👏🦅Umar Nurmagomedov calls himself “Just Eagle” and Khabib “Old Eagle.”
“On January 18th, I think I deserve the name Eagle. No more young people, just Eagle.”
🎥 @akajav ▫️
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— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight)
January 4, 2025
Umar Nurmagomedov wants to follow in the footsteps of his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov in every way.
Umar will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in the co-main event of UFC 311 on January 18th at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. Umar, who is undefeated like his cousin Khabib, is now a UFC champion like “The Eagle” and could even take on that moniker.
Although Umar does not yet have an official nickname, he is widely known as the “Young Eagle” due to his relationship and similar style to Habib. However, Habib appears to have declared that he can no longer call Umar the “Young Eagle” after he turned 29 last weekend. Longtime coach Javier Mendez asked Umar about it, and the bantamweight title challenger agreed. Umar said Khabib, now retired, should be called “Old Eagle,” inheriting the former lightweight champion’s original nickname. And Umar believes he truly deserves the honor if he dethrones “The Machine” on January 18th.
“Coach, that’s [doesn’t] If you think about it that way, it makes sense,” Umar said. “He’s an ‘Eagle,’ right? And he’s my brother. And if you [look at it] That’s how I am, my younger brother, and my younger brother’s eagle. I don’t mean age, I mean new generation. It’s never about age. And we can’t both be Eagles. He is an “old eagle”. If I’m just “Eagle”, he’s “Old Eagle”… On January 18th, I think I deserve this name: “Eagle”. He’s no longer a young man, just an “Eagle.” ”
Umar has six wins in the UFC, the most recent of which came in a high-level bout against Cory Sandhagen last August. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili is on an 11-fight winning streak, winning the title from Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 last September. The champion was initially reluctant to defend his title against Nurmagomedov, accusing Dagestan of benefiting him due to his relationship with Khabib.
Umar is the latest in a long list of fighters trained by Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who is considered the pioneer of Russian mixed martial arts. Their teammate Islam Makhachev also defended his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event of UFC 311.
