Umar
Nurmagomedov wants to follow in the footsteps of cousin
Khabib
Nurmagomedov in every aspect.

Umar challenges Merab
Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in the co-main event at
UFC
311 on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California.
Undefeated like his cousin Khabib, Umar now looks to become a

UFC champ like “The Eagle” and even potentially take over his
moniker.

While he is yet to have an official nickname, Umar is popularly
known as “Young Eagle” because of his relation to Khabib and their
similar styles. However, Khabib seemingly declared that Umar can no
longer be called “Young Eagle” after the latter turned 29 this past
weekend. When their long-term coach, Javier Mendez, asked Umar
about it, the bantamweight title challenger agreed. According to
Umar, the now-retired Khabib should be called “Old Eagle” as he
inherits the former lightweight champ’s original nickname. And Umar
believes he will be truly deserving of it if he dethrones “The
Machine” on Jan. 18.

“Coach, it [doesn’t] make sense if you look at it like that,” Umar
said. “He is ‘The Eagle,’ right? And he is my older brother. And if
you [look at it] like that, I am the younger brother and younger
eagle. It means not age, it means like new generation. It has never
been about age. And we can’t be both Eagles. He is ‘Old Eagle.’ If
I just ‘Eagle’, he is ‘Old Eagle’… I think on Jan. 18, I am gonna
deserve this name: ‘Eagle.’ No more young, just ‘Eagle.’“

Umar has six UFC wins to his name, the latest of which came in a
high-caliber clash against Cory
Sandhagen last August. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili is riding an
11-fight winning streak that is topped off by a title win over Sean
O’Malley at UFC 306 last September. The champ was initially
unwilling to defend his throne against Nurmagomedov, accusing the
Dagestani of receiving favors due to his relation to Khabib.

Umar is the latest in a long list of fighters raised by Khabib’s
father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who is considered a pioneer of
Russian MMA. Their teammate, Islam
Makhachev, also defends his lightweight throne against Arman
Tsarukyan in the main event at UFC 311.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

Internationaler Kampfkunst und Kampfsport Kleinanzeiger