Saturday night was a big night for the Nurmagomedov family. During UFC 272, it was announced that Khabib will be the first inductee in the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2022, as a member of the modern era. It was also a big night for Cousin Umar. The undefeated Russian was 13-0 heading into his fight against Brian Kelleher, and it was it second fight in the UFC. He was coming off a dominant second round submission victory over Sergey Morozov last year, and he would pick up right where he left off.
Cousin Umar got Kelleher’s back in acrobatic fashion only to sink in the rear-naked choke in the second round. It was a stellar performance all-around for the Russian. The Nurmagomedov family may be known for their wrestling, but it was those kicks by Umar that had everyone’s attention. His question mark kicks have you wondering more than Riddler and they’ll leave you more discombobulated than Joker. And then as soon as your attention is diverted from those kicks, he goes right back to smothering you on the ground. Then BOOM you got gotcha’d.
Umar was a champion at Bantamweight before the UFC. He also made it clear the only reason his fight against Kelleher was contested at Featherweight was because it was on short notice for Kelleher. With that being the case, we’ll no doubt see him drop back to 135 for the rest of his time in the UFC. But let’s be real this guy could probably win at either. I just know whichever division he chooses, there will be some guys sighing for relief that they don’t have to run into Cousin Umar anytime soon. And I wouldn’t blame them in the slightest. He’s a great talent with a ton of potential, if you value Khabib’s opinion at all. Regardless of what weight he fights at, he’s going to be a star. Having the Nurmagomedov name only helps.
Cousin Umar’s performance may have been incredible, but how about Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview? That was a thing of beauty.
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