Twitter has become a powerful marketing tool for fighters to improve their standing in the UFC’s ranks.
Surging lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov took full advantage of the social media platform by calling out UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pett…
Twitter has become a powerful marketing tool for fighters to improve their standing in the UFC’s ranks.
Surging lightweight contender KhabibNurmagomedov took full advantage of the social media platform by calling out UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis.
Things got started when Benson Henderson took a slight jab at Pettis in the post-fight press conference for being injured and not defending the lightweight title since winning it back in August.
While Pettis was focusing on his biggest rival in the lightweight division, Nurmagomedov let Pettis know there’s another man he should be concerned with.
Pettis responded by questioning the strength of Nurmagomedov‘s resume.
The exciting lightweight contender would then echo what Henderson mentioned by pointing out how injury prone Pettis has been thus far in his MMA career.
Although Pettis would remove the tweet, Bloody Elbow was able to capture Pettis saying that he’s not worried about Nurmagomedov because his car costs more than Nurmagomedov‘s house.
Nurmagomedov would then send a final two tweets toward Pettis in regard to his financial situation.
Although Pettis has become one of the most exciting fighters on the UFC roster, he has had a number of injury issues. Those injuries have caused Pettis to compete only five times since coming over from the WEC back in 2011.
Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, has yet to taste defeat in his MMA career with a record of 22-0. His latest win came over top-five-ranked Rafael dos Anjos, and the Dagestan native has been nothing short of must-see TV in the Octagon.
Pettis will be on the sidelines until later this year as he will be coaching opposite Gilbert Melendez on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter.Nurmagomedov will likely take another high-profile fight to cement his status as a top contender, which likely means we haven’t seen the end of these two exchanging words.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is taking his new bear-wrestler persona and running with it. The undefeated lightweight phenom just posted an Instagram video of him grappling with a chained, muzzled bear, then trying to slap a high-five with it at the end, as if the bear has any idea what he’s trying to communicate. Seems a little inhumane, but Nurmagomedov comes from a different culture, and WE MUST NOT JUDGE, right?
Speaking of cultural differences, MMAJunkie reports that the UFC originally wanted to book Nurmagomedov to fight Jim Miller on the July 16th Atlantic City UFC Fight Night card, but Nurmagomedov’s management turned it down because the fight fell on Ramadan, and the Dagestan native is a practicing Muslim. Instead, Miller will fight Donald Cerrone, and Nurmagomedov is expected to return to the Octagon by September against an opponent to be named later.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is taking his new bear-wrestler persona and running with it. The undefeated lightweight phenom just posted an Instagram video of him grappling with a chained, muzzled bear, then trying to slap a high-five with it at the end, as if the bear has any idea what he’s trying to communicate. Seems a little inhumane, but Nurmagomedov comes from a different culture, and WE MUST NOT JUDGE, right?
Speaking of cultural differences, MMAJunkie reports that the UFC originally wanted to book Nurmagomedov to fight Jim Miller on the July 16th Atlantic City UFC Fight Night card, but Nurmagomedov’s management turned it down because the fight fell on Ramadan, and the Dagestan native is a practicing Muslim. Instead, Miller will fight Donald Cerrone, and Nurmagomedov is expected to return to the Octagon by September against an opponent to be named later.
The lightweight division is one of the deepest collectives under the UFC banner and Khabib Nurmagomedov has carved out his place as a major player.
The undefeated Dagestan native had a solid amount of buzz surrounding his promotional debut back in 2012…
The lightweight division is one of the deepest collectives under the UFC banner and Khabib Nurmagomedov has carved out his place as a major player.
The undefeated Dagestan native had a solid amount of buzz surrounding his promotional debut back in 2012 and has spent the past two years turning that hype into a legitimate case for title contention. The 25-year-old has found victory in all six of his showings inside the Octagon and put on impressive—and in most cases dominant—performances against a cast of seasoned veterans.
While “The Eagle” has continued to show progress in his striking attack, it is his grappling that has given the opposition fits. Nurmagomedov’s wrestling and full-out tenacity have proven to be overwhelming and a difficult puzzle to solve inside the cage, and those skills have been directly responsible for his three most recent wins.
