Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov, has been inactive lately. With just one fight in 2023, it appears that the UFC has overlooked the talented bantamweight fighter. Consequently, Umar’s coach, Javier Mendez, has reached out to CEO Dana White with a specific request concerning his return to the Octagon.
Umar Nurmagomedov had a great start in his UFC career. He was already undefeated with a 12-0 record before joining Dana White’s promotion, and he has since extended his undefeated run to 16-0. The 27-year-old was scheduled to fight Cory Sandhagen a few months ago but had to pull out due to an injury. Meanwhile, AKA coach Javier Mendez thought that Nurmagomedov would be fighting by the end of 2023. Let’s see what he had to say.
Javier Mendez thought Umar would be fighting at UFC 296
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The AKA coach dropped another episode of his podcast on YouTube, reviewing the UFC 296 card. Javier Mendez mentioned how Umar Nurmagomedov hasn’t gotten a fight yet. Moreover, some of the team members felt as if UFC 296 would be the place for the 27-year-old to make his return. But that did not happen. Mendez said, “Umar doesn’t have a fight, and we talked about, you know, ‘Oh, we know he’s probably in this [UFC 296],’ and I said, ‘You know what? Until UFC announces I don’t know.’ And guess what? UFC hasn’t announced it.”
Javier Mendez also confirmed that Umar Nurmagomedov has not signed any kind of contract for his next fight. They have no idea as to whom he will fight next. Similarly, Nurmagomedov and his team aren’t aware of any fighter who has signed a contract to fight him. “We don’t know when he’s fighting. He hasn’t signed a contract. No one signed a contract. There’s no date,” said Mendez. Considering the current situation with the bantamweight star, the AKA coach made a plea on Nurmagomedov’s behalf.
Mendez urges Dana White to schedule a fight before Ramadan
Most of the fighters hailing from Dagestan are devout Muslims. The month of Ramadan is the Islamic holy month of fasting, which is approaching fast and will commence on March 10th, 2024, and will end on April 9th, 2024. Keeping that in mind, Javier Mendez is hoping that the UFC matchmakers, along with Dana White, set up a fight for Umar Nurmagomedov before the start of Ramadan. He said, “We just know he’s fighting, hopefully, you know, February [or] March before Ramadan. That I know for sure.”
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Umar’s whole team is hoping for that request to be accepted by Dana White, and they wanted to clear it up for the fans and followers of the sport. The perfect time to fight for the bantamweight title is before the start of the holy Islamic month. “I want it to happen. Let’s see what happens. It has not happened yet. With Umar, we’ve got to clear that… want to fight before Ramadan,” said the AKA coach.
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Despite Team Khabib’s plea to Dana White, we still have no word on when Umar Nurmagomedov will make his return. He seems to have recovered from his injury and is waiting for a date. However, it does not seem like Dana White will be thinking about that now since the UFC is gearing up for the final pay-per-view of the year. We will have to wait and see how things pan out for the 27-year-old in the days to come.
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