Umar Nurmagomedov and Jamahal Hill seem to both agree on who the current boss of the UFC welterweight division is. Nurmagomedov recently sat down with hosts Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo on their Pound 4 Pound podcast. Usman claimed he was the boss of the welterweight division, which the ranked UFC bantamweight contender respectfully refuted.
Nurmagomedov responded to the former UFC welterweight champion's bold claim by stating:
"Sorry man but right now, you're not. Sorry brother, right now, Belal Muhammad is the boss."
This interaction was turned into a post for the ESPN MMA Instagram account with several MMA fans and former UFC champions alike voicing their thoughts on the matter. Via his Instagram account, Hill invoked the nickname of the reigning UFC welterweight titleholder Muhammad when he commented:
"Remember the name!!!"
Check out the post of the Kamaru Usman and Umar Nurmagomedov interaction that Jamahal Hill commented on below:
Umar Nurmagomedov and his own case for a UFC title shot
As Kamaru Usman campaigns for another title shot, Umar Nurmagomedov is looking for his first chance to become the boss of his own weight category. Going off of athletic meritocracy, Nurmagomedov should be next in line being that he's the No.2-ranked contender at bantamweight.
The only contender above him is Sean O'Malley, who just dropped his 135-pound title to Merab Dvalishvili in a one-sided affair at Noche UFC 306.
The 28-year-old recently bested the current No.4-ranked contender in the weight division, Cory Sandhagen. Their fight took place on Aug. 3 with Nurmagomedov winning their UFC Fight Night main event clash by way of a unanimous decision. The Dagestan native sports a spotless professional mixed martial arts record of 18 victories opposite zero defeats.
With O'Malley discussing taking some time off from the cage, Petr Yan is targeting a Deiveson Figueiredo fight. With former champion Henry Cejudo needing to get back into the win column, it would seem like Nurmagomedov is poised for a title bid against Dvalishvili in what would promise to be a scrambling centric and grappling heavy affair.
Check out Umar Nurmagomedov's highlights below: