Outside Source
Johnson has spent a long time training with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s camp in Dagestan. Khabib’s cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov (19-1), is scheduled to fight Deiveson Figueiredo (25-5) in a bantamweight matchup at UFC 324 on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas.
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Johnson is backing Nurmagomedov to beat Figueiredo. “Mighty Mouse” is in awe of the training ethic in the Dagestani camp. However, Johnson believes the only reason Nurmagomedov might lose is if he gasses out due to overtraining, considering they train throughout the day.
It Comes Down to Grappling
“It’s gonna come down to the grappling,” Johnson said on the “Jaxon Podcast.” “Umar’s gonna take him down; it’s gonna be a grappling exchange. Figgy’s a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu… But if I had to pick one, I’m going Umar Nurmagomedov. Those guys train so hard. The only reason why I feel those guys do lose is – obviously, if someone’s better than them – but if they gas out because they’re overtraining. Because they f——ing train all the time.”
Nurmagomedov went undefeated in six UFC outings before suffering his lone professional loss in a failed title bid against Merab Dvalishvili last year. Nurmagomedov has since rebounded with a victory over Mario Bautista. Meanwhile, Figueiredo is 4-2 since moving up to bantamweight. The former flyweight champion is coming off a split-decision win over Montel Jackson that saw him rebound from back-to-back losses.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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