Khabib Nurmagomedov reignited his feud with Conor McGregor this week. He riled up the Irish star with a tirade about the state of MMA in his country. But what it has done more is bring more attention to Khabib’s cousin, Usman Nurmagomedov, before Bellator Champions Series: Road to Dubai.
After the rant on Irish MMA, it’s all eyes on the failed drug tests on the newest champ of the Dagestani Dynasty. The CSAC suspension and the rumored steroid usage are again a viral topic among the combat sports clique. Khabib’s cousin faces Irish star Paul Hughes at Bellator Champions Series: Road to Dubai. Even after their Bellator takeover, PFL faces many backhanded spikes for its poor promotion drivers.
Khabib Nurmagomedov sat down for a PFL MMA media sit-down for #RoadtoDubai, UAE, and took shots at Irish MMA for what is essentially branded Dagestan vs Ireland 2. It went quite viral but at a cost. Now, here is an actual look into the Dagestani side of things, Usman Nurmagomedov, and his steroid usage.
Bellator’s Usman Nurmagomedov faced 6-month suspension: A test pool recap
Yes – he did test in the green for drugs. Bellator lightweight champ Usman Nurmagomedov was suspended for six months in California and levied $50,000. California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) executive officer Andy Foster confirmed the drug tests and test pool failure to ESPN MMA, late last year.
Usman Nurmagomedov enters Bellator Champions Series: Road to Dubai with 1 NC after drug test (Source: uznayvse.ru)Now, with Khabib touting Russian MMA mettle, Hughes hit back. In addition, he also mocked “Dagestan number 1 at juicing bratha,” in response to it. It is a repost of a story from ESPN Staff Writer Marc Raimondi from November last year.
The discourse has thus opened up the floodgates and all scopes are on Usman again. Nurmagomedov was pulled from the Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix due to the failed drug test. Manager Ali Abdelaziz informed he did not have to give up his strap. However, his last tournament win over Brent Primus became a clear no-contest.
Breaking Bad or Breaking Silence
None of Khabib’s cousin’s test pool results were enhancing substitutes or anabolic steroids, EPO, HGH, etc. Even Abdelaziz informed as much in an official statement when he failed the drug test in October. Foster said that Usman Nurmagomedov was to enroll with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) as a pre-condition of the settlement agreement with CSAC.
Team Khabib and Usman Nurmagomedov proved innocent in their steroid usage capper (Source: bleacherreport/X)Other than that, the details of the said substance (steroid) remained hush-hush. Usman and team had provided proof of “prescribed therapeutic use” of the substance. The then-26-year-old hit back that if this was actually PED, the effects would be far more severe.
Cousin of UFC Hall of Famer, Usman knew this would be a prime spot to find flaws in his near-perfect history of the Dagestani MMA family. But the Bellator champion did not care much for naysayers. Having fulfilled whatever obligations he has with Foster, he was ready to return for the Bellator Champions Series: San Diego headliner.
To invoke past drug test or not to invoke
Nurmagomdov defeated challenger Alexander Shabliy easily via UD (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) at Pechanga Arena. However, as is the trend, the combat sports punter said that without steroids, he fought gassed. But that didn’t rock his beliefs or the road ahead.
Khabib’s cousin and his alleged steroid/PED history still in equation (Source: X/inki.com)Bellator MMA, under PFL management, will debut in the United Arab Emirates. Bellator Champions Series: Road to Dubai: Champions Series main event soon remains the talk of town. With cousin Khabib cornering – the Dagestan vs. Ireland 2 labels went big. Hughes (13-1) was all here for it.
As a matter of fact, he did not care for failed drug tests or the off-chance of steroid usage. Paul Hughes said it wouldn’t make a difference and vowed hell in their lightweight title bout. However, he is now singing a very different tune and invoking drug test failures. It’s the Ireland vs. Dagestan dispute at play here; even other UFC/MMA stars have waded through with their opinions.
Needle it through
Hughes has been on a roll since losing a split decision to Jordan Vucenic in December 2020. It was the only loss on his pro record. Since then, he has won seven fights in a row. For the Irish fighter, winning this would put another pinch of spark in Irish MMA. Hence, things are personal for him this time around; the diss on Usman Nurmagomedov is more that on Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dagestani MMA.
Usman Nurmagomedov can make it big at Bellator Champions Series: Road to Dubai (Source: lasueur.com/IG)So in a way, it is understandable in the build-up. Despite the long controversy, even CSAC standards haven’t proven Usman in the wrong. Even if he can avoid the 1 in his loss column and stay ’18-0′, this stays on. Many fighters still diss him on this particular history. However, if he can go undefeated like Khabib himself, despite setbacks, it’d be one for ages.
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