Demetrious Johnson recently previewed Umar Nurmagomedov’s upcoming bout. Nurmagomedov will take on Deiveson Figueiredo on the prelims at UFC 324.
Both fighters have their eyes on the bantamweight gold. If Umar wins, he wants to take on two-time and current champion Petr Yan next, and Figueiredo is also hunting for a rematch against ‘No Mercy.’
The former two-time UFC flyweight kingpin has won 4 out of 6 bouts after moving up to bantamweight. Umar, on the other hand, has just one loss in his MMA career, which came against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311. Umar also broke his hand during the aforementioned bout. Following recovery, he made his comeback at UFC 321 opposite Mario Bautista and cruised to a dominant unanimous decision victory.
Demetrious Johnson picks Umar Nurmagomedov over Deivison Figueiredo
‘Mighty Mouse’ believes the Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Deivison Figueiredo bout will be a grappling-heavy affair, and Umar will take ‘Deus da Guerra’ down and control him. On the Jaxxon Podcast, Johnson said:
“So the fight between Umar and Figgy is gonna come down to the grappling. Umar is gonna take him down, it’s gotta be a grappling exchange. Figgy is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu… If I have to pick one, I am gonna pick Umar Nurmagomedov.”
Nextup, Johnson highlighted that many Dagestani fighters overtrain, which is one of the main reasons they often tire out on fight night. ‘Mighty Mouse’ added:
“Those guys train so hard….The only reason those guys lose is because they gas out from overtraining.”
Check out Demetrious Johnson’s comments below:
While Dagestani fighters like Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and even Usman Nurmagomedov have displayed elite endurance, others, such as Umar Nurmagomedov and Said Nurmagomedov, have at times shown noticeable issues in the same department.
In Umar’s UFC 311 title fight against Merab Dvalishvili, the former wilted under Dvalishvili’s relentless pressure and ran out of gas in the championship rounds.
Said Nurmagomedov has also shown similar tendencies in his previous two fights, both of which are losses.
