It’s a tough job becoming a UFC champion and the best fighter on the planet, and it’s even tougher to stay there for long. Can there be something more difficult than this in MMA? Perhaps a coach who, time and time again, has produced the absolute best fighters in MMA and helped them stay there for the long term comes to mind. One of the most respected and decorated coaches in MMA history, Javier Mendez, is the name behind the vigorous training and preparations that the Russians have made, yielding their massive accolades.

Through all the amazing feats Mendez has garnered over the years, there won’t be many, but just a few bad memories, a few bad days that the former coach of ‘The Eagle‘ Khabib Nurmagomedov is still haunted by. The freshest entry on that short list is the domination of Umar Nurmagomedov by the Georgian Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 305. The new Bantamweight champion in his first title defense put Umar through hell and back and showboated his way to a unanimous decision victory.

While talking to the ‘Overdogs Podcast with Mike Perry‘ Javier Mendez talked about the importance of acting like a winner and showboating in the octagon and how it can influence a judge’s decision. He said, “What we did with Umar is, I was working with him on after each round. Put your head up, act like the winner. You got to act like the winner, is you know you cannot pretend like oh you won that round, but you got your head down. Judges look at that. You know whether they do realize it or not, judges look at that and they judge against you because if it’s a close round and they see you gasping for air and the other guys walking around like King Kong, their mind gets you know, cuz there’s a lot of pressure on the judge. A lot of pressure.”

He further added, even praising his student’s rival Merab Dvalishvili, saying: “So he has to make the right decision and then once he puts the decision that guy’s grabbing that scorecard and he doesn’t get to change his mind. So image is extremely important and Merab is fantastic at that, And I’m, Am I being biased? Of course I’m being biased! That’s my guy. Of course I’m being biased you know. I’m not going to sit here and tell you ‘No I’m telling the truth.’ No, I’m being biased. That’s my boy. Yes, so, that’s a fact you know. But that’s the way I see it.”

Indeed, Mendez’ emphasis on image and confidence inside the Octagon is undeniably a big reason behind his students dominating their divisions, Umar’s quest being the only halt in their way. Even if Mendes’ pieces of advice were meant for Umar, it was Dvalishvili who executed their game plan perfectly.

But the 29-year-old ‘Young Eagle‘ has still a lot of fights left in his tank. With just a single loss on his resume, Umar will look forward to any opportunity to earn his title shot again and right the wrongs he did against Dvalishvili.

Umar Nurmagomedov’s path to redemption following his UFC 311 loss to Dvalishvili

‘The Machine‘ has started his training camp heading into the main event of UFC 316, against Sean O’Malley. Umar, too, has started to envision his comeback and, more importantly, he envisions himself lifting the UFC gold, just like the Dagestani fighters before him. Although his performance against Dvalishvili left him some bad memories, the Dagestani wrestler will look for his next fight as a chance to bounce back.

Whatever happens, happens for good. And if not for Umar and team, a potential match-up surely sounds good to us viewers as speculations of a fight between Petr Yan and Umar Nurmagomedov have begun inside the MMA community. Both Yan and Umar have lost to Dvalishvili in a one-sided encounter and both are yearning for a chance to go at it again. Yan has even challenged Umar to fight him in Abu Dhabi or Baku, but coach Khabib told Umar will only be able to fight in October.

“But Umar can only fight in October. If Petr wants to wait until October? Maybe, yes, he can wait. If he wants to fight in July, then that’s up to him.” said Khabib, while talking about Yan and Umar’s potential clash, revealing their fight schedule as the only obstacle, and if ‘No Mercy‘ can wait till October, both Umar and team will be good to go.

Both Petr Yan and Umar Nurmagomedov will have vengeance on their mind if and when they do clash against each other. An animosity, not towards each other, but against their common enemy, Merab Dvalishvili. One who ridiculed them by his domination inside the Octagon, they will give it their all as the winner will not only get a chance to win the Bantamweight title of the UFC but also play out a different fight than their previous encounters with ‘The Machine’.

Who wins if a potential fight is set between Petr Yan and Umar Nurmagomedov? And can either beat Merab Dvalishvili in a rematch? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.