Umar Nurmagomedov's coach explains "extreme pressure" on UFC bantamweight star ahead of Mario Bautista fight

Umar Nurmagomedov's coach Javier Mendez recently explained why the UFC bantamweight star was under "extreme pressure" ahead of his upcoming Mario Bautista fight.

Nurmagomedov is set to face Bautista at UFC 321 in a pivotal bantamweight fight next weekend. He'll be looking to get back into the win column after losing a title fight to Merab Dvalishvili via unanimous decision at UFC 311 in January. This marked Nurmagomedov's first career loss as a professional fighter.

Given that he's UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov's cousin and undefeated Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov's sibling, it's no surprise that Umar feels the weight of his last name. In an interview with MMA Junkie, Mendez explained the "extreme pressure" Nurmagomedov was under and said:

"There's extreme pressure on him. He's had a lot of pressure in this one because you've got to understand that he carries the last name. There's a big honor in that, and Usman his brother is undefeated, Khabib is undefeated, he was undefeated. There's a lot of pressure. He was doing what Khabib was doing at an earlier stage, so there was a lot of comparisons. I called him 'Young Eagle.' Come on, you've got to be realistic."

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He continued:

"There's a lot of pressure on him, and now he has to rebound from the loss and come stronger, and it was not an easy journey. It was a physical and a mental journey for him." [H/t: MMA Junkie]

Watch the full interview below:

Daniel Cormier previews potential Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov rematch

Daniel Cormier believes Umar Nurmagomedov is the only bantamweight contender who could give Merab Dvalishvili a tough time in the cage. The UFC icon recently previewed a potential rematch between the two and explained his stance.

In a video uploaded to his socials (via @RedCorner_MMA on X), Cormier reacted to Dvalishvili's title win over Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320 and said:

"I've got to tell you, I think Umar Nurmagomedov is probably the one guy that can challenge him. We saw their fight; it was 48-47 across the board. Everyone else cannot stay with him. It’s going to be very difficult for guys to figure out how to beat him because he’s just going to keep hitting them with takedowns. He’s a very hard challenge to prepare for."