second cousin Khabiba Nurmagomedova Usman is 24 years old and so far he is the only one of the brothers to play in the Bellator League. Nurmagomedov has 15 wins in 15 fights, including four won in the American organization.
The nuance is that in October this year, Usman himself said at a press conference in Moscow: “I would like a more experienced opponent, otherwise they gave me some kind of Finn …” But following victories over the Finn in October and Chris Gonzalez on July 22 were enough to be number one in the lightweight rankings. The lightweight champion is now Patricky Freire (24 wins, 10 losses), and it already seems clear who will take the belt from him.
How fast Usman’s rise has been, we asked Bellator #6 lightweight Alexander Shabliy (22 wins, 3 losses; 3-0 at Bellator).
– Usman Nurmagomedov is in first place in your division. How did you take it?
– It is a great mystery to me how these notes are compiled. I’ve fought two top 10 guys. Now I’ve won number two. But I wasn’t surprised when Usman came in first place. I assumed that the promotion was interested in the name Nurmagomedov. For a title fight, it’s a good title. But if I just won the second number in the rating (Brent Primus, now – the fifth number. – “”), of course, I consider this unfair.
– Usman is not quite in his place now?
“It’s definitely unfair for me, since I beat second place in the standings. At the same time, Brent Primus always stayed above me: I became fifth and he became fourth (before the update). ratings day. – .) He was a potential contender for the belt beating Branson Henderson. If he won the fight with me, he would definitely get a title fight.
– Can we say that partly the whole point is that the American public does not see the difference between Russian fighters. If Shabliy (#6), Mamedov (#8) and Rabadanov (#10) aren’t consistently winning with spectacular knockouts, is it more profitable to promote someone with the surname Nurmagomedov?
– I think you are right. If the UFC has clear principles for compiling a ranking: if you beat a specific opponent, you go higher. Simply put, if you beat someone outside the top 10, no matter how badly you do, you won’t make it into the top 10. In Bellator, the situation is slightly different. Usman won four times ahead of schedule, and that was enough.
– Considering that you yourself consider this alignment to be unfair, was it interesting to fight with Nurmagomedov, despite the general manager?
“Before, I didn’t consider this fight at all. I was also shown an interview with Khabib, where he said that they (Usman’s team) were in no mood to fight me, because they didn’t want to face the Russians. My position has always been more or less the same: we represent a country in an organization. Khabib also said that so far they have no title ambitions. It looked like this: “Alexander is closer to the title, let him fight for it.” However, now the situation has changed dramatically. But let me remind you that Khabib has already been treated as unfairly as I have been. Remember how they sent him a contract for a title fight with Eddie Alvarez, and in the end they picked Conor McGregor? Therefore, I don’t really want to ramble on this topic and show that I’m upset. I’ll just keep doing my job, I understand Nurmagomedov as a poster boy is an interesting fight. I will not be able to influence certain things in the organization, but I will not give mine like that. If I deserve a belt fight, I’ll get it.
– And how ready do you think Usman is to fight defending champion Patricky Freire?
– Here the duel itself will show itself. We have yet to see Nurmagomedov Jr. with strong rivals. At the same time, if he hadn’t been convincing in training, then Khabib wouldn’t have been so confident and wouldn’t have spoken about his brother’s title ambitions. But training is training, and fighting is fighting. I didn’t even know Usman’s last opponent, to be honest, before that there were opponents who weren’t in the top 10.
– He’s already joking that they don’t give him normal opponents. That is, he himself, perhaps, wants a real test …
– Maybe his senior comrades haven’t given him the full opportunity to test himself yet. So it’s hard to say. Technically he is ready for new challenges, psychologically I don’t know. Nevertheless, Pitbull (the nickname of the current champion. – “”) is a grated roller, showed a lot of good fights, was in a knockdown, got up after them, a strong guy. It won’t be easy with him. At the same time, I don’t see any mysteries there for me. In general, for me, all of the top five are pretty much on the same level.
Who would you like to fight with?
– I would be interested in a fight with AJ McKee. I heard he wanted to move up in our division. And it would be interesting to meet Pitbull Sr., they are guys who are on a slightly different level. And the top five in our division – it seems to me that everyone is more or less equal there.
– You talked about psychological stability when you talked about preparing Usman for a title fight. You probably remember yourself from his age. But really, yes, with age you start to harden somehow?
– And here. It often happens that certain things do not happen according to your scenario. And some fighters crumble when something goes wrong. So it was for me when Eduard Vartanyan broke my nose in the first lap. I had to deviate from the plan, I started to lose. I attribute such moments to youth and inexperience. But I passed that test, I think. When you have been in serious battles, when you have fought with rivals like Adriano Martins, when you have such scalps on your shoulders, you feel much more confident.
– Many Russian fighters have such a “ritual” – call each other and discuss the fight if they have to fight. If you are also arguing, for example, with Gadzhi Rabadanov or Islam Mammadov, will it be as important for you to talk to them personally?
– There is no. Moreover, we already communicate with Gadzhi and communicate even before joining Bellator. We subscribe to each other. I’ve always liked the way he fights. And here we are in the same organization. I don’t think we should call if something happens. And so it is certain that we will be in contact throughout the preparation. I’m never in the mood to kill a man in the octagon. For me, it’s like chess, it’s important to outplay the opponent. The main thing is that our fans are satisfied. I expect the same from him.
– That is, if they send a contract to fight with them, will you take it normally?
– Sure. Naturally, I’ve often said at press conferences that there are people in the promotion that I wouldn’t want to fight. But I don’t see any competitors in the top 10 for me. The same Henderson beat Mammadov in close combat. There are no other suitors than Sidney Outlaw. But he was my partner on American Top Team, I worked with him for many years. I wouldn’t want to fight him either. However, we all understand that if you have to step into the octagon together, it will have to be done. In the United States, it is much easier than at home.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
