UFC 321’s Umar Nurmagomedov abandoning Khabib career aspirations for Georges St-Pierre’s path
Nurmagomedov asked Dana White at UFC 321’1 press conference for a title shot if he beats Bautista (watch it here), and White said he’d get one with an impressive enough performance. Easier said than done against a grinder like Bautista, but Umar is confident in his abilities against Mario (and Merab).
”I have fire, like for revenge, I think fire more than for the title,” Umar told TNT Sports. “Even my blood wants revenge, you know? And I hope it’s gonna happen.
“I did work with coaches, mentally, everything, a lot,” he said of changes since his defeat. “I prepare for this fight, not like for regular fight. I prepare for this. It’s very important fight for me. I have to win. I have to win to keep working toward my dream.
”The last fight happened, I broke my hand and things didn’t go how I expected,” he finished. “And even with broke hand, I thought I did very well. It was a close fight. My mistake in last fight was the last two minutes in the last two rounds. I gave him takedowns. It was a mistake, because of that I think the judges gave it to him. But the next time it’s gonna be very different fight. It’s gonna be not same, even not close to same.”
The loss to Merab cost Umar his perfect record, but he’s re-calibrated his career expectations.
”I was a little upset, of course, directly after fighting,” he said. “But, I understand that MMA is not everything in life, and perfect record is not everything. I was expecting my career would be same like Khabib. I wanted to repeat his result. But there’s a lot of champions. For example, George St-Pierre. He lost a lot of time but he revenged everybody, and everybody recognize he one of the greatest.
“I think my way is gonna be same with Islam [Makhachev],” he revealed. ”More Islam. But whatever, I have to become a champion.”
Nurmagomedov will get his chance to put his championship aspirations back on track in Abu Dhabi, where he’s a massive -650 favorite over an oddly live +450 underdog in Bautista. But,will his performance be good enough to justify a second shot at Dvalishvili’s belt?
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 321 fight card, starting with the ESPN+/Disney+/FX “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET, before the main card start time at 2 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
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