The opponent is Jaoni Barcelos of Brazil. I don’t think Umar’s 16 wins will be too difficult.
Umar is the cousin of former 스포츠토토 UFC lightweight champion Khabib, who retired early after being undefeated in 29 fights.
The 26-year-old young star is as strong at grappling as Khabib. He’s also a good hitter, so he might be crowned champion before the end of this year or next year at the latest.
Umar entered the UFC last year with a win over Sergei Morozov and won three straight fights against Brian Kelleher and Nate Manes.
Umar entered the rankings with only those three matches, and rose to 11th after 12th.
Barcelos is not a bad fighter with 17 wins and 3 losses in MMA and 6 wins and 2 losses in UFC. However, it is a little weak against Umar. Umar wants to make a strong impression with a finish race.
It’s Umar’s first fight of 2023 for the champion, who could challenge for the title after two or three fights in the future.
It’s the plan of Khabib Nurmagomedov of ‘Team Khabib’ who is leading him, and Khabib is confident that his cousin will ascend to the bantamweight throne in the near future.
Umar’s fighting power is top notch and the current bantamweight is not that strong.
Champion Aljamain Sterling, No. 1 Sean O’Malley, No. 2 Petr Jan, No. 3 Devalishvili, and No. 4 Marlon Vera are all in the top 5.
He doesn’t have the strongest talent with strong charisma. He is a fighter of a level that he can overcome enough that Khabib is confident as the team’s third champion.
Team Khabib currently has two champions: UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov.
Umar is the fourth cousin of Khabib and the older brother of Usman Nurmagomedov, and he was born with martial arts DNA.
Looking at the first game of the year on the 15th, it seems that Umar’s potential can be predicted, but Umar takes victory for granted, and experts see it that way.