Nurmagomedov is excited for a potential fight against Yadong
Song.
Nurmagomedov was originally scheduled to fight David
Martinez at
UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25. However, the booking has fallen off
as Martinez is forced out with an injury. Nurmagomedov has been
rumored to face Song at a later date.
Nurmagomedov recently admitted that he is interested in the matchup
against Song because he considers the Chinese fighter to be a
“punching bag.” Nurmagomedov was not impressed by the one-sided
beatdown that Song suffered against Sean O’Malley earlier this
year. Nurmagomedov doesn’t rank Song among the best fighters in the
division.
Not in the Same League
“Of course, I’m interested,” Nurmagomedov told told Adam Zubayraev. “ [Song] is a punching
bag. How did he do against O’Malley? He was dead by the third
round. Fourth round, he was taking knees to the face (Song vs.
O’Malley was three rounds)…I don’t consider him a top-class
fighter, honestly.”
Nurmagomedov (20-1) was undefeated in seven
UFC outings before suffering his lone professional loss in a
failed bantamweight title bid against Merab
Dvalishvili last year. Nurmagomedov has since rebounded with
wins over Mario
Bautista and Deiveson
Figueiredo. Meanwhile, Song (23-9) has alternated losses
against Petr Yan and
O’Malley with wins over Henry
Cejudo and Figueiredo in his last four outings.