UFC bantamweight prospect Umar Nurmagomedov made his first comments on social media since suffering his first career setback inside the cage at UFC 311.
Umar Nurmagomedov's bid to become the latest Team Khabib UFC champion fell short against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311. Despite a fast start to the fight, Nurmagomedov's fitness faded in the later rounds as Dvalishvili battled his way to a unanimous decision win over the judges' victory. scorecards.
Nurmagomedov, who was previously undefeated through his first 18 professional fights, revealed a hand injury he suffered just minutes into the fight. Despite the injury, he still went the full distance and made it a very competitive early 'Fight of the Year' contender against Dvalishvili.
For the first time in his career, Nurmagomedov will try to recover from setbacks later in the Octagon. After a brief post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Nurmagomedov expanded on his initial findings on how UFC 311 came together.
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Umar Nurmagomedov remains adamant he deserved to win at UFC 311
Nurmagomedov addressed his supporters in a recent Instagram post.
“No excuses, InshaAllah I will become a champion,” Nurmagomedov posted. “The rest is not important. Praise be to Allah in every situation.
“And I don't think I've lost this battle. Even though the whole world tries to convince me otherwise.
“I will treat my injuries and return to action inshaAllah.”
Nurmagomedov fought in his second career five-round fight at UFC 311. Before the loss to Dvalishvili, Nurmagomedov defeated former interim title challenger Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi last August.
Nurmagomedov holds victories over Bekzat Almakhan, Raoni Barcelos and Nate Maness ahead of his recent fights against Dvalishvili and Sandhagen. It was a steep climb up the ranks after struggling to find opponents earlier in his UFC stint.
Umar Nurmagomedov looks ahead to redemption after UFC 311
Fortunately, Umar is teammate with Islam Makhachev, who managed to bounce back from his first career defeat at UFC 192 on his way to becoming the most decorated lightweight in UFC history. Makhachev defeated Renato Moicano in the UFC 311 main event, breaking a four-way tie for most UFC lightweight title defenses (5).
Leading up to UFC 311, Nurmagomedov was a major betting favorite over Dvalishvili despite competing in his first UFC title fight. But Nurmagomedov wasn't the only heavy favorite to suffer his first career loss at the UFC's first pay-per-view of the year.
As Nurmagomedov plots his eventual return to the cage, he will look to recover from his hand injury and return to title contention. Despite the loss at UFC 311, his stock as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in MMA is still high.
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