UFC Vegas 67: Umar Nurmagomedov is the fighter to watch
Umar Nurmagomedov looks to kick off the new year with a still-undefeated record.
Currently ranked No. 11, Umar Nurmagomedov will put his undefeated record on the line at UFC Vegas 67 against Brazil’s Raoni Barcelos. Nurmagomedov, who is the older brother of newly crowned Bellator champion Usman Nurmagomedov and cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, will take his 15-0 record into Las Vegas Saturday night and look to leave with it intact.
Nurmagomedov went pro in 2016, where he trained with his uncle and Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov in Makhachkala, Russia. In 2018, Nurmagomedov joined the newly created Professional Fighters League, where he went 2-0, never entering into the regular season format. In 2021, Umar joined the UFC, where he is 3-0 with victories over Sergey Morozov, Brian Kelleher, and most recently Nate Maness last summer.
Umar Nurmagomedov’s cousin and coach, Khabib, looks to step away from MMA
Nurmagomedov currently trains out of American Kickboxing Academy, the flagship gym for many UFC fighters.
This past weekend news broke that Khabib was stepping away from MMA for the time being to focus more on family, and although Javier Mendez is the main coach at AKA, Khabib’s presence in the corner of his training partners and relatives will undoubtedly leave a void.
Umar’s next opponent, Barcelos lingered in RFA and won the featherweight championship there before joining the UFC with an 11-1 record. Barcelos started out his UFC career 5-0, taking out Kurt Holobaugh, Chris Gutierrez, Carlos Huachin, Said Nurmagomedov (no relation), and Khalid Taha. Barcelos was on that tear before suffering losses to Timur Aliev and Victor Henry but got back on track in October with a win against Trevin Jones. With a win against Barcelos, Umar could propel himself into the bantamweight rankings and start his ascent to the bantamweight title.
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