Usman Nurmagomedov is One of the Best Fighters in the World
At Bellator 288, Usman Nurmagomedov dominated Patricky Pitbull for five rounds to win the Bellator lightweight championship. In the bout, Nurmagomedov proved to be one of the best fighters in the world, regardless of promotion. This win pushed him to 16-0 in MMA at the young age of 24.
If you are unaware, Nurmagomedov is the cousin of MMA legend Khabib Nurmagomedov and he trains at the legendary American Kickboxing Acadamy (AKA). Nurmagomedov trains alongside the plethora of talent at AKA including Islam Makhachev, who could rule the UFC lightweight division for a long time, and Umar Nurmagomedov, who is one of the best prospects in the bantamweight division, and a handful of other talented fighters. In his win over Pitbull, Nurmagomedov proved to be one of the best fighters at the gym.
In the bout, Nurmagomedov displayed a lot of the skills that make him great. When you hear the name Nurmagomedov you likely think about tremendous grappling. That holds true for Nurmagomedov. He was to land some really solid takedowns on Pitbull. On the ground, he stacked up control time while landing massive ground-and-pound shots. On the feet, he went to work with his tremendous kicks. Nurmagomedov can throw just about every kick possible and he is willing to throw to all three levels of the body. As a result, he beat up Pitbull with leg kicks and took a chunk out of his cardio with kicks to the body. Both played a major role in helping Nurmagomedov control this bout. If that wasn’t enough, he landed a handful of head kicks. Strategically, these kicks helped him control range and prevent Pitbull from boxing while dealing damage.
Nurmagomedov may not have the best resume in the world. This win over Pitbull was the best of his career. Pitbull is a good fighter, but he is not one of the best in the world. His brother, Patricio Pitbull, is far better. Nonetheless, Nurmagomedov passes the eye test. He can control the fight on the feet and dominate when it is on the ground.
Despite being in Bellator, Nurmagomedov is one of the best lightweights in the world. I do not think he is the best. Makhachev clearly owns that title. But, I’d love to see Nurmagomedov square off against some of the UFC’s top lightweight. Bouts with fighters like Charles Oliveira, Beniel Dariush, Mateusz Gamrot, Rafael Fiziev, and others would be interesting fights. I am not saying he wins all of those fights, but I think he wins a couple. At a minimum, those fights would be competitive.
After Nurmagomedov’s performance at Bellator 288, it is safe to say that he is an elite lightweight. In the UFC he would probably sit around the number five spot in the UFC rankings. At just 24 years old, he will only get better too. Unfourtnetly, due to his close relationship with Makhachev, it is unlikely that Nurmagomedov attempts to make the jump to the UFC, at least as long as Makhachev is the lightweight champion.