The AKA-trained fighter set a UFC record for takedowns when he rag-dolled knockout artist Abel Trujillo, then defeated Strikeforce veteran Pat Healy and rising contender Rafael dos Anjos, respectively. Nurmagomedov outworked “RDA” when the two met last month at UFC on Fox 11, and the lopsided unanimous-decision victory has him on the cusp of much bigger things in the 155-pound fold.
That said, the upper tier of the lightweight division is currently in the midst of a “stop and go” phase where traffic toward a title shot is concerned, and the talented young Russian is most likely going to have to play the “wait and see” game in order to determine who his next challenger will be.
Nevertheless, Nurmagomedov is certainly within striking distance of earning a title opportunity, but he will need at least one more big win before a title shot materializes.
Let’s take a look at the potential options for Nurmagomedov’s net bout.
Winner of Benson Henderson vs. Rustam Khabilov
The lightweight title won’t come into play until the end of the year and that has left a lot of room for the next title challenger to emerge. Champion Anthony Pettis will attempt to defend his strap against Gilbert Melendez in December, and that has created a huge lane for one of the fighters at the elite level of the division to prove they are more deserving than the rest of the pack.
The current scenario is such that it is going to take a few solid victories to earn the coveted title opportunity. The upcoming matchup between Benson Henderson and Rustam Khabilov will certainly play a crucial role in that picture. The former lightweight champion and the surging Russian talent will square off in the main event of Fight Night 42 when the UFC visits Albuquerque for the first time on June 7.
The MMA Lab fighter has been one of the most prominent fighters on the lightweight roster since the WEC merged into the UFC in 2011.
“Smooth” has been successful in eight of his nine showings inside the Octagon and put together a seven-fight winning streak that saw him earn the lightweight title and successfully defend his belt on several occasions throughout that run. His only setback under the UFC banner came against Anthony Pettis last August at UFC 164, where “Showtime” earned the first-round submission victory.
The 30-year-old Colorado native was eager to get things back on track and did so by edging out Josh Thomson in a controversial split decision in the main event at UFC on Fox 10 back in January.
His victory over “The Punk” kept him in the title mix, but the circumstances at hand in the lightweight division and his recent loss to Pettis meant Henderson was going to need a few strong showings before he would be considered for another championship opportunity.
He will face Khabilov next month in New Mexico, and if he is successful against “The Tiger,” a title eliminator bout against Nurmagomedov would make a tremendous amount of sense.
Things are a bit trickier on the Khabilov’s side of the table. The Russian suplex machine has certainly been a force to be reckoned with inside the cage and has looked more impressive with each showing inside the Octagon.
The 27-year-old Albuquerque transplant has been victorious in all three of his showings under the UFC banner and has built a solid amount of buzz in the process. There is no doubt his upcoming bout against Henderson could yield a very big reward, the likelihood of him facing Nurmagomedov in his next outing is unlikely.
The two men are friends and former training partners from their time spent in Dagestan, and their relationship could very well throw a wrench into making that fight a reality.
While money and the type of prestige that comes with a high-profile bout has the potential to change any circumstance, it would be a long shot to get the two Russian fighters into the Octagon without a title on the line. The business of MMA is certainly unpredictable, but the chances of Nurmagomedov vs. Khabilov are grim.
In a division with as much high-powered talent as there is at 155 pounds, there is little room for error where wins and losses are concerned. Once a fighter crosses over into the elite tier of the weight class, every bout comes with crucial importance.
Both Donald Cerrone and Jim Miller are currently swimming in those waters. The two men will face off in the main event of Fight Night 45 in what is sure to be a highly anticipated showdown between two of the scrappiest fighters in the division.
“Cowboy” is no stranger to putting together winning streaks, and he’s currently in the midst of another impressive run. The Jackson/Winkeljohn-trained fighter has collected three consecutive wins inside the Octagon and has finished his opponent in each of those showings.
