Mario Bautista will be looking to follow in Merab Dvalishvili’s footsteps in his next fight. Bautista (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is set to take on Umar Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi later this month, in a bout that could determine the next challenger for Dvalishvili’s bantamweight title.
The fight will mark Nurmagomedov’s first appearance inside the Octagon since he suffered the first defeat of his career against the champion at UFC 311 back in January, and Bautista says he will be looking to mirror “The Machine’s” performance from that night.
“Man, I see it, you know, I think Merab put the blueprint out there,” Bautista told Home of Fight. “You got to set a high pace on this guy. But at the same time, I think I have the tools to create more damage than Merab did.
“Merab's a great grappler and everything and put it on him. But I don't know, I'm hoping it'd be nice to get that first round finish, which I think I can. You know, there are some fights that I go into, I'm like, ‘oh, this is gonna be a tough one.’ You know, but just our styles and the way we might clash, I think I could definitely get a finish for sure. If not, I see myself gassing him out and just pushing to the end and getting my hand raised no matter what.”
Bautista is the current in-form fighter in the 135-pound division. Having won eight fights in a row, the 32-year-old carries serious momentum into this bout. With his most recent victories coming against former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and former Bellator titleholder Patchy Mix, he has proven that he can hang with the best fighters in the bantamweight division.
Prior to losing against Merab Dvalishvili in January, Nurmagomedov had been on a tear and looked odds-on to be the next fighter under former UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team to capture a world title.
“He's not just like Khabib, you know?” Bautista said of Nurmagomedov. “He has this stand-up to him. It's kind of almost ‘Karate-Taekwondo’ style, kind of bouncy, a lot of fast kicks. So he does have good stand-up. He was able to stand up with Cory Sandhagen for the majority of their fight. So he does have some great stand-up.
“This is going to be an up-down kind of fight, I'm going to have to be on point everywhere. This isn't something where I could go in like against Patchy (Mix) and I'm just going to keep it standing up and win the fight that way. This is going to be an all-around kind of fight. So that's the type of fight I have to prepare for.”
