The UFC authorities have finally managed to find a rival for the noted UFC bantamweight, Umar Nurmagomedov after his complaints. Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin-brother has often publicized how none of the current UFC bantamweights wanted to accept a fight against him. The Russian boasts an undefeated 16-0 record in his pro-MMA career to date. The Instagram update about his next rival and fight implied that Umar was somewhere correct in his quibble.
It’s been more than a year since Umar had his last UFC fight. Despite a victory over Raoni Barcelos on 14 January 2023, the UFC authorities failed to match him up against any of the current UFC bantamweights.
This is probably why they had to sign an all-new fighter to face Nurmagomedov. The caption to ‘Home Of Fight’s’ Instagram post revealed whom the UFC had elected to face the Russian for his next encounter. It read:
“Umar Nurmagomedov will face a newcomer Bekzat Almakhan at UFC Vegas 86, March 2nd. UFC couldn’t find a ranked opponent for Umar?”
The comments on this post had Umar’s fans answering the question asked by ‘Home Of Fight’ in their caption. They fired several shots at the other UFC bantamweights for ducking him.
However, there were a few who weren’t pretty convinced by the narrative that everyone was ducking Umar. One such fan penned, “Cory [Sandhagen] would’ve took the fight!”
Another fan presented a similar opinion writing, “I don’t believe the top 15 are ducking him.”
One more fan expressed, “They all scared af.”
One such comment read, “Everyone is ducking.”
However, a few other comments were primarily about Umar’s scheduled rival, Bekzat Almakhan. They counted him as a potent rival for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s brother. But most UFC fans may be completely ignorant about Almakhan since he has not fought even once in the promotion.
Can Bekzat Almakhan hand Khabib Nurmagomedov’s brother his first pro-MMA career loss?
A look at Umar’s scheduled rival, Almakhan’s record reveals that he stands at 17-1 in his pro-MMA career. However, the results of his fights imply that he resembles his fellow UFC welterweight country mate Shavkat Rakhmonov’s record. ‘Nomad’ may have a 100% fight-finishing record. But Almakhan has also knocked out 13 of his 17 rivals he has defeated. There’s no doubt that his current stats are thoroughly impressive. The results of his fights also indicate that he has a pretty well-rounded fight game.
But the competition level inside the UFC is completely different. Several undefeated fighters have picked up their first losses on their UFC debuts. On the other hand, Umar’s record and in-octagon displays might make his fans discard Almakhan as a threat to his undefeated record. But in an unpredictable sport like MMA and an uncertain place like the UFC, such predictions have often bitten the dust.
So, currently, it’s the night of 2 March 2024, which can answer whether Almakhan can defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov’s brother for the first time in his pro-MMA career or not.
