Umar Nurmagomedov makes bold promise following UFC 321 win

Umar Nurmagomedov has made quite the claim after getting back in the win column at UFC 321.

Nurmagomedov shared the Octagon with Mario Bautista inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. It was a chance for him to bounce back after falling short in his bid for UFC bantamweight gold back in January. Nurmagomedov ended up defeating Bautista via unanimous decision.

During his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier, Nurmagomedov vowed to defeat the winner of the UFC 323 bantamweight title fight between champion Merab Dvalishvili and Petr Yan.

“I will come to take this belt,” Nurmagomedov said “Doesn’t matter who it’s gonna be, Petr Yan, Merab, doesn’t matter. I will become champion.” 

During a chat with media members, White had praise for the defeated Bautista. He also had a side comment about Nurmagomedov’s performance.

“I think going into that fight we were all expecting him to do well,” White said. “He was seriously motivated. He’s a very talented guy and he did well. He didn’t get dominated the way that team dominates people.”

The aforementioned fight between Dvalishvili and Yan will actually be a rematch. The two met back in 2021 and it was ‘The Machine” who emerged victorious. Since that bout, Yan has gone on a three-fight winning streak. In that span, he’s beaten Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Marcus McGhee.

While Nurmagomedov’s first pro MMA loss was at the hands of Dvalishvili, revenge doesn’t appear to be on his mind as much as winning UFC gold. Dvalishvili earned a close but unanimous decision victory over Nurmagomedov in their January meeting. While Dvalishvili has had several title defenses since then, Nurmagomedov had to be sidelined due to a hand injury.

Time will tell if the UFC matchmakers feel Nurmagomedov should get one more fight before competing for gold again. BJPenn.com will keep you posted on what’s next for Nurmagomedov.