WATCH: Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Furious Attempt to Submit Umar During Usman vs. Shabliy

While the UFC went ahead with their Fight Night in Vegas, Bellator lightweight champion, Usman Nurmagomedov went to San Diego, California to defend his belt against fellow Russian, Alexander Shabliy. Despite going into the fight as a heavy favorite, the undefeated challenger offered stiff resistance frustrating Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was in Usman’s corner.

Though, Usman did enough to warrant a 50-45, 49-46, 49-46 unanimous decision win, ‘The Eagle’ clearly was impatient seeing his cousin failing to submit the challenger.

In fact, Khabib was so invested in the fight and it that he pretty much cranked his cousin Umar’s chin, almost choking him out!

Honestly, you cannot blame the Russian for that simply because the fight was an absolute back-and-forth war with both Russians trying to take out the other.

In a nutshell, it was a tactical battle with both Usman and Alexander showing their skills while being wary of each other’s striking and grappling game.

While the champion was able to dictate the fight in the earlier rounds making use of his lighting kicks and punches, Shabliy came right back landing shots of his own in the later rounds.

However, in the end, the champion prevailed as the judges thought he had done enough for the win. Following this, Khabib was invited into the cage where he hailed his 26-year-old cousin as one of the best lightweights in the world.

Khabib hails Usman as the best lightweight after Islam

Team Khabib is now on top of the world with two lightweight champions in their crew. If it was ‘The Eagle’s’ buddy/pal, Islam Makhachev, who snagged the lightweight belt in the UFC, Khabib’s younger cousin Usman racked up the Bellator LW belt in 2022 and made his second defense this Saturday.

With two LW champions in the camp, Khabib felt honored and was obviously elated to see his family reach the top.

After Usman defended his belt against Alexander, handing him his first loss in the promotion, Khabib was offered the mic. Despite his frustrations during the fight, the undefeated Dagestani showered praise on Usman and talked about how it’s a massive feat for the whole crew.

“I think Usman (Nurmagomedov) is right now one of the best lightweights in the world. I was before, now it’s our brother Islam (Makhachev), and Usman is next. This is dynasty.”

Furthermore with Islam aiming at a second belt and Umar almost on the verge of a bantamweight title fight, Khabib should more than proud!