Khabib Nurmagomedov: UFC President Dana White recently stated that surging bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov, cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, is struggling to find ranked opponents willing to face him. The Dagestani fighter is currently on a 16-fight win streak. For more combat sports news, follow Insidesport.IN.
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Khabib Nurmagomedov: Dana White’s Statement on Ranked Bantamweight
‘Young Eagle’ Umar Nurmagomedov is #11 in the UFC bantamweight rankings., but the UFC is finding it difficult to match him up with opponents. When asked about this issue at the recent post-fight press conference, Dana White gave a blunt assessment of the situation.
“We were talking about (Umar Nurmagomedov) earlier…that’s a guy not everybody’s beating down the door to fight…so yeah, we’ll figure something out with him…it’s always hard when you have these guys who are in the top ten, when you start going, seven, six, five, four…and then this guy’s behind them…nobody wants to take that risk on a guy who isn’t ranked…it’s tough. Those are the fights that publically, everybody says they’ll take, but privately, nobody says they want to take them.”
Upon hearing this statement from Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov took to social media to recall facing a similar situation earlier in the career of his teammate Islam Makhachev. At that time, Khabib actively helped in finding Makhachev’s opponents and building up his experience.
Khabib said: “We were with Islam Makhachev, now they’re with Umar. This is normal, the UFC has always had this problem, but they solve it. My team and I are also ready to help in the development and promotion of Umar.”
Khabib’s nostalgic statement highlights the struggles often faced by prospects to break into the rankings, as ranked fighters are frequently reluctant to risk their spots by taking on dangerous unranked opponents. Khabib and his team had to work actively to get Makhachev the necessary experience and opponents to rise up the ranks, and are now offering the same help and guidance to Umar Nurmagomedov to help continue the family’s legacy in the UFC. With the support of Khabib and one of the top teams in MMA, Umar Nurmagomedov may soon get the opportunities he needs to prove himself as a real contender at Bantamweight. Follow InsideSport on GOOGLE NEWS / For UFC News updates with InsideSport.IN