Cerrone has started to build a strong case for a return to the contender’s table at 155 pounds, and his upcoming bout with Miller will certainly determine which route—whether he jumps up into title contention or is reshuffled.
Should he defeat Miller in Atlantic City, a potential matchup with Nurmagomedov could certainly become reality. Cerrone’s striking would be some of the best Nurmagomedov has ever faced, and his submission game is one of the slickest in the lightweight fold.
While the undefeated prospect-turned-contender would have a decided edge in the wrestling department, Cerrone’s skills in that department are extremely underrated, and the pairing would be an interesting contrast of styles.
There is a lot of the same energy working for Miller as well. The New Jersey native has been working tirelessly to regain the standing he once held in the lightweight divisional hierarchy, and his performance against Cerrone will determine if he makes that happen.
Where Miller once notched seven consecutive wins in less than two years, a rough patch where he won two out of four bouts with one no-contest served to cool off his momentum.
That said, the AMA-trained fighter has collected back-to-back victories as of late and is poised to put himself in a position where a title shot is certainly a possibility. If he gets by Cerrone on July 16, then a bout with Nurmagomedov for his next outing would make solid sense.
In a potential matchup between two solid wrestlers, it is often the other strengths the fighters possess that ultimately determine the outcome. Nurmagomedov would have the size and strength advantage in the fight, but Miller is a dangerous submission artist when the action hits the ground and has proven power when he is able to get inside on the opposition.
When sizing up a potential matchup between Nurmagomedov and Miller, the Whippany resident’s resiliency also needs to be taken into account. Miller has a gritty, blue-collar style and has the ability to remain dangerous late in the fight, keeping him in position to be a legitimate threat even if he’s fallen behind on the judges’ scorecards.
The Return of T.J. Grant
Another possible option for the undefeated lightweight’s next fight could materialize with the return of a fighter who was once poised for a title shot of his own in T.J. Grant. The Nova Scotia native has been a nightmare since dropping down from welterweight waters back in 2011, as he’s collected five consecutive victories in the lightweight division.
While any type of winning streak at the highest level of the sport is impressive, the type of destruction the Cole Harbour-based fighter has shown over his two most recent outings have catapulted him to the top of the heap at 155 pounds.
The gritty Canadian dismantled Matt Wiman at UFC on Fox 6 in January 2013, then drubbed former title challenger Gray Maynard four months later in Las Vegas. His victory over “The Bully” earned him a title shot against Benson Henderson in Milwaukee, but that is where Grant’s story takes a hard turn South.
During his preparation to face Henderson, Grant suffered a severe concussion that forced him out of his scheduled title fight. While most head injuries require solid recovery time, Grant’s layoff has been substantial as his time outside the Octagon is drawing close to the one-year mark.
He was supposed to get another shot at the title against new champion Anthony Pettis at UFC on Fox 9 last December, but Grant was yet to be medically cleared for the injury and was forced to remain on the sidelines. There has been a lot of shake-up in the weight class in his absence, and he will have to get at least one win before he can regain his title-challenger status.
Although there has yet to be a concrete date set for his return, a bout with Nurmagomedov is one that carries solid possibility. Where other fights on the lightweight docket have to play out in order to produce a potential opponent, booking Nurmagomedov versus Grant is one that could be made outright.
Both fighters have grappling-heavy styles, solid power and decent gas tanks in the cardio department. That said, Grant has been out of action for a while, and facing a fighter who has remained active and one who has been dominating the opposition over that stretch could be a tough pull for the Canadian.
Nevertheless, a pairing between Nurmagomedov and Grant would make sense in the grand scheme of the lightweight title picture and could be the direction the UFC decides to travel in the coming months.
Another possible option would be former title challenger Nate Diaz, but there is no telling when or where his next step will come in the lightweight mix.
Duane Finley is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
The last name is actually not that difficult if you just sound it out:
Nurm-a-go-med-ov.
Written out on paper (or in a headline), it looks like a handful, but after the man in question solidified his position as the UFC’s fastest-rising lightwei…
The last name is actually not that difficult if you just sound it out:
Nurm-a-go-med-ov.
