Umar Nurmagomedov is already eyeing another championship opportunity.
The previously undefeated fighter came up short in Saturday’s UFC 311 co-main event, losing by unanimous decision to bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili in a dramatic five-round fight. Although Nurmagomedov had his moments, the inexhaustible Dvalishvili outlasted his challenger en route to his first title defense and Nurmagomedov’s first defeat.
In the aftermath of the defeat, Nurmagomedov released a statement on social media, in which he wrote that he has “no excuses” and promised to “become the champion” (automatic translation from Russian via Instagram.)
“There is no excuse,” Nurmagomedov wrote. “InshaAllah, I will become the champion. The rest doesn’t matter. Praise Allah in any situation.
“And I don’t think I’ve lost this battle if even the whole world convinces me otherwise.” Deal with injuries and get back on track.
In his post-fight interview immediately after the loss, Nurmagomedov told commentator Joe Rogan that he broke his left hand in the first round and still felt he had done enough to win the fight . Nurmagomedov’s management team later sent a photo of the fighter’s hand to support their claims.
Nurmagomedov also told Rogan that he planned to rewatch the fight, but it’s unclear if he did so before posting his statement on social media.
Regardless of how Nurmagomedov and his team saw it, the official result was a unanimous decision victory for Dvalishvili. Nurmagomedov has dropped to 6-1 in the UFC and is heading to his next training camp to figure out how to bounce back from a loss for the first time.
