Lightweight prospect Usman Nurmagomedov plans on using the blueprint his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov used during his rise in the sport of mixed martial arts.
The 23-year-old will make his second Bellator appearance this Saturday when he faces Manny Muro in a main card matchup. The event takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. and will be headlined by the featherweight grand prix finale between Patricio Pitbull and A.J. McKee.
Nurmagomedov joined MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck for an exclusive interview ahead of the highly anticipated fight card to discuss the matchmaking and not being overly impressed with Muro, what he took away from his promotional debut against Mike Hamel, Islam Makhachev’s recent win giving him a boost of motivation, Khabib Nurmagomedov being the Coach of the Year thus far, his plans to get a finish and taking his time moving up the 155-pound rankings, and why he’s picking McKee to defeat Pitbull to become featherweight champion in Saturday’s headliner.