Written out on paper (or in a headline), it looks like a handful, but after the man in question solidified his position as the UFC’s fastest-rising lightweight prospect on Saturday, we’re all going to have to get comfortable with it.
By thoroughly out-grappling Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on Fox 11, Nurmagomedov proved he’s worthy of a little attention to detail. Just as we once learned where to put the emphasis in Taktarov, the correct pronunciation of Vovchanchyn and how to properly distribute the vowels in Emelianenko, his name is one we ought to know.
Securing a unanimous-decision victory over dos Anjos on the preliminary portion of Saturday’s card did not make for Nurmagomedov’s prettiest or most high-profile UFC win, but it might go down as the one that launched him into the upper echelon of the 155-pound class.
He’s part of a growing contingent of Dagestani fighters—also including RustamKhabilov and Ali Bagautinov—currently making their mark in the UFC. His calling card is a powerful grappling game and a dangerous (occasionally reckless) striking attack which to date has proven too much for his foes.
Oh yeah, and there’s also this video floating around of a nine-year-old Nurmagomedov wrestling a bear.
An actual bear.
“There are grappling specialists, and then there are grappling specialists like KhabibNurmagomedov…,” said UFC color commentator Joe Rogan during the weekend’s Fox Network broadcast. “The level of grappling this man has shown in the Octagon has been nothing short of amazing to me. As a fan of grappling, really, I’m in awe of what this guy has been able to do to world-class competition.”
He set that tone early against dos Anjos, spending the first minute and a half walking the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt down before hoisting him off his feet and onto the canvas. From there, the 25-year-old two-time world sambo champion unleashed a steady stream of takedowns and throws, nullifying dos Anjos’ improved striking game and easily avoiding his sporadic submission attempts.
In the process, Nurmagomedov garnered his sixth straight Octagon victory, tying bantamweight champ RenanBarao for longest active win streak in the promotion. He pushed his overall mark to 22-0—an astounding feat in MMA’s most competitive weight class—and reaffirmed his position as the up-and-coming lightweight nobody really wants to fight.
In a perfect world, it also would’ve established him as a top challenger for Anthony Pettis’ 155-pound title. Unfortunately, Pettis is still recovering from knee surgery, and the rest of the lightweight top 10 remains in a very strange place right now.
The champion is already booked against Gilbert Melendez, and that fight won’t go down until near the end of the year after Pettis and Melendez fulfill their duties as coaches on season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter.
Meanwhile, theoretical No. 1 challenger Benson Henderson has fully played out the string against Pettis, losing two previous bouts against him. Left to spin his wheels, Henderson is booked for a strange matchup against Khabilov (No. 15) in June.
With Pettis ailing and Henderson otherwise engaged, it means Nurmagomedov will have to fight once, maybe twice more against lesser competition before the division even begins accepting applications for new top contenders.
Given that the futures of T.J. Grant (No. 3), Josh Thomson (No. 4) and Nate Diaz (No. 6) are also all in question for various sundry reasons, who’ll next accept a fight with the surging Nurmagomedov seems like a very vexing question indeed.
A potential booking against Donald Cerrone (who also got a win on Saturday) seems like a no-brainer, and Diaz could make some sense, assuming the easily disgruntled fighter can come to a financial arrangement with the UFC.
Either way, the lightweight title picture figures to be stuck in freeze-frame for most of the rest of 2014.
That means despite the fact his ascendance might be the dominant story at 155 pounds this year, Nurmagomedov will have to be content with fighting for our respect.
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
That job you quit that was better than you realized, that girl you let get away that maybe you shouldn’t have, that team you played on in high school that just couldn’t win the big game.
If only …
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
That job you quit that was better than you realized, that girl you let get away that maybe you shouldn’t have, that team you played on in high school that just couldn’t win the big game.
If only you’d had another chance, an opportunity to walk the same path knowing then what you know now, maybe things would have been different.
You’d be a CEO. You’d be happily married with kids and a white picket fence. You’d have that trophy, reminding you of the time you were part of the city champs.
