UFC Vegas 58 Fighter to Watch: Said Nurmagomedov
Another emerging bantamweight to pay close attention to going forward? Another emerging bantamweight to pay close attention to going forward.
Name: Said Nurmagomedov
Nickname: N/A
Record: 15-2 overall; 4-1 UFC
Division: Bantamweight
Team: DagFighter / “The Iron Army”
Opponent: Douglas Silva de Andrade (28-4, 1 NC overall, 6-4 UFC)
First things first: Said Nurmagomedov is no relation to Khabib Nurmagomedov, or fellow rising bantamweight talent Umar Nurmagomedov; not all Nurmagomedov’s are related.
But just because he’s not related to those two doesn’t mean that he doesn't deserve your full attention this weekend as he steps in against Silva de Andrade in what should be another fun scrap that gives us a better understanding of where he fits in the 135-pound hierarchy at the moment.
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When you talk with coaches on the regular, they each have different people they work with whose names always seem to pop up, whether as the person giving one of their more established charges a run for their money in the gym or as they newest person they’re working with that shows a ton of potential.
Now, you have to learn how to weave your way through the instances of a coach simply wanting to talk up one of their fighters to get them a little more pub, but if you’ve got a good relationship with these coaches, they don't usually steer you wrong or try to get you hyped about someone they know isn’t necessarily going to reach the biggest stages in the sport or have consistent success there.
Nurmagomedov was one of those guys whenever I talked to Mark Henry, the striking coach for Frankie Edgar and “The Iron Army,” the collection of fighters that all trained under that Ricardo Almeida BJJ / Nick Catone / New Jersey-based umbrella that included a bunch of the Russian talents that represented DagFighter. We’d talk about whomever I was initially calling about or through a bunch of names if it were a Camp Update piece, and then I’d invariably say something along the lines of “Who’s someone that is on the come-up that you think can reach that same level?” and the answer was Nurmagomedov.
It’s easy to see why — he’s from Dagestan and has the Master of Sports in MMA pedigree; he has very good size for the division, especially in terms of his 70-inch reach; he moves exceptionally well, both in terms of his footwork in the cage and his fluidity in situations; and he fought solid competition on his way to the UFC, with his only loss coming against former WSOF standout Magomed Bibulatov.
But he couldn’t stay active enough to really make a lasting impression.
After winning his debut at flyweight by split decision, he moved up to bantamweight and stopped Ricardo Ramos with a spinning back kick and subsequent punches, but didn’t fight again for another 10 months, losing to Raoni Barcelos in a close battle that really helped reinforce that Nurmagomedov was someone we should be paying attention to in the division, given the quality of Barcelos.
He then went another 10 months before returning and making quick work of Mark Striegl in one of those efforts that was never going to get much recognition or acclaim because it went as expected, with Nurmagomedov blowing through the overmatched UFC newcomer.
The fight with Striegl took place in October 2020 and Nurmagomedov didn’t fight again until this January when he took on Cody Stamann at UFC 270.
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That fight with Stamann was something else.
As good as Nurmagomedov had looked at times in the past, that effort in January was a different kind of performance; the type that makes you write about him as the Fighter to Watch this weekend.
He landed a right hand on Stamann as soon as the veteran wrestle-boxer came forward to close the distance, and bounced a spinning back kick off his ribs moments later. He went for a spinning back fist or elbow that allowed Stamann to change levels and attack a single leg, but Nurmagomedov showed tremendous balance in hopping to the fence and staying upright before hitting a partial “whizzer kick,” as Daniel Cormier calls it, and attacking a guillotine choke out of the scramble.
Whether you want to call the way he finished the choke a “Ninja Choke” or a “Power Guillotine,” I don’t really care; I just call it nasty and a real statement effort because we all know the level of a guy like Stamann. While he’d dropped two straight heading into that contest, those losses were against Top 15 talents Jimmie Rivera and Merab Dvalishvili, and his only other UFC loss came against Aljamain Sterling.
For Nurmagomedov to go out and blow through a guy like that — who has since gotten back into the win column by blowing through the ghost of Eddie Wineland — told you something, or at least told me something, and made him someone I was paying close attention to whenever he returned.
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I’m going to be honest: this is a weird booking to me because as much as I think Silva de Andrade is an entertaining fighter coming off a couple solid wins, he also feels like a bit of a step backwards for Nurmagomedov following the one-minute finish of Stamann.
The Brazilian veteran, who has also only lost to solid competition in the UFC, has earned back-to-back stoppage wins over Gaetano Pirrello and Sergey Morozov, but is 37 years old and has probably reached the highest heights he’s going to reach in the UFC. He feels much more like the guy you put on there against a younger fighter with a couple good wins when you’re looking to see if they’re ready to advance to the next level of competition than someone like Nurmagomedov who is very much in his prime, coming off a tremendous win, and clearly (at least on paper) a step or two ahead of him in the division.
All that being said, this is a risky fight because “D-Silva” can crack, will throw smoke, and has zero quit in him. He’s going to be in Nurmagomedov’s face, but I just think I would have preferred to see a “Which one moves forward fight?” with someone like Victor Henry or Kyler Phillips or even Montel Jackson instead.
Of course, the benefit of this fight is that we’ll see if Nurmagomedov can maintain the laser-focus we saw in the Stamann fight as he heads into a bout where he’s the clear favourite and there are some elevated expectations on him, because as much as I think he wins and would have preferred to see him in there with someone else, this has real “banana skin” potential.
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Bantamweight is loaded with talent — LOADED — and standing out in the pack is difficult, and compounded by the torrid schedule that delivers another handful of breakout efforts into our living rooms every week.
But Nurmagomedov had one of the best submissions of the first half and a brilliant effort last time out that I think resonated with more than just me, and this is the kind of main card opportunity that could put him on the brink of breaking into the Top 15 and possibly facing a ranked opponent next time out.
He feels like a guy that is on the cusp of a real breakout and becoming a potential threat in this talent-rich division, and I strongly recommend paying close attention to him on Saturday evening.