UFC Abu Dhabi post-fight show: Reaction to Nurmagomedov’s statement win, Ferguson’s historic loss

Umar Nurmagomedov | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Umar Nurmagomedov delivered the best performance of his career, taking a unanimous decision over Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi to stake his claim for a bantamweight title shot.

One of the most highly-touted prospects in all of MMA, Nurmagomedov delivered on all his promise Saturday evening, out-striking and out-grappling Sandhagen over five rounds to win the biggest fight of his career. Now the question is will Nurmagomedov get his opportunity to fight for bantamweight gold against the winner of the upcoming Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili fight?

The MMA Fighting team answers that questions plus more as they break down Nurmagomedov’s big win and the rest of the Saturday’s card, including Deiveson Figueiredo continuing to climb the bantamweight ranks, Shara Magomedov authoring the best performance of his career, Tony Ferguson finally (maybe) calling it quits, and Mackenzie Dern getting back on the winning track.

Watch the UFC Abu Dhabi post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your pods.