Mario Bautista is adamant that he should be next in line for a title shot if he can defeat Umar Nurmagomedov.
Bautista (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is scheduled to face the former bantamweight title challenger Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi on October 25. Bautista is riding an impressive four-year unbeaten streak, having defeated former UFC champion Jose Aldo and former Bellator titleholder Patchy Mix to break into the title conversation at 135 pounds.
As he prepares to take on Nurmagomedov — who will be looking to rebound after falling short against current champion Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311 in January — Bautista believes that a win over the Dagestani contender should be enough to earn him the next shot at “The Machine.”
"I think it has to. If you look at it, it's going to be nine straight wins," Bautista told MMA Junkie. "Getting this win, then my last three performances would be Aldo, Patchy, Umar. Nine-fight win streak. I don't know what else you could possibly do, and I think that's exactly what Merab had. I think Merab had a nine-fight win streak, and I think he really had to really fight for that title shot. Hopefully he sees that and gives me that same kind of grace, and we'll figure something out."
Before his loss to Merab Dvalishvili in January, Umar Nurmagomedov had never been defeated in his professional career. His cousin and head coach — former undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov — said after the setback that Umar still has the potential to become the number-one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, as long as he learns from the loss.
Although Nurmagomedov is still considered one of the most dangerous fighters at 135 pounds, Mario Bautista says his opponent — particularly his elite wrestling — is nothing he hasn’t faced before.
"Your next fight is always going to be your toughest fight," Bautista explained. "You have to have that kind of mindset because it doesn't get easier. You go through the UFC and you think, 'OK, I'm going to have an easy fight or the next one might be easy.' For me, I've never thought like that or had that mindset, but just comparing him to the other guys, he's a different challenge. I've fought some good grapplers: Ricky Simon, and probably a few other ones here and there. I've got ready for wrestlers. I've had those cams, but this is just a more high profile one."
