Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev Prediction: Going for the Finish here

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin Abubakar will further his UFC Welterweight career in this fierce battle with fellow Russian MMA Gadzhi Omargadzhiev. Abubakar Nurmagomedov who famously got in a scrap with Conor Mcgregor at UFC 299 while in his cousin’s corner has come to the UFC by way of the WSOF and PFL. The fight with Omargadzhiev is listed on the prelims of UFC 280 at Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, and will see the two very good wrestlers grapple in the cage. The odds have opened with Nurmagomedov as the slight favorite.

After almost a decade of fighting professionally in regional promotions - WSOF and PFL - Nurmagomedov debuted in the UFC in 2019 against David Zawada. He lost the fight via first-round submission. In 2021 at UFC 260 he got into the win column with a unanimous decision over Jared Gooden. He hasn't been able to get a fight since then with several withdrawals and injuries. A Combat Sambo wrestler, Abubakar has won several bronze medals at the Combat Sambo World Championship and was a Russian national combat sambo champion. Due to his combat samba training, Nurmgomedov is a highly developed wrestler and on the mat, he has monster-level skills. He is also a decent striker and surprisingly has won most of his fights via TKO than submissions. All the same, he has won contests via a series of armbars, triangles, a kimura, and a rear naked choke. His striking pose reminds fans of his great cousin Khabib. He has the odd lean which ensures he keeps things tight while firing most of his punches from his jab or overhead left.

The Russian fighter will be having his sophomore bout in the UFC in this Welterweight clash. Interestingly, he has fought in the Middleweight all his professional career and his UFC debut loss to Caio Borralho was in the 185Ibs division. Prior to joining the elite promotion of UFC, Omargadzhiev was unbeaten as a pro fighting in regional promotions in Russia. Omargadzhiev is a conventional striker with a variety of punches and kicks, including spinning hook kicks and long head kicks. He is also very fast. Added to that, the Russian is quite the wrestler. His ground and pound is spectacular. He tends to attack double legs as a foretaste of perfecting his mount. Once on top, he utilizes his great hip pressure to great success.

This is an intriguing match-up between two capable wrestlers. One interesting thing is that both fighters have barely faced high-level wrestlers like themselves. Another snippet of information would be that Gadzhi Omargadzhiev has cut weight to fight in Welterweight which he last fought at as an amateur. In his last bout against Jared Gooden, Nurmagomedov preferred to strike instead of wrestle to the admiration of fans. The Combat Sambo champion has shown an ability to improve his striking and as such one never knows which kind of fighter will show up on the fight day. Omargadzhiev lost his UFC debut surprisingly and has consequently come down to Welterweight. This puts him at some disadvantage  and supposedly he may not have the power and strength advantage in this bout. If he gets on top, it’s a toss-up if he can activate his pound and ground game and force a tap out. Most people are angling toward an Abubakar Nurmagomedov win and looking at his career, a lot of his wins have come via Judges’ decisions. His losses show that his defense isn’t as classy as his attack. So he'll win if he gets his defense right. Looking at the odds and taking in the details before us, we go for Fight to finish inside the distance. 

• Fight to finish inside the distance, Yes at 2.25 odds on 1xbet.
• W1 by KO/TKO/DQ or Decision at 2.05 odds on Bet 365
• W2 at 2.35 odds on BetKing