Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has encouraged cousin Umar Nurmagomedov to keep his head held high following a first career setback in Los Angeles this past Saturday night.
The 29-year-old made the walk inside Inglewood’s Intuit Dome for his opening title opportunity on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage, looking to become the latest undefeated Nurmagomedov to hold gold in a leading promotion.
Unfortunately for the Dagestani, he failed in that quest at UFC 311. Instead, Merab Dvalishvili successfully maintained his position on the bantamweight throne, emerging victorious from a memorable five-round battle to record his first defense.
Having suffered his first defeat as a professional and exited California without the belt in his possession, Nurmagomedov will understandably be disappointed.
His coach, mentor, and cousin, however, is confident of making the necessary fixes to ensure a successful title challenge down the line.
“Head up Junior, yesterday you showed that you are one of the best in the world,” Khabib wrote in an Instagram post. “At the moment we have something to work on, we will work on the mistakes and return to the title race”
“The Eagle” had a busy night in LA, cornering two other fighters at UFC 311.
Tagir Ulanbekov opened the night in strong fashion for the team, taking Clayton Carpenter’s 0 by way of a convincing decision. And another member of the Dagestani contingent closed out proceedings, with Islam Makhachev retaining his lightweight title via submission at the expense of Renato Moicano.
Alongside his supportive words toward Umar, Khabib also praised the work of both Makhachev and Ulanbekov.