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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Umar Nurmagomedov delivered the best performance of his career, taking a unanimous decision over Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi to stake his claim for a bantamweight title shot.

One of the most highly-touted prospects in all of MMA, Nurmagomedov delivered on all his promise Saturday evening, out-striking and out-grappling Sandhagen over five rounds to win the biggest fight of his career. Now the question is will Nurmagomedov get his opportunity to fight for bantamweight gold against the winner of the upcoming Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili fight?

The MMA Fighting team answers that questions plus more as they break down Nurmagomedov’s big win and the rest of the Saturday’s card, including Deiveson Figueiredo continuing to climb the bantamweight ranks, Shara Magomedov authoring the best performance of his career, Tony Ferguson finally (maybe) calling it quits, and Mackenzie Dern getting back on the winning track.

Watch the UFC Abu Dhabi post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your pods.

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And still undefeated!
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Last night (Sat., Aug. 3, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for UFC Abu Dhabi. A rare non-PPV card inside Etihad, the show was still stacked with more talent and bigger names than the usual free event. The afternoon showtime was a nice change of pace as well — why couldn’t we do that last week for the English fans and fighters again? — which all in all made for a standout event. It was almost enough to overlook the latest ritual sacrifice of Tony Ferguson!

Let’s take a look back over at UFC Abu Dhabi’s best performances and techniques:

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The Next Title Challenger

There’s no way around it: Umar Nurmagomedov is really damn good.

Cory Sandhagen came fully prepared to upset the Russian and steal away his undefeated record. In the first round, he effectively denied all of Nurmagomedov’s takedowns and began chewing up the lead leg. It was as strong a start as Team Sandhagen could have hoped for, yet it wasn’t destined to last.

Nurmagomedov slowly closed the gap in the stand up. His own kicking game was effective in slowing Sandhagen’s feet, and though his takedowns weren’t resulting in much control, they still limited Sandhagen’s volume and overall work rate. Subsequently, Nurmagomedov’s own hands started getting closer and closer to the target, and by the third, he was straight up out-landing Sandhagen upstairs.

Sandhagen found himself in quite the dilemma. He was falling behind on the scorecards, yet he wasn’t winning the range battle. He tried to up the pressure, but that’s never really been his game. Without the feints and footwork trickery he’s known for, Sandhagen’s increased pressure really only saw Nurmagomedov land more often.

Don’t get me wrong: every round was competitive from start to finish. At the same time, Nurmagomedov remained a step ahead throughout. Though his wrestling skills certainly didn’t hurt, it’s wild to consider a grappler as dominant as Nurmagomedov is also skilled enough on the feet to out-fox a veteran kickboxer like Cory Sandhagen.

Sean O’Malley or Merab Dvalishvili have their work cut out.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

A High-Volume Middleweight

Shara Magomedov’s best aspect might just be conditioning.

Seriously, the guy fights at an outrageous pace. Just last weekend, we saw Giga Chikadze wilt from trying to employ the same game plan against Arnold Allen, but Chikadze fights 40 pounds lower! Michal Oleksiejczuk is a gamer and pushed a hard pace. He (mostly) did what he was supposed to do to test the prospect, and Magomedov was largely able to answer those questions in good form.

It all comes back to conditioning though. How is such a big man able to kick so quickly while running circles around the cage without badly fatiguing? In fact, it was Oleksiejczuk who ended the fight more worn out, because he walked through so many hard body and low kicks while trying to press the Russian.

Even when Magomedov did start to slow, it was mild, and Oleksiejczuk was too battered to truly take advantage. I’m not sold on Shara “Bullet” as a future champion, but he clearly has some unique attributes in his favor.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

A Pointless Fight

Michael Chiesa choked out Tony Ferguson in short fashion, just like everybody expected. Ferguson refused to commit to retirement, just like everyone expected. Now that the fight is done, it’s time for something a little less predictable: will UFC actually give Ferguson a ninth opportunity after eight straight defeats?

I hope not.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The Best Joel Alvarez Yet

I expected Joel Alvarez vs. Elves Brener to be a banger — everyone did! I also expected it to be a very competitive fight, which seemed to be the general consensus as well but ultimately proved to be very wrong!

