Umar Nurmagomedov made headlines when he beat Cory Sandhagen in a dominant manner in his last fight and leaped forward in the rankings making his way into the top 5. There is a lot of hype surrounding the bantamweight fighter as a second coming of his elder brother Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, former champion Peter Yan does not see anything special in him.
Yan has held the belt previously so he knows what it takes to be at the top of the division. Although he is nowhere close to being the same fighter anymore, he still remains one of the best in the division.
So in a recent interview with Red Corner MMA, when the interviewer asked ‘No Mercy’ about the up and coming fighter, he was brutally honest,
“Everybody can be defeated, you just need some skill…I don’t see anything special. Yes he is strong, young, and keeps winning fights. But call him special, no I don’t think so.”
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Yan spoke about how everyone was talking about him the same way four years ago, calling him special. And even then he never saw any other fighter as someone he couldn’t beat.
He has the same feelings towards ‘Young Eagle’. He says there’s nothing special about him and even he can be beaten with the right skills.
The former champ isn’t the only one who shares these sentiments. Even Merab Dvalishvili does not think Nurmagomedov deserves all the hype surrounding him.
Dvalishvili prefers Figueiredo over Umar
Merab Dvalishvili is the one challenging Sean O’Malley for the bantamweight title at the moment. And he got there after putting on one dominant display after the other, against the top contenders in the division.
So when he hears people calling for Umar Nurmagomedov to get the title shot after just one top 15 fight, it really grinds his goat. In fact, he believes there’s another fighter who deserves it more.
“Figueiredo deserves to fight for the belt because Figueiredo beat three tough guys, one former champion….More name, more respectful and more deserving. Umar, I’m not interested.”
Merab believes that Deiveson Figueiredo is a more deserving title shot contender that Umar Nurmagomedov:
‘[Deiveson] Figueiredo beat three tough guys. He beat a former champion Cody Garbrandt. He dominated a former title challenger, Chito Vera”
VIA | @Shak_Fu pic.twitter.com/MjldN0wMuG
— FEDZ_MMA (@Fedzmma) September 5, 2024
Dvalishvili has also spoken out about how he Umar Nurmagomedov has the ‘Nurmagomedov’ privilege where he is given things just because of his famous last name.
And to be fair to Dvalishvili, Umar should be some distance away from the title at the moment, even when he has already already called out Sean O’Malley. There are better options in the division, some far more deserving of a shot at the UFC gold than the ‘Young Eagle’.
