Written by Umar Nurmagomedov | Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Umar Nurmagomedov is already looking ahead to another championship opportunity.
The previously undefeated fighter fell short in Saturday’s UFC 311 co-main event, dropping a unanimous decision to bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili in a dramatic five-round contest. Though Nurmagomedov had his moments, the inexhaustible Dvalishvili outlasted the challenger en route to his first title defense and Nurmagomedov’s first loss.
In the aftermath of the defeat, Nurmagomedov posted a statement to social media, in which he wrote he has “no excuses” and vowed to “become the champion” (auto-translation from Russian via Instagram.)
“There are no excuses,” Nurmagomedov wrote. “InshaAllah, I will become the champion. The rest is not important. Praise Allah in any situation.
“And I don’t think I’ve lost this battle if even the whole world will convince me otherwise. Deal with the injuries and get back on track.”
In his post-fight interview immediately following the loss, Nurmagomedov told commentator Joe Rogan he broke his left hand in the opening round and that he still felt he’d done enough to win the fight. Nurmagomedov’s management team later sent out a photo of the fighter’s hand to back up the claim.
Nurmagomedov also told Rogan he planned to re-watch the fight, but it’s unclear if he did so before putting out his social media statement.
Regardless of how Nurmagomedov and his team saw it, the official result was a unanimous decision win for Dvalishvili. Nurmagomedov dropped to 6-1 in the UFC and heads into his next training camp to figure out how to rebound from a loss for the first time.