Umar Nurmagomedov returned to the win column at UFC 321, handily defeating Mario Bautista.
Nurmagomedov used his grappling to dominate the first round, but Bautista nearly flipped the script in the second, landing a massive knee that at the Dagestani down. Clearly compromised, Nurmagomedov desperately shot for a takedown, eventually getting Bautista’s back on the mat.
Bautista worked his way up twice, but the takedowns and control time likely put Nurmagomedov up 2-0 going into the third and final round.
Nurmagomedov’s relentless grappling proved to be too much for Bautista to overcome in the third, sending us to the scorecards for what was sure to be a decisive decision victory.