You know how you can tell when somebody's on the verge of extracting the prize from prizefighting? It's when they begin to dominate headlines without ever throwing a punch.
Oh, Usman Nurmagomedov came close to doing just that in his first unofficial Octagon visit. Last weekend in Shanghai he hopped the fence like a thief in the night after Song Yadong sent his older brother Umar "to the land of wind and ghosts," as my colleague Ben Fowlkes likes to say, loading up as if deliver an elbow as Song did his victory lap. Fortunately, he didn't do it, yet that semi-action — which Usman himself said was much ado about nothing — helped him generate more headlines than Song.
A couple of weeks prior, out in Philadelphia, Usman was shown on the UFC 330 broadcast sitting cageside, the first indications that the UFC is biding its time until it can sign him. It might've been the most exciting thing about the event. The word being tossed around about the world's top MMA free agent signing with the UFC has been "inevitable" ever since, which feels a little Calvinistic for a man of free will.
Everybody is talking about Usman Nurmagomedov. At just 28 and coming into his prime, he's undefeated at 22-0 (1 NC), and he has the sacred name. In fact, he's got two if you factor Kamaru into this. He has Bellator belts in the back of his closet somewhere, and PFL ******* les that he shows off at parties. Henry Cejudo said on a podcast this week that the PFL, Usman's longtime promotion, would go belly-up if they let the last of the invincible Nurmagomedov's walk.
"He leaves the PFL tomorrow, the PFL is finished," Cejudo declared. "Straight up."
#last #free #octagon
Oh, Usman Nurmagomedov came close to doing just that in his first unofficial Octagon visit. Last weekend in Shanghai he hopped the fence like a thief in the night after Song Yadong sent his older brother Umar "to the land of wind and ghosts," as my colleague Ben Fowlkes likes to say, loading up as if deliver an elbow as Song did his victory lap. Fortunately, he didn't do it, yet that semi-action — which Usman himself said was much ado about nothing — helped him generate more headlines than Song.
A couple of weeks prior, out in Philadelphia, Usman was shown on the UFC 330 broadcast sitting cageside, the first indications that the UFC is biding its time until it can sign him. It might've been the most exciting thing about the event. The word being tossed around about the world's top MMA free agent signing with the UFC has been "inevitable" ever since, which feels a little Calvinistic for a man of free will.
Everybody is talking about Usman Nurmagomedov. At just 28 and coming into his prime, he's undefeated at 22-0 (1 NC), and he has the sacred name. In fact, he's got two if you factor Kamaru into this. He has Bellator belts in the back of his closet somewhere, and PFL ******* les that he shows off at parties. Henry Cejudo said on a podcast this week that the PFL, Usman's longtime promotion, would go belly-up if they let the last of the invincible Nurmagomedov's walk.
"He leaves the PFL tomorrow, the PFL is finished," Cejudo declared. "Straight up."
#last #free #octagon
6 days ago
