UFC Have Signed Khabib Nurmagomedov's Cousin Umar And He Could Be The Next Big Thing

The UFC have announced the signature of Khabib Nurmagomedov's younger cousin and he could be MMA's next big thing.

Umar Nurmagomedov has been a part of Khabib's entourage for a number of years and UFC confirmed his signing on Thursday.

The 24-year-old bantamweight has an impressive 12-0 record in his career and is in line to fight on the undercard of UFC 249, with the main event of that show being Khabib vs Tony Ferguson.

Umar's opponent is set to be fellow undefeated bantamweight Hunter Azure.

Highlights from Umar's previous fights show that the youngster has impressive mat skills as well as promising striking.

Five of his 12 professional wins have come via submission, six via judges' decision with a single knock out victory.

His most recent step into the octagon came when he defended his bantamweight title against Braian Gonzalaz at Gorilla Fighting Championship 20.

Gonzalez won't have known what hit him after Umar secured a first-round victory following a rear naked choke submission.

Fans on YouTube have praised the younger Nurmagomedov for his promise and think he's destined for a solid UFC career.

One user wrote: "Good win from Umar, like his cousin Khabib he is destined for a great career."

Another commented: "An absolute masterclass This guy has a great future, khabib and abdulmanap are training him well."

While a third stated: "Umar is an incredible prospect."

Umar's step into UFC's bantamweight division will likely have current champion Henry Cejudo on guard.

Meanwhile, cousin Khabib is continuing his war of words with longtime rival Conor McGregor.

PA

PA

The 31-year-old undefeated Russian star clashed with 'Notorious' in October 2018 at UFC 229 and successfully won via submission in the fourth round.

Three judges awarded the third round to McGregor 10-9 but 'The Eagle' is still not happy with the verdict.

Speaking to close friend Daniel Cormier, the UFC lightweight champion claimed that shouldn't have lost the round.

"Third round, I stood with him for a reason," he said.

"I smashed him."

During the third round of the fight, Khabib managed to land 15 significant strikes on the Irishman.

Topics: Khabib Nurmagomedov, MMA News, UFC, MMA, UFC 249

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

@DanMarland_