Umar Nurmagomedov has utilized the wise words of Manny Pacquiao to give him a certain groundedness and focus in his own career. Nurmagomedov invoked the name of boxing’s only eight-division world champion at the pre-fight media day for UFC 321 as the former bantamweight title challenger steps into the cage.
Nurmagomedov aims to bounce back from that bid for 135-pound gold that saw him take his first professional MMA loss in January to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311. The Dagestan native will take on Mario Bautista in a meaningful matchup between ranked bantamweight contenders in Abu Dhabi this weekend.