round as Morozov lay unconscious due to the tremendous pressure exerted by the choke. The result was yet again, another match win for Umar via submission.
