Umar Nurmagomedov Continues Family Tradition of Earning UFC Title Shots

Umar Nurmagomedov struggled early in his fight with Cory Sandhagen on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. Nurmagomedov couldn’t rely on his outstanding wrestling to control Sandhagen. During the first four rounds, Sandhagen refused to be controlled on the ground.

In the toughest test of his career to date, Nurmagomedov showed off something more impressive than his wrestling. Nurmagomedov was razor-sharp with his striking. After dropping the first round on two of the judges’ scorecards, Nurmagomedov coasted to a decision victory.

People who enjoy MMAfighting latest news will know that many people believed Sandhagen, a former interim bantamweight title challenger, would give Nurmagomedov the toughest test of his career. Sandhagen did but continued his own personal trend of coming up short in big fights.

Nurmagomedov is now 18-0 in his career and feels he deserves the next title shot. He will have to wait until Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili settle their differences at the Sphere this fall. There is no doubt that Nurmagomedov will be a difficult test for either fighter.

Shara Bullet Underwhelms Again

Sharabutdin Magomedov had exactly what he needed to produce a memorable knockout. Magomedov had an opponent, Michal Oleksiejczuk, who continued to march forward and put his own body at risk. But Magomedov never pushed to finish the fight.

During the first round, Magomedov left Oleksiejczuk’s belly red when he landed a series of vicious body kicks. But Magomedov didn’t continue the same level of body work as the fight wore on. Magomedov coasted to a comfortable victory.

But the best MMA news sites were hoping for more from the dynamic striker.

Figgy Shows Bantamweight Fits Him Well

Deiveson Figueiredo isn’t slowing down at age 36. The former flyweight champion has been willing to take on all comers at bantamweight. Against Marlon Vera on Saturday, Figueiredo showed that he can power up a weight division.

Figueiredo scored a knockdown at the beginning of the third round in a close fight. While Vera was able to avoid being finished, Figueiredo rode the momentum of the moment to a close decision victory. Figueiredo has now collected three straight wins at bantamweight and could inch closer to a title shot if he can keep the streak going.

Chiesa (More than Likely) Ends Tony Ferguson’s Career

Is there anything sadder than an athlete who doesn’t know when to call it quits? Tony Ferguson’s brief days as the UFC interim lightweight champion seem like it was decades ago. Ferguson still seemed uncertain about his next move after losing via first-round submission to Michael Chiesa, which was his eight straight loss in the octagon.

MMA news sites show Ferguson took a long pause during his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier, who asked if he was retiring. Ferguson then left one of his gloves in the octagon, which is a tradition for retiring fighters, but said he was going to take the other one home to leave the door open for a return. 

But on his way out of the arena, Ferguson fired his glove into the crowd and said he wasn’t done yet. In typical Ferguson fashion, everything from this point will be unpredictable.

Dern Tightens Things Up

Mackenzie Dern needed to show improvements if she was going to protect her top-10 spot in the women’s flyweight division. Following two difficult losses where Dern got battered on her feet, she showed a new level of comfort striking with Loopy Godinez.

Godinez entered the fight with the idea she was going to shell up and outstrike Dern. But Dern, who is primarily known as a grappling specialist, demonstrated a new level to her striking. Instead of throwing out wild hooks, Dern fired a lot more strikes that were straight and landed with purpose.

Dern nearly scored a submission in the first round, but was able to put out enough activity to score a narrow decision win in the third round.

Alvarez Takes His Time 

Joel Alvarez showed an extraordinary amount of patience during his lightweight fight with Elves Brener. Alvarez is known for producing a lot of first-round submissions during his career. But the Spanish lightweight fighter didn’t rush.

This weekend, MMA latest updates show that Alavarez decided to stay at range and utilize his reach advantage to pick Brener apart. In the third round, Alvarez’s constant peppering had Brener make mistakes. Alvarez took advantage of his aggressiveness to earn a third-round stoppage.

Murzakanov Earns Impressive Victory

Azamat Murzakanov is establishing himself as an interesting contender in the light heavyweight division. Muzakanov improved to 4-0 in the UFC with an impressive stoppage of 14-fight UFC veteran Alonzo Menifield. Menifield set the tone for a physical battle with how he approached the fight.

Menifield decided to fight out of a shell and constantly come forward. It was an approach welcomed by Murzakanov. Murzakanov continuously fired stiff hard shots at range. Eventually, the accumulation of those strikes became too much for Menifield to take.

Murzakanov earned a second-round stoppage, which was the 10th knockout of his career.

Fernandes Dominates With Leg Kicks

Mohammad Yahya could hardly be blamed for firing off wild punches. Kaue Fernandes had fired off so many leg kicks that damage on Yahya’s legs was already showing up by the end of the first round. With several nasty welts poking through on the front of his legs, Yahya knew his mobility was hampered.

Fernandes only had to wait for Yahya to get desperate. That moment came late in the first round. Fernandes was able to answer a wild strike from Yahya with a combination to sit Yahya down late in the round.

Here’s a look at the results from the rest of the fights on the card not mentioned above:

• Heavyweight, Shamil Gaziev win by decision over Don’Tale Mayes, 30-27 (x3)
• Lightweight, Guram Kutateladze win by decision over Jordan Vucenic, 29-28 (x3)
• Women’s strawweight, Sam Hughes by split decision over Victoria Dudakova, 29-28 Hughes (x2), 30-27 Dudakova
• Lightweight, Jai Herbert win by decision over Rolando Bedoya, 30-27 (x2), 29-28
• Middleweight, Sedriques Dumas win by decision over Denis Tiuliulin, 30-27, 29-28 (x2)

Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.

By Dean McHugh.