Belal Muhammad believes Umar Nurmagomedov has what it takes to earn another shot at the bantamweight title.
Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) returns to the Octagon this Saturday for the first time since suffering the first loss of his career — a defeat to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311 in January — when he faces Mario Bautista (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) at UFC Abu Dhabi.
Once touted as the next big thing at 135 pounds, Nurmagomedov saw his momentum halted by Dvalishvili earlier this year. Still, former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad — who has trained alongside Umar under the watchful eye of Khabib Nurmagomedov — is confident the young Dagestani has the skills and mentality to fight his way back into title contention.
"I know people say, 'Oh, he broke his hand,' and yeah, he did break his hand," Muhammad said of Nurmagomedov on the No Scripts Podcast. "The level between both of them is just so close that you have to see a rematch, but he's got to get past Bautista. It being in (Abu Dhabi) I think is going to play huge in his favor.”
Muhammad believes that the presence of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in Umar’s corner could be the X-factor that helps the 29-year-old realize his dream of capturing bantamweight gold.
"He's been out there doing his whole camp with Khabib being the main coach, and Khabib is like the craziest coach,” Muhammad said. “He's going to push him harder than he's ever been pushed before. Especially coming off his first loss, Khabib's not going to let him take a break. I think they got hyped because his brother just won – Usman (Nurmagomedov) just won (the PFL lightweight title). So I think he's going to be in a good place mentally to get a win."
