Umar Nurmagomedov suffered his first career defeat at UFC 311 when he challenged Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title. A close friend and teammate of his, Islam Makhachev, competed in the next fight, where he defended his lightweight title against Renato Moicano.
The level of dominance displayed by the Nurmagomedov clan meant that the defeat handed to ‘Young Eagle’ has become a much-discussed result since it happened.
Makhachev appeared in front of the media following his win over Moicano and was asked to share his feelings on watching Nurmagomedov lose while warming up backstage. He said:
“Honestly, it was hard. I tried to warm up but I still watched the whole fight. Of course it made me a little bit sad, but Umar [was] looking good. Umar is still young, still hungry. He has time. Because he’s still young, he made some mistakes in this fight. Merab did his job very well and they had a close fight. Umar did not take damage.”
The lightweight champion Islam Makhachev added:
“It’s okay, he broke his arm also. 100% I think he will come back, because he’s young, still hungry and he’s gonna be UFC champion one day.”
Catch Islam Makhachev discuss Umar Nurmagomedov’s loss below (5:45):