This past Saturday on the main card of UFC 321, we saw a potential title eliminator in the bantamweight division. Former title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov (19-1) was looking to bounce back after losing in his last fight as he took on Mario Bautista (16-3) who was looking to continue his eight-fight win streak.
Nurmagomedov was the biggest betting favorite by far on the main card on Saturday. By the lines, most felt that he would run through Mario Bautista, but Bautista was much more game than anyone thought. In the first round, Nurmagomedov got an early takedown, but Bautista did an excellent job forcing scrambles.
In one scramble, he actually got a deep leg lock. However, Nurmagomedov did an excellent job rolling with it and got out of it. He went on to control the rest of the round with his wrestling. In the second round, Nurmagomedov faced trouble early as he got briefly dropped by a beautiful knee.
He recovered very quickly and went on to mostly control the round with his wrestling. The third round featured much of the same. While Bautista did well to scramble and get back up, he just couldn’t shake the control of Nurmagomedov. In the end, it was a lopsided decision win for Nurmagomedov at UFC 321.
Is a title shot next after UFC 321?
It’s very clear to me that Umar Nurmagomedov is the second best bantamweight in the world. I think him and champion Merab Dvalishvili are a clear step ahead of the rest of the division. Really crazy to think about when you consider how talented the bantamweight division is.
Dvalishvili will face Petr Yan in December where he’ll try to defend his title for the fourth time in 2025. He has come out and said that if he wins in December, he wants to defend his UFC title again in March. If the UFC were to do that, he’d likely face someone else due to Ramadan.
However, no matter what, I fully expect Umar Nurmagomedov’s next fight to be for the bantamweight title.
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