Umar Nurmagomedov

Overview

Six straight UFC wins, then a loss to the man who would go on to hold the belt, then two more wins, then a stoppage defeat. Umar Nurmagomedov is an 8-2 bantamweight out of Dagestan, and his UFC run has been defined by decisions, with a handful of early finishes mixed in.

Five of his eight UFC wins went the distance. Three ended inside the distance, two of them in the first round. Both of his losses came against opponents our model rates as elite.

He carries a loss into his next fight.

That's the shape of the career: mostly decisions, with finishes that came early when they came at all.

UFC Career

He debuted in January 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Chiesa vs. Magny with a second-round submission of Sergey Morozov, then submitted Brian Kelleher in the first round at UFC 272 in March 2022. A unanimous decision over Nate Maness followed in June 2022.

The first real step up came against Raoni Barcelos in January 2023, whom our model rates as a strong opponent. Nurmagomedov stopped him by KO/TKO in the first round at 4:40. A unanimous decision over Bekzat Almakhan in March 2024 pushed the streak to five.

Then came the main event. In August 2024 he headlined a five-round fight against Cory Sandhagen, one of the elite opponents of his career, and won a unanimous decision. That was win number six in a row, the longest streak of his UFC run.

The streak ended at UFC 311 in January 2025, where Merab Dvalishvili, another elite opponent, took a unanimous decision over five rounds. He answered with unanimous decisions over Mario Bautista at UFC 321 and Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 324, the latter an elite-tier win.

His most recent fight, against Song Yadong in August 2026, is his only stoppage loss: a KO/TKO in round two at 1:48. Every other fight in his UFC career has either ended in his favor or gone the full distance.

Eight wins, two losses, and both losses came against elite opponents.

Fighting Style

Umar Nurmagomedov is an accurate striker who is hard to hit. He lands at a busy pace, connects often, and takes little damage in return. He is also a heavy takedown threat who is very difficult to put on the mat himself.

He does not hunt for submissions. His attempt rate sits well below the UFC average, even though two of his wins came by submission.

The finish pattern is clear from the fight list. Two of his three finishes came in round one, and the third came in round two. Five of his eight wins went the distance.

Notable Wins

• Cory Sandhagen — unanimous decision, round 5, UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Nurmagomedov (2024)
• Deiveson Figueiredo — unanimous decision, round 3, UFC 324 (2026)
• Raoni Barcelos — KO/TKO, round 1, 4:40, UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov (2023)
• Mario Bautista — unanimous decision, round 3, UFC 321 (2025)

Quick Facts

• Division: Bantamweight
• UFC record: 8-2
• Professional record (all promotions): 20-2-0
• UFC debut: January 2021
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height and reach: 5'8", 69" reach
• Team: Nurmagomedov School
• Born: Republic of Dagestan, Russia