Alvarez beat the crap out of Brener. From the first bell, he was able to establish his range and stick Brenner with powerful, long punches. The Brazilian is known for his grit, his ability to take damage and fire back, but the strikes of Alvarez were getting to him. Alvarez was able to hurt his opponent badly enough that Brener pretty much accepted Alvarez’s range rather than risk walking through shots.

That strategic decision delayed the finish to the third round but didn’t prevent it. Alvarez’s shot selection was so nice: chopping low kicks, hard straights, and onslaughts of clinch knees and elbows. He broke Brener down, threatened him with several tight submissions, and ultimately finished with a few dozen connections in a row.

The late finish was also impressive because Alvarez cuts a lot of weight. He kept his pace the entire fight and still had the energy to surge towards the stoppage late, hopefully earning himself another opportunity against a ranked foe.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Light Heavyweight’s Best Boxer? (Aside From Pereira)

Azamat Murzakanov stands out from the Light Heavyweight pack.

The Russian improved to 4-0 last night by knocking out Alonzo Menifield, a dangerous if flawed veteran of the division. Murzakanov pretty much took him apart from the first bell, and he did so via good ol’ boxing. There are a lot of strikers in the Light Heavyweight Top 15, but how many of them actually build combinations? How many of them feint their way into exchanges, land, and then exit at an angle? Hardly any. It’s a division full of rangy kickers, wild men, and occasional grapplers.

At 35 years of age, Murzakanov’s window to do something major at 205-pounds is small, and his habit of slowing down over the course of fights isn’t great. Still, he’s an interesting player in the division, and he might just be able to crack a few heads in the Top 10 before all is said and done.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Finally!

The evening started with five straight decisions, and only one of those fights (below) was particularly interesting. Fortunately, Kaue Fernandes broke the streak, utterly battering Mohammad Yahya en route to a first-round finish.

As it so often does, the destruction began with the calf kick. Fernandes attacked the lead leg early, capitalizing upon his opponent’s upright stance. Before long, Yahya was compromised and started looking uncomfortable in exchanges because he was having difficulty planting his weight.

“The UAE Warrior” was in a bad way, and he made the decision to charge. Unfortunately for him, Fernandes stood his ground with a cracking 3-2 combination. Both punches landed hard, flooring Yahya and forcing the finish.

Not a bad first UFC win for the Brazilian!

Additional Thoughts

• Guram Kutateladze defeats Jordan Vucenic via unanimous decision: This was a quality scrap between talented unranked Lightweights! Short-notice debutant Vucenic started strong, using feints and good movement to line up a hard right hand that floored Kutateladze. The Georgian was able to rally back, however, using body work and takedowns to slow the fight and force himself back into the driver’s seat. Vucenic is a welcome addition to the division, and Kutateladze seems to continually finds himself in close, hard-fought battles regardless of opponent.

For complete UFC Abu Dhabi: “Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov” results and play-by-play, click HERE!

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

With a massive gash over her left eye, Britain Hart refused to back down, instead dishing out a whole lot of punishment to defend her strawweight title in the BKFC 63 main event.

Despite blood flowing down her face and a valiant effort from challenger Taylor Starling, it was Hart who connected with the better punches and kept the pressure on for all five rounds. While Starling had her moments, Hart connected with the harder punches and the better impact to secure the decision, with the judges scoring the fight 48-47, 49-46, and 48-47 as she retains her belt.

“I feel f*cking badass,” Hart said after her win. “I told you, I’m the baddest female to do it. I’m here to show no matter what, we can still smile and look good doing it.”

There was no feeling out process in this title fight, as Starling charged forward to start the contest and Hart met her with a series of vicious counter-punches. Hart seemingly had complete disregard for Starling’s power, as she just marched forward in every exchange and unloaded flurries of punches in succession.

Starling swung wild, but Hart connected with much cleaner punches, including a combination that rattled the challenger just before the end of the opening round. Even with a strong start, Hart still went to her corner with a cut over her left eye.

Hart continued to apply forward pressure as Starling circled away to avoid the biggest punches coming from the strawweight champion. When Starling finally tagged Hart with a big right hand, she ate one of her own and seemed like she got the worst of it.

