UFC bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov is well aware of the pressure on him to set the stage for Islam Makhachev this weekend.
Nurmagomedov is days out from his first title challenge on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage, as the undefeated Dagestani battles for Merab Dvalishvili’s 135-pound gold in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 311 pay-per-view.
Should the 29-year-old have his hand raised, celebrations for his crowning won’t last long within the team.
Attention inside Inglewood’s Intuit Dome will have to immediately turn to another assignment for one of their men, with Makhachev set to defend his lightweight throne opposite Arman Tsarukyan in the main event.
During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Nurmagomedov acknowledged the need to perform well with his teammate watching on backstage ahead of his own walk to the Octagon.
“It’s going to be a hard night for our team,” Nurmagomedov said. “Two fights for the title very close together. It’s going to be nervous. Islam is going to be nervous watching my fight, but I will fight perfect. I will try to not even miss one punch, to give him good energy.
“It’s always (harder watching them fight),” Nurmagomedov said. “When you’re fighting, you can control everything. And when someone else is fighting – your brother, your close friends – you can just give him advice. Fighting (yourself is) easy, more easy. Any fighter will tell you.”
Fight week hasn’t exactly started smoothly for Nurmagomedov’s team after their coach, the great Khabib Nurmagomedov, was shown being kicked off a flight to Los Angeles in a video that went viral this past weekend.
While that remains a hot topic, they’ll look to forget those issues and focus on the task at hand on Jan. 18, when the team will hope to double its amount of UFC gold rather than leave Inglewood with none altogether.