That’s part of the human experience, though. Part of the way things shake out. You don’t always know what you have; you don’t always know what to do with it.
Unfortunately, that applies to entities founded on the human experience as well. Entities like, say, a fight promotion. Entities like, say, the UFC. The organization proved as much by putting Rafael dos Anjos and KhabibNurmagomedov, the battle to be the next hot thing at lightweight, on the preliminary fights for UFC on Fox 11.
If making stars is the goal in a new age where stars aren’t plentiful and most men (and women) plain aren’t that appealing, the Dos Anjos vs. Nurmagomedov scrap played out almost as if it were from a script.
Nurmagomedov, the quirky, charismatic Russian who walks to the cage clad in a totally unexplainable giant afro wig, beat Dos Anjos from pillar to post. He was reserved when he needed to be but ferociously forceful when it was suitable, and he walked away from the bout with a signature win over a guy who was on fire coming into their fight.
The win pushed Nurmagomedov to 6-0 in the UFC, and not one of those wins has been against a guy who’d be considered less than a respectable test. In fact, there was plenty of talk that the successful party in Orlando, Fla. would be considered a fresh contender in a division that is desperately in need of one.
And it was relegated to Fox Sports 1.
That’s right. Two guys who had been a combined 10-0 since 2012 and were on a fast track to a title shot were buried under lightweights who were ranked beneath them and guys like Brad Tavares and Yoel Romero, all of whom made the network showcase on Fox.
From an entertainment perspective, that’s not the end of the world. Romero put on a great show, and the lower-ranked guys—Donald Cerrone and EdsonBarboza—provided a chaotic war with a shocking finish. But from a sporting perspective, from the perspective of selling divisional relevance and fresh contendership, it was a misstep.
Dana White mentioned several times that Dos Anjos and Nurmagomedov were serving as the main event of the prelims, a slot that holds some esteem when those prelims are happening before a pay-per-view. The idea is that, be it through excitement or the stakes of combat, that fight will draw attention to the main card just in time to land some impulse buys from fans on a Saturday night.
Only this time, the fight in question was the last fight on a preliminary card for a free, wide-reaching network television show. Less people saw the fight because it was lost in the Fox Sports 1 shuffle, sandwiched between Fight Pass prelims and the Fox UFC Saturday event.
And so, instead of building a contender with literally millions of people watching, the UFC left a contender twisting in the wind. He dominated a bout with only a few hundred thousand viewers enjoying his handiwork.
That’s not ideal in any circumstance, but when it’s a fighter as obviously ready to be sold as Nurmagomedov, it’s even worse.
He’s interesting because he’s the rare case of an aggressive, high-impact grappler who throws people around with ease and never takes a backward step.
He’s interesting because of the would-be Drago Effect, the idea of a Russian coming to the cage and demolishing anyone who dares to get in his way.
He’s interesting because he’s now 22-0 and no one in the UFC has had any answer for anything he’s done.
Oh, and there’s that little story that went viral about him wrestling actual live bears for fun…when he was nine.
You don’t think that’s a package that the UFC can sell? A wig-wearing, bear-fighting, undefeated Russian who’s romping through the lightweight class without breaking a sweat?
It all boils down to the slightest piece of mismanagement in terms of constructing the UFC on Fox 11 card. Call it the main event of the prelims if you want—call it a showcase even though it wasn’t. The bottom line is that Rafael dos Anjos and KhabibNurmagomedov should have been fighting on network television on Saturday night.
Everyone kind of knew it before the fight, but after another dominant performance from Nurmagomedov, it’s that much more obvious afterward.
“Yes, I was. It was a secret video and I do not know how that got on the Internet.” Nurmagomedov told Combate.com via a translator. “That was long ago, I almost do not remember, I was a boy at the time.”
“Yes, I was. It was a secret video and I do not know how that got on the Internet.” Nurmagomedov told Combate.com via a translator. “That was long ago, I almost do not remember, I was a boy at the time.”
Twitter has become a powerful marketing tool for fighters to improve their standing in the UFC’s ranks.