Umar Nurmagomedov vows to abandon wrestling after KO loss

Nurmagomedov wants to focus on striking after defeat to Song Yadong

Umar Nurmagomedov suffered a knockout loss to Song Yadong last month. This defeat has apparently prompted him to change his fighting style for future bouts. After the fight, he spoke with his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, who then said in an interview:

“Umar called me the other day, and he was like, I’m not a wrestler. I’m not gonna wrestle again. I’m just gonna knock everybody out. I’m gonna make sure I make it look easy”

The 30-year-old has a record of 20-2, and only two of those wins came by knockout. One of them was a first-round knockout, but that doesn’t seem to faze him. Umar Nurmagomedov won’t completely abandon his strong ground game, though. It’s by far the way he’s secured most of his early victories. Maybe he’ll throw a few more punches in the future, but he won’t become a “half-boxer.” His latest loss, however, has obviously disappointed him a bit. His brother, Usman Nurmagomedov, said afterward:

“It is what it is. We’ll keep moving forward, correct mistakes, and come back stronger. Why should we [hide from the defeat]? He who doesn’t fall does not rise. So, it’s all good. This is MMA. Of course, it’s unpleasant when it happens to your brother right in front of you. But we are in this sport; that’s the way it is. We put someone’s lights off, and someone puts our lights off. It’s uncomfortable. But we live with it [and] come back”

Which, of course, gives us hope. But we can be sure he'll be back, and he'll surely make his presence known right away. What do you think?

I think he's going to make a really strong comeback. I think the loss might have sparked something in him. I'm really curious to see what his future holds.