Umar Nurmagomedov failed to capture the UFC bantamweight championship against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311. It was the first ever loss in his professional career, which came at the grandest stage. As expected, the loss left his coach and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov disappointed.
Nurmagomedov was looking forward to getting a clean sweep at UFC 311 with his fighters. While Tagir Ulanbekov and Islam Makhachev won their respective fights, Umar Nurmagomedov couldn’t do the same. During the post-fight presser, Makhachev shared Khabib’s immediate reaction to the loss.Â
He came to my locker room right away and told me to focus on my fight… He was very upset.
Islam Makhachev via UFC 311 post-fight presserÂ
The pound-for-pound king explained how Khabib Nurmagomedov asked him to focus on his fight. Makhachev did exactly that and went on to finish his opponent Renato Moicano in the first round via submission. Many fans believed that Nurmagomedov’s loss made the lightweight champion more angry which led to an extremely dominating victory.Â
Khabib Nurmagomedov has given a lot to his teammates as a coach since he retired from fighting. The ‘Eagle’ has also mentioned that he doesn’t like coaching, but feels responsible and wants to make his teammates successful. Given how emotionally invested he is, it would be interesting to see Umar Nurmagomedov’s comeback.
Merab Dvalishvili dismisses Umar Nurmagomedov’s injury excuse after UFC 311
At the UFC 311 co-main event, after five rounds, Merab Dvalishvili was announced the winner via unanimous decision. However, Umar Nurmagomedov wasn’t necessarily pleased with the decision. The Dagestani fighter also shared that he injured his arm in the very first round, which impacted his fight.Â
Merab Dvalishvili beats Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC at 311 (Image via UFC.com) Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, shared an image that essentially proved the alleged injury that the contender was talking about. However, it was welcomed by criticisms from fight fans, who didn’t like the excuse. Dvalishvili also talked about it in the presser and shut down all the claims.Â
I break my back during the training camp and some days I cannot get up from the bed. I don’t have a training camp, I don’t have Khabib Nurmagomedov to help me….I’m not making excuse. You are a f***** fighter and you gotta find a way to win.Â
Merab Dvalishvili via UFC 311 post-fight presserÂ
In the first two rounds, Nurmagomedov was doing great and was able to outstruck the champion. However, as the fight went further, the ‘Machine’ due to his incredible cardio started to bounce back. By the last rounds, the Team Khabib members looked exhausted which resulted in the loss.
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