Umar Nurmagomedov returns to competition at RAF Abu Dhabi in match against UFC legend
Next month Umar Nurmagomedov competes for the first time since his UFC Shanghai loss by taking on an MMA pioneer in a freestyle wrestling match.
Umar Nurmagomedov isn't spending the rest of the year in silence and sorrow after his disastrous fight at UFC Shanghai. Instead, he will set foot on the wrestling mats at RAF Abu Dhabi, where he will face one of the most popular MMA pioneers from the lighter weight classes.
Umar Nurmagomedov targets November return
On Nov. 14, Umar Nurmagomedov will face three-time UFC bantamweight title challenger and ex-WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber at RAF Abu Dhabi in a freestyle wrestling match. It will mark Nurmagomedov's first competitive bout since his brutal second-round knockout loss at UFC Shanghai, where he was flattened by Song Yadong in a bantamweight clash with serious title implications. The loss was only the second in Nurmagomedov's MMA career, with the first being his unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili in their bantamweight title fight at UFC 311.
While Nurmagomedov has been active, Faber, by contrast, hasn't fought in seven years, as he was last knocked out in round three at UFC 245 by reigning bantamweight champion Petr Yan. He has, however, found new life as a freestyle wrestler, having already competed twice in RAF. At RAF 06 he lost by technical fall to ex-two-division UFC champion and Olympic freestyle wrestling champion Henry Cejudo at lightweight. Then, at RAF 08, he lost via technical fall again, this time to UFC lightweight contender and RAF star Arman Tsarukyan, who he faced at middleweight. Freestyle wrestling will not be new territory for Faber, who was an NCAA Division I wrestler. Nurmagomedov, though, comes from the more MMA-oriented school of Dagestani wrestling.
The matchup comes in contrast to what Nurmagomedov's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, said in the aftermath of his loss to Song. According to Abdelaziz, Nurmagomedov is done wrestling and will now focus on striking, as the knockout in the Song loss came after Song intercepted a Nurmagomedov takedown attempt with a right hook to the ear. Whether there is any truth to Abdelaziz's words remains to be seen. For now, Nurmagomedov will focus on his upcoming wrestling match, and hope to end what has been a disappointing year for him on a positive note.
