UFC Vegas 87 is underway and what a night the fans have had so far. With many electrifying finishes and nail-biting performances, there has been no shortage of action on the night. However, one of the undefeated prospects on show tonight, Umar Nurmagomedov nearly suffered a shocking loss.
For those unaware, Umar, cousin of none other than Khabib Nurmagomedov, was one of the fighters on the main card. Taking on UFC newcomer Bekzat Almakhan, the fighter was making a comeback to action after more than a year. As such, the main narrative around the prospect was that nobody wanted to fight him and lose their ranking. Hence, the UFC had to bring in a fighter from outside the UFC to fight Nurmagomedov.
5-0 and continuing to rise 👏@UNmgdv | #UFCVegas87 pic.twitter.com/YGz8kwZliA
— UFC (@ufc) March 2, 2024
On the night, it was expected that Umar would dominate the proceedings. However, he was in for a momentary scare when Almakhan seemingly dropped him early in Round 1. With a lot more than just his undefeated status on the line, Umar quickly recovered before managing to take his opponent down and keep him in control.
Umar Nurmagomedov reveals he was only 50% for his fight against Bekzat Almakhan
As it turns out, Bekzat Almakhan had finished 9 of his 11 wins by way of KO/TKO. Thus, he intended to try something similar with Umar Nurmagomedov and nearly succeeded after landing a huge right overhand. A shocking moment, to say the least, many fans held their breath as Umar eventually managed to recover and pull himself together.
Thereafter, as coach Javier Mendez pointed out, Umar just needed to keep his distance before quickly blitzing to close the distance. Being the exceptional prospect that he is, Nurmagomedov followed the instructions, holding down his man restricting him to 5 landed strikes, and racking up more than 11 minutes of control time in the process.
Following the win, Umar spoke about the knockdown, “I didn’t see this and I didn’t understand. I try to find distance, and I find myself on his leg”. According to the fighter, he was nearly unconscious after getting tagged by Almakhan. Further, Umar added, “Maybe I was just 50%, I’m serious,” when asked about his fitness coming into the fight. As it turns out, the fighter had also injured his hand just a week before.
Fans react to Umar Nurmagomedov’s knockdown at UFC Vegas 87
For the most part, considering his reputation, Umar Nurmagomedov nearly getting knocked out cold was one of the biggest moments of the night. As such, it caused a massive reaction on social media with many fans discussing the sequence. Interestingly, some fans were adamant that Nurmagomedov was not knocked down but instead went for a takedown.
Despite the fighter admitting he was almost unconscious in the post-fight interview, ardent supporters of the Dagestani prospect felt that there was minimal contact from Bekzat Almakhan to have hurt him. As such, it made for a lot of talk on the matter on social media. Some fans wrote, “Didn’t even land he was off balance” and “Am I dumb I don’t see anything touching him”.
Further, others chimed in saying, “just over the top so he lost coordination for a sec, that’s it” and “Got dropped? Nah.. more like he avoid the punches and lost balance”. All things considered, Umar showed great wherewithal to recover from the position he did. As such, many will be keen to see what he can do against Cory Sandhagen, should their fight transpire.