Aljamain Sterling believes Umar Nurmagomedov needs to do more to earn another title shot.
With 135-pound champion Merab Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) now confirmed to face Petr Yan in the main event at UFC 323 on December 6, the upcoming bout between Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and Mario Bautista (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi has the look of a potential No. 1 contender matchup in the bantamweight division.
Nurmagomedov dropped a decision to Dvalishvili at UFC 311 in January, and the pair have been trading barbs on social media ever since. While Dvalishvili has said he is open to a rematch with the Dagestani contender, his friend and training partner Sterling believes only one fighter from the UFC 321 matchup has a legitimate chance to earn a crack at the champion on October 25.
“Now he's fighting another top guy in Mario Bautista, who's on, I believe, a (8-fight) win streak,” Sterling said of Nurmagomedov in a video posted to his YouTube account. “And I think if Mario wins, he has a case. He has a long winning streak. He beat a former Bellator champion, multiple-time defending Bellator champion in Patchy Mix. Although Patchy just lost to a debut guy in a split decision, still a close fight, but he was still a former champion, kind of like (Patricio) Pitbull.
“It's tough, but I think if Umar wins, I think he should fight one more. Yeah, and then I'll be like, ‘ok, whoever.’ And even if Merab wasn't the champ, I would still say the same thing. I like to see guys at least beat one or two guys, even though. he did be one guy Cory Sandhagen. He got the title shot already. So now he should have to win at least two fights to get back to a title shot opportunity. Otherwise, you have a log jam at the top with the same guys fighting the same guys over and over.”