As the cut on her eye really began dripping blood and Starling started to connect with a good jab, Hart grew even more determined to draw Starling into a brawl. With seconds ticking away in the third round, Hart charged ahead with a barrage of punches and several slipped through Starling’s defense as she backed up against the ropes.

While the stats showed Starling landing more punches, she still appeared to be absorbing more punishment. That being said, Starling kept coming at Hart and connected with some of her best shots in the fourth round as the champion slightly slowed down.

Even when she was getting the worse of the exchanges, Hart’s ability to make the most of the closing seconds of the rounds allowed her to inflict a lot of damage on Starling and her face showed it. That really was the story of the fight, with Starling staying ahead early and then Hart delivering the bigger shots late.

The victory serves as Hart’s third title defense, but there’s no rest for the weary with Tai Emery fresh off a vicious knockout win as the next contender in line.

“I’m here,” Hart said when asked about Emery. “I’ve been here. I’ve fought them all from UFC, pretend faces, ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ Australian b*tches, so bring it all on.”

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After having his own run in the UFC as a dominant undefeated champion years ago, Khabib Nurmagomedov is now helping to mentor others toward their own reigns. Islam Makhachev already has secured the lightweight title, and now cousin Umar Nurmagomedov may be next.

Umar secured a clear decision win over Cory Sandhagen in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi. The bout seemingly served as a bantamweight title eliminator, and “The Young Eagle” is most likely next in line to challenge the winner of the Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili title fight that takes place at The Sphere on September 14.

Following Umar’s win, Khabib Nurmagomedov was asked about his thoughts on who his cousin might have a better matchup with when it comes to claiming the gold. The former lightweight champion says the undefeated up-and-comer will be prepared regardless of who is holding the title.

That’s not to say he doesn’t have a preference, though…

Khabib Nurmagomedov Says Cousin Umar Nurmagomedov Is Ready To Be UFC Champion

“I want Merab to be honest, because he’s from Georgia. [Dagestan and Georgia are] neighbors. I want Merab to win because it’s going to be a very interesting fight. White papakha vs. black papakha. But if O’Malley wins, it’s going to be white papakha vs. pink papakha.

“He’s going to be good competition for O’Malley. A very good fight, high-level fight for all of the fans all over the world. It’s not easy to beat Umar. And it’s not easy to beat Merab or Sean O’Malley. This is high level. Anything can happen, but in my opinion, Umar is ready.”

Umar Nurmagomedov is now 6-0 in the UFC (and 18-0 overall) since entering the promotion in 2021.

O’Malley, meanwhile, won the bantamweight championship by defeating Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. He retained the title against Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299 in Miami this past March.

For his part, Dvalishvili has won 10 straight fights, clinching himself a title shot after defeating former champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 in February.

• Read More: ‘Khabib With Striking Skills’ – Fans React As Umar Nurmagomedov Wins ‘Chess Match’ Against Cory Sandhagen In UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi Main Event

Continue Reading Khabib Names Who He’d Rather Umar Nurmagomedov Fight For The UFC Bantamweight Title Out Of Sean O’Malley & Merab Dvalishvili at MMA News.

MMA News

Former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson returned to the welterweight division on Saturday in Abu Dhabi against Michael Chiesa.  Both fighters were needing a win in the worst way.  

Ferguson hadn’t won a fight since 2019 and entered the bout on a staggering seven-fight losing streak.  Chiesa entered the octagon at Etihad Arena having lost his last three fights.  

Ferguson came out pressuring Chiesa.  Chiesa moved along the outside.  Chiesa delivered a kick to the body followed by a left hand.  Ferguson responded with a leg kick.  Ferguson continued to press forward.  Chiesa landed a combination.  Ferguson landed his jab.  Chiesa clinched and took Ferguson down.  He took Ferguson’s back and worked to lock on a rear-naked choke.  Ferguson tried to defend the chock but was forced to tap out.  

The loss was Ferguson’s eighth consecutive defeat.  The official time of the stoppage came at 3:44 of the first round.  Following the fight, Ferguson took off one glove and teased his retirement from fighting.  

“I don’t want to retire.  I really don’t, but I love the UFC and I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Ferguson said in his post-fight interview.  “So I’m not going to put both gloves down.  I’m going to put one, and I’m going to keep the other one just in case.”   

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts