On a night where the UFC is deliberately pushing Sean O’Malley vs. Song Yadong as a title eliminator of sorts, Umar Nurmagomedov had to show up and show out. He did neither in his prelims headliner against Deiveson Figueiredo.

UFC 324 was the perfect chance for ‘Young Eagle’ to remind everyone why his name should be atop the bantamweight title picture. With Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev in Umar Nurmagomedov’s corner, expectations were sky high. Instead, his performance left fans frustrated, disappointed, and wondering if he did himself any favors.

Umar Nurmagomedov wins but fails to convince anyone at UFC 324

Umar Nurmagomedov showed his intent from the start. He stayed long, used kicks to control the distance, and forced Deiveson Figueiredo to circle. The control was real, and the technique was clean. But every time the fight threatened to open up, it slowed down. Clinch, reset, feint, and repeat. Even during grapple exchanges, the Dagestani prioritized safety over aggression, preferring to hold position rather than inflict damage.

As the rounds progressed, frustration began to creep in—not just in the cage, but also online. With Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev in his corner, fans began to question what was being preached by his corner in between rounds. “Are they asleep, too?” one fan joked.

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Another questioned the entire approach: “What training is Khabib giving, bro? Taught Umar how to be a human blanket lol.” Others were harsher, questioning the entire approach: “Best corner with Islam and Khabib, and still isn’t good.” The expectation of relentless pressure simply did not match what was taking place.

As the rounds passed, frustration spilled over. The criticism stopped being about tactics and became personal. “Shout out to Umar Nurmagomedov for showing the world where he belongs… ON THE PRELIMS,” one reaction read. Another fan didn’t hold back at all, calling him overrated and accusing him of running laps instead of fighting.

The lack of urgency against an older, overweight opponent surely rubbed fans the wrong way. “If Umar Nurmagomedov can’t finish a 38-year-old flyweight, don’t give him a title fight,” a fan wrote.

Others went even further, claiming that the way to gold will remain closed unless the division clears out entirely: “Umar isn’t becoming champ unless the top 5 besides him retire.” Umar Nurmagomedov won every round, but UFC 324 proved that in a division driven by finishes and moments, control alone didn’t move the needle. And honestly, many saw this one-sided affair coming. In fact, UFC veteran Aljamain Sterling called ‘Deus da Guerra’ a sacrifice even before the bout began.

Aljamain Sterling saw the lopsided fight from miles away

Long before Umar Nurmagomedov and Deiveson Figueiredo shared the cage, Aljamain Sterling saw the fight as one-sided. In his opinion, this wasn’t a real measuring-stick contest but rather a stylistic mismatch between a bigger, younger bantamweight grappler and a former flyweight still trying to justify the step up.

When the bout unfolded exactly as he imagined, the backlash felt less like shock and more like inevitability. Sterling had been frank before, calling Figueiredo a sacrifice and questioning how far his success at 135 could truly extend. “No disrespect, but this is like a sacrificial lamb,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel.

“He had like one moment in that fight (vs. Yan), and I think he only had that moment because Yan was kind of like, ‘I can do whatever I want.’ Then he’s like, ‘OK, maybe I shouldn’t do whatever I want.’ I’m going with Umar,” he added. And while the submission finish Sterling feared never materialized, the dynamic he worried about did: lengthy spells of control with minimal threat of a finish.

That’s what eventually contributed to the disappointment. If the battle was always going to go significantly in Umar Nurmagomedov’s favor, fans wanted something definitive to back it up. Aljamain Sterling saw a matchup that was designed to smother. Instead, they received confirmation of the mismatch—without the moment that could have propelled the Dagestani to the top of the division.