At the moment, the situation in the UFC's bantamweight division is extremely confusing. In addition to the revived career of Henry Cejudo, who in early May will try to overthrow Aljamain Sterling from the throne and regain the title, five more fighters are participating in the championship race one way or another. The most advantageous positions in it are occupied by Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley, quite a bit behind them is Cory Sandhagen, who returned to the winning track after a series of crushing defeats. So far, we should not write off Marlon Vera and Peter Ian, whose affairs have been going badly lately. But it may happen that another athlete will wedge into this five, currently not even in the top 10 of the category ranking.
We are talking about Umar Nurmagomedov, who is already one of the most discussed fighters in the category up to 61.2 kilograms. Of course, the reason for this is largely due to his family ties with the former lightweight champion, but he himself looks more than impressive. Now on the account of the undefeated Russian there are already 16 victories, four of which he got in the UFC. And although he has not yet crossed paths with truly star opponents, the promotion makes a big bet on him and already offers to lead the tournament. And as his rival they see not anyone, but the first number of the category.
As Nurmagomedov himself said on Twitter, Dana White personally invited him to fight with Dvalishvili in the main fight of the show scheduled for May 13. And although the Russian himself agreed, the plans quickly went downhill due to the injury of the Georgian. However, this did not stop him or the promotion. According to TSN Sports, the fight is still going to be organized, but a little later - in July.
Umar's interest in this battle is understandable. The victory over Merab will help him immediately break into the top three of the bantamweight and soon claim the belt. Nurmagomedov himself recently expressed the opinion that for the status of the first contender it will be enough for him to prevail over two rivals - Dvalishvili and Sandhagen. But in this case, several questions arise at once. And one of the main ones is how interesting a meeting with him is for potential opponents themselves.
If Cory has recently been busy preparing for a confrontation with Marlon Vera and is unlikely to seriously think about future prospects, then Merab's team closely followed the statements of Nurmagomedov's cousin. As the georgian's manager Oren Khodak noted, now Dvalishvili "wants to try a sandwich called Sandhagen, which is more valuable than a guy who is not even in the top ten of the rating."
And his position is easy to understand. Despite his enormous popularity and immense talent, Nurmagomedov has not yet proved that he is one of the best representatives of the division. Yes, he won all four fights in a dominant manner, and in three he won early, but who were his opponents? Neither Sergey Morozov nor Brian Kelleher with Nate Maness and Raoni Barselos can be counted among the elite. Moreover, at the time of the tournament, none of them were even in the top 15. Therefore, it is logical to ask, how fair is it now to consider the Russian as one of the participants in the race for the title and put him on a par with his star counterparts?
On the one hand, Nurmagomedov's skill has long been beyond doubt. He is a well-rounded athlete and is very good both in the rack and in the stalls. And this was visible to the naked eye even in the GFC, and in the UFC only found confirmation. But it's one thing to demonstrate your power against the background of the middle class and another to compete with the best. And such a sharp transition to a new level not only seems very illogical, but also promises danger for Umar himself.
Of course, some time ago, fans already witnessed the same leap in the career of one of the domestic fighters. And by a happy coincidence, it was another representative of the Nurmagomedov family. In Bellator, Usman also scored four victories in a row against far from the most skillful opponents, after which he suddenly received the right to fight for the title.
And this despite the fact that at that time there were more worthy contenders. The same Alexander Shabliy. Let him win three fights in the American League, but he managed to deal with Brent Primus himself, the former champion of the organization. And it's much more valuable than dealing with the little-known Chris Gonzalez or Patrick Pietila, whose record was 11-8.
All this indicates that the popularity factor plays a crucial role in the process of building a fighter's career. This is not surprising. Previously, it helped Conor McGregor, Sean O'Malley and many others. And all of them supported their status with the brightest performances in the octagon, which can be said about Nurmagomedov. However, Umar looks even more advantageous, because he boasts universalism, which the Irishman and the American can only dream of.
Still, Nurmagomedov's fight with Dvalishvili seems a bit illogical and premature. And extremely risky, because a defeat in it will deal a heavy blow to the reputation of Umar and seriously complicate his prospects. And so it's extremely surprising that no one is trying to dissuade him from taking that step. The same Khabib very systematically went to the top of the easy category and did not force this process. Yes, in 2014, he was one step away from fighting Gilbert Melendez, a former Strikeforce champion and future contender for the UFC belt, but you can't put the American on a par with Merab. Even at his peak, he looked less impressive and did not possess such unique qualities as the Georgian, who literally "grinded" Peter Yan thanks to his freestyle wrestling skills and crazy endurance.
Perhaps now Nurmagomedov would be much better off fighting with the same Sandhagen - a less versatile athlete who feels rather uncomfortable under pressure. Or even better, with Faith yielding to him, frankly crumbling under the pressure of an American. This would allow the Russian to assess his strength in a duel with a skillful, but quite convenient counterpart - which cannot be said about Dvalishvili.
Of course, there is still an option to bring Nurmagomedov together with Yan, but it is unlikely that Russian fans of mixed martial arts would like to watch this confrontation. Especially considering that another fiasco could put an end to Peter's UFC career. Now in his passive there are four defeats in the last five fights, and another one threatens him with relegation from the top 5 of the rating.
But so far, everything is going to the fact that it is Jan who will compete with Faith. Their fight has been talked about for a long time, and at the end of UFC on ESPN 43, the Ecuadorian himself expressed a desire to meet with the Russian. And if this really happens, then for Nurmagomedov there will be practically no other options but to fight with Dvalishvili. Of course, there is still O'Malley, but Dana Whyte is unlikely to risk throwing her young star under the tanks. Of course, you can wait until the conditional Rob Font, Adrien Janez, Song Yadong and Ricky Simon, who fight each other in April, are free, but now this is unlikely to attract the attention of Umar himself. He is clearly intent on taking the division by storm and is willing to take a chance.