After his win at UFC 324, what’s next for Umar Nurmagomedov?

UFC 324?s featured prelim this past Saturday night was a big time matchup in the bantamweight division. Top bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov (20-1) took on former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo (25-5-1).

Despite Figueiredo being a former world champion, he was the biggest betting underdog on the card. Mainly due to the way he’s won at bantamweight since moving up to 135 pounds. Figueiredo has used wrestling and bully tactics to really win his fights at 135 pounds.

He was at a grappling disadvantage, a speed disadvantage, and a striking disadvantage against Umar Nurmagomedov. Honestly, outside of a crazy knockout, I didn’t see any path to victory for the former flyweight champ and that’s really how the fight played out.

From the opening bell, it was all Umar Nurmagomedov. He didn’t really have a ton of wrestling success throughout, but he landed takedowns when he needed to. On the feet, his speed and distance management were too much for Figgy. Outside of a brief spurt at the end of the second, this was all Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 324.

What’s next after UFC 324?

Umar Nurmagomedov was undefeated and the betting favorite last January when he faced Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title. He won the first two rounds, but dropped the final three to lose a decision. Worth noting, he broke his hand in the first two rounds of that fight.

He’s in a tough spot right now because he’s clearly a top contender, but he’s a little behind the eight-ball in the UFC bantamweight title picture. He’s won two straight since that loss to Merab, but since then, Merab lost the title to Petr Yan.

Given Merab’s incredible run, he absolutely should get an immediate rematch with Yan. If Merab doesn’t get it, Sean O’Malley would likely get the title shot due to his name recognition and his win over Petr Yan. With that, despite being a clear top contender and winning two in a row, Umar Nurmagomedov is going to need another win.

If the UFC goes with Merab for the next title shot, Nurmagomedov should face Sean O’Malley. That would establish a clear number one contender. However, I could see the promotion opting to book O’Malley against Cory Sandhagen should O’Malley not get the title shot.

In that case, the only other fighter that makes potential sense is seventh ranked Aiemann Zahabi who has won seven fights in a row.