Umar Nurmagomedov isn’t taking anything away from Petr Yan and his stunning win over Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323 but he expects they’ll be seeing each other soon enough to decide who is the best bantamweight in the sport.
Following his near shutout performance on Saturday night, Yan addressed his immediate future after becoming a two-time UFC champion and he suggested that Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili should face each other in a rematch to determine who gets a shot at his belt. Of course, Dvalishvili beat Nurmagomedov in a back-and-forth battle back in January to kick off a very active year for the Georgian fighter.
Right now, Nurmagomedov is preparing for a showdown with Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 324 in January but he sent a message to Yan to make sure he’s watching what happens.
“Great, spectacular fight,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Twitter after UFC 323 ended. “Congratulations to Petr. I think on January 24 it will become clear who is next.”
Ever since first arriving in the UFC, Nurmagomedov has been anointed as the next big thing, especially thanks to his pedigree coming from the same team that has produced champions like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.
While Nurmagomedov came up short in his first bid to become champion, he bounced back with a win over Mario Bautista in October to put himself right back near the top of the division. He now faces Figueiredo in a battle of top 10 bantamweights and with a win Nurmagomedov could definitely find himself in another title fight in 2026.
Of course, Yan has no shortage of potential challengers awaiting him now that he’s cemented as champion again.
Dvalishvili can certainly make a compelling argument that he should get an immediate rematch considering he’s now 1-1 with Yan through two fights. Sean O’Malley also hopes to state his own case when he fights Song Yadong at UFC 324 considering he already holds a win over Yan from a past fight at UFC 280.
Depending on how things shake out, UFC 324 might very well determine who gets the next crack at Yan after reclaiming the bantamweight title on Saturday.
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