Umar Nurmagomedov blasts critics for pullout accusations after UFC Vegas 87 win - "No, it's not true"

Umar Nurmagomedov slammed the critics following his unanimous decision win at UFC Vegas 87.

Nurmagomedov squared off against UFC debutant Bekzat Almakhan. The event took place on March 2 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. He entered the fight after a 13-month layoff, having previously impressed with a brutal knockout of Raoni Barcelos at UFC Vegas 67.

While many expected 'The Young Eagle' to easily defeat an inexperienced opponent, Almakhan shocked everyone by catching the No. 13-ranked bantamweight with a right hook, almost pulling off an electrifying upset in the first round.

In his previous fights, Nurmagomedov had outclassed every opponent from the opening bell. This knockdown was the first of his 17-fight career.

However, Nurmagomedov bounced back quickly, landing a single-leg takedown that gave him control of the rest of the fight. Almakhan struggled for the remainder of the 15-minute bout, losing the remaining rounds to keep Nurmagomedov undefeated.

Following his victory, Nurmagomedov blasted the critics who had accused him of pulling out of fights. In the post-fight interview, he said:

"It's two times I pull out because of me. Other when corona came, when uncle passed away, when my opponents pulled out, they gonna count everything ans say, Umar pull out eight times. No it's not true.''

Watch Umar Nurmagomedov's post-flight comments below:

Nurmagomedov also demanded a rescheduling with Cory Sandhagen, whom he was originally scheduled to fight in August last year but had to withdraw due to an injury. He said:

“Right now, they said we have a date, [International Fight Week] with Cory Sandhagen. Before this fight they were talking about this. Cory talked about this and I think it’s going to happen.”

Watch the clip below:

Nurmagomedov added Almakhan to his list of octagon victories, which already included Sergey Morozov, Brian Kelleher, Nate Maness, and Barcelos. The Dagestani has yet to compete against a ranked opponent in the UFC.