“Privately, nobody wants to take him,” Dana White expresses concern over bantamweight division ducking Umar Nurmagomedov

UFC President confirms Khabib's Cousin next bout in the UFC as Umar Nurmagomedov is struggling to get the big fight against top 10 contenders.

“Privately, nobody wants to take him,” Dana White expresses concern over bantamweight division ducking Umar Nurmagomedov

(image via Sports Brief/MMA Fighting)

UFC president Dana White always gets the answer for every single fighter. White is always aware of the avoiding and non-avoiding lists of the fighters. There are a lot of ruthless fighters who have come and gone without getting the title shot in their prime. This time the talk is about the UFC Hall of Famer’s cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov.

Dana White inquired about the future of undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov. It was just a nostalgic thing for the UFC president, as he had faced the same issue earlier. Earlier, when Michael Chandler refused to fight against Islam Makhachev, In 2020 During UFC 254, Michael Chandler was the backup for Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje.

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At that time, Makhachev had an 18-1 MMA record, including 7-1 in the UFC. Chandler stated that Islam is at No. 12, and they don’t deserve to fight against him.

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Chandler said To MMA JUNKIE “When I say people, I mean like Russians, Dagestanis, all these guys on the Khabib train – there’s millions and millions of them – they’re crushing me, calling me chicken and coward, but I didn’t sign this contract to go out there and fight anybody, especially on two weeks’ notice and change the opponent, change the plan and change everything. As of right now, I’m the backup for the world title fight, I’m keeping my body, my mind, my soul, my spirit ready for the next move.”

Related: “O’Malley busy going to beauty salon,” Rising bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov hilariously trolls roster amidst struggle to find opponent

Dana White confirms Umar Nurmagomedov future fight in UFC

Khabib Nurmagomedov Cousin Umar Nurmagomedov
(image via MMA Fighting)

According to Dana White, no one from the top 10 wants to take a high-risk fight against Khabib’s cousin. Umar Numagomedov is undefeated with a 16-0 record in MMA at UFC 4-0. The undefeated fighter has not been able to take on the tougher challenge. White mentioned that no one is interested in this 11th-ranked fighter because it can impact the top-10 line-up.

White clarified why Umar is not in top 10 “We were talking about (Umar Nurmagomedov) earlier…that’s a guy not everybody’s beating down the door to fight…so yeah, we’ll figure something out with him…it’s always hard when you have these guys who are in the top ten, when you start going, seven, six, five, four…and then this guy’s behind them…nobody wants to take that risk on a guy who isn’t ranked…it’s tough. Those are the fights that publically, everybody says they’ll take, but privately, nobody says they want to take them.”

Being undefeated has become a hurdle for Umar Nurmagomedov’s MMA career. Last time, Umar defeated Raoni Barcelos via knockout at UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov. Since joining the UFC in 2021, he has fought four times. Now Dana has confirmed that she will plan a new fight for him anytime soon.

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