Khabib Nurmagomedov has an eye for talent and he still believes his protege Umar Nurmagomedov can become the pound-for-pound number one.
Since his shock retirement from the sport in 2020, Khabib Nurmagomedov has become one of the best coaches in MMA, guiding the likes of Islam Makhachev, Umar Nurmagomedov, and many others.
And with ‘The Eagle’ hopeful of continuing his father’s legacy as one of the greatest coaches in the sport, he recently opened a huge mega facility in the mountains of Dagestan, where he will continue to pass his knowledge down to the next generation.
Despite still being in his prime, Khabib recently laid out Makhachev’s retirement timeframe, potentially leaving Umar as the team’s only top fighter in the UFC.
Khabib claims Umar will still become pound-for-pound number one
Earlier this year, Nurmagomedov suffered his first career loss when he met Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311. Umar reportedly suffered a broken hand early in the fight which affected his ability to strike throughout the five rounds.
Despite the loss, it is likely that Umar only needs to pick up one win before he is given another title shot, as Dana White previously hinted at how exciting a rematch would be.
Recently during a live Q&A, Khabib claimed that the 29-year-old could still become the pound-for-pound number one fighter in the sport, following a similar path to his teammate, Makhachev.
“On high level, who can become pound-for-pound (number one)? I really believe Umar can be there too. Umar’s situation right now, he’s dealing with a loss but, in 2015, Islam was in the same position, today’s 2025 and he’s the best fighter on the earth,” Khabib said.
“18th of October, he’s gonna fight in Vancouver, it will be a five round fight. We will see how he’s gonna deal with this. I don’t know, I don’t know because his name is Umar, my name is Khabib and we are completely different humans but we will see the way how we’re gonna deal with his loss,” he continued.
Umar will take on Mario Bautista at UFC Vancouver
Although it hasn’t been officially announced by the promotion yet, Umar’s next fight will come against Mario Bautista at UFC Vancouver in October, as Khabib said.
Bautista is on an extremely impressive eight fight win streak, with his last being a huge upset win over Patchy Mix in his promotional debut.
The fight will likely be a number one contender fight at bantamweight, with the winner going on to take on the Georgian king.
