In September 2024, Usman Nurmagomedov successfully defended the Bellator Championship Lightweight. He surpassed rival Alexandr Shabliy by calculating the points in 5 rounds. This result extends the unbeaten series of cousin Khabib at the professional MMA playground to 19 matches.
Sharing about future goals, Usman Nurmagomedov confirmed that he wanted to connect the career of his brother Khabib and Umar, who have become famous and UFC. Usman hopes he can join UFC for the next 2 years, after reaching the peak at the Bellator MMA playground.
In the case of Usman to UFC, there is a very strong opponent, and very familiar to him there: Islam Makhachev. “If everything goes smoothly, I will go to UFC by 2026, when I turn 28. The next two years, I will try to become stronger, promote at UFC and win belts from Islam,” Usman said.
Another interesting thing shared by Usman is that he intends to retire at the age of 32. 32 is also the age of Khabib when he entered the final match at UFC. This may be a “underground” rule of the Nurmagomedov brothers, when they want to spend more time with their families rather than playing.
Usman Nurmagomedov now has a record of 19 unbeaten matches on a professional MMA floor, including 18 wins and 1 match without results. In October 2023, Usman's victory over Brent Primus at Bellator was canceled, on the grounds that Usman was positive for banned substances. However, the Organizing Committee later determined that Usman did not intentionally violate, so he was not deprived of the belt.