Teammate gives behind-the-scene insight into Abubakar Nurmagomedov's sudden withdrawal from UFC Vegas 71

Usman Nurmagomedov recently shed some light on why his teammate, Abubakar Nurmagomedov, suddenly pulled out of his scheduled bout at UFC Vegas 72 this weekend. The 33-year-old Russian was initially booked to face Carlston Harris in a welterweight bout but has now been replaced by veteran Jared Gooden on short notice.

In a recent pre-fight presser, the Bellator lightweight champion shared some details on why Nurmagomedov pulled out of his fight and cited severe illness as the main reason behind the sideline:

"We were planning to do the camp together, and then he got sick. But that was actually a double hit because he got sick, he was out of the gym, and then he thought he's going to recover. He went back to the gym and got sick again. At that point, he had to stay in bed for a week and was really weak. Something maybe with the immune system, we don't know if it's the flu or something else."

Watch the full video below:

Abubakar Nurmagomedov made his UFC debut in November 2019 and has gone 2-1 in three fights in the promotion. He is currently riding a two-fight win streak. Meanwhile, Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov will face Benson Henderson for his first title defense at Bellator 292.

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UFC Vegas 71: Henry Cejudo predicts Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili

Despite being on a winning streak and having the renowned Nurmagomedov name, Abubakar's fight against Carlston Harris arguably wasn't one of the biggest attractions for the UFC Vegas 71 event. The spotlight for the event this weekend will focus on a highly anticipated matchup between the two bantamweights, Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili.

The Georgian is set to feature in his first main event while riding an impressive eight-fight winning streak against the former bantamweight champion looking to snap a two-fight losing streak. They will go head-to-head in a five-round contest on March 11.

Henry Cejudo recently weighed in on the upcoming bantamweight clash and predicted another loss for the Russian. In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, 'Triple C' stated:

"I just don't know if Petr Yan has made those adjustments as he continues to keep going to Thailand, continues to try to get better. He can only get so much better with the hands, how good has your grappling skills got?... I just see Merab just pretty much... He's going to beat on you like a rat on a cheetah. So I'm going Merab."

Watch the full video below: