In a disappointing moment following a lopsided win over Patchy Mix at UFC 316, Mario Bautista wasn’t afforded a post-fight interview, which prevented him from making the callout he desperately wanted.
Thankfully the powers-that-be still listened when Bautista was eventually heard asking for a shot at Umar Nurmagomedov, who has long been touted as the future of the bantamweight division. Nurmagomedov also happened to be available after he came up short in his title shot against reigning champion Merab Dvalishvili. For so long, Nurmagomedov had been touted as the boogeyman of the division but Dvalishvili’s non-stop pace, constant pressure and wrestling defense eventually wore him down before he ultimately won a unanimous decision.
While Bautista recognizes that his style is much different from Dvalishvili, that fight offered plenty of insight that Nurmagomedov wasn’t some invincible force of nature incapable of losing.
“What’s going to be the fight that gets me the title shot if I beat this guy? It was Umar,” Bautista told MMA Fighting. “He had just lost to Merab and so it just made sense to me. Merab proved Umar is not unstoppable. He’s not like that Khabib [Nurmagomedov] style.
“I’m not saying he’s not good or anything. I think he’s a great fighter and he has everything to be the champ but Merab definitely put a blueprint out there so that’s the fight that made sense for me and the fastest way to a title shot.”
On his way to title contention, Nurmagomedov only faced one other ranked fighter and that was a win over Cory Sandhagen that effectively earned him a shot at gold.
As impressive as that performance was, Bautista thought Sandhagen actually started out strong in the fight but eventually faded. But once again, Bautista saw enough to know he can get to Nurmagomedov and put him in similarly tough positions.
“I guess in the Merab fight, from what I’ve seen, if you really set a high pace, he tends to kind of fade at the end,” Bautista said about Nurmagomedov. “Again, that’s Merab, too. That might happen with anyone.
“So we kind of saw that and then in the Sandhagen fight, I thought Sandhagen won the first two rounds. Umar started taking over in those later rounds. Those are things that I kind of look at leading into this fight. Have a good, high pace right off the bat and just try to break his will. That’s what I go out there and try to do.”
Initially, Bautista’s wish was nearly granted to not only get Nurmagomedov as an opponent but he thought he was going to get a five-round fight.
With hopes that a title shot comes next with a win, Bautista really liked the idea of throwing down with Nurmagomedov across 25 minutes but sadly it just wasn’t meant to be.
“I definitely wanted the five rounds,” Bautista said. “There was talks of us doing the main event in Vancouver and I was excited about that. I wanted to do the five rounds to kind of get that feel for it before I start talking about the title and what not. It’s just funny how things work out.
“So we’re down to three rounds. If I get a title shot off this and it’s my first five rounds, I believe I’m a five round fighter. I don’t think I’ll have any problem doing it.”
Heading into UFC 321, the talk has largely surrounded Nurmagomedov and whether or not a single win after losing to Dvalishvili should warrant him another shot at the title.
Somehow, Bautista’s own eight fight win streak is being ignored but he understands that he doesn’t have the same last name as his upcoming opponent and he’s never going to be mistaken for someone who unleashes prolific trash talk to get attention.
But Bautista doesn’t see how the UFC could possibly ignore him if he notches a ninth consecutive win while adding Nurmagomedov’s name to his resume. In many ways, Bautista would be walking an almost identical path as Dvalishvili when he earned a title shot and he knows the UFC bantamweight champion has to respect that.
“I feel like Merab had go on a nine fight win streak to actually get the title shot,” Bautista said. “With a win over Umar, I hope Merab looks at that and sees himself in me and ‘OK, he definitely deserves this’ and we can work that out.
“Putting those winning streaks on the line and then I believe I would be tied with [Aljamain Sterling] at that point for the highest win streak and then Merab has the highest win streak right now in the division. So we’d be pitting those against each other to find out who’s the best.”
Of course, Bautista isn’t looking too far ahead with Nurmagomedov standing in front of him on Saturday but he honestly can’t wait for the chance to eventually test himself against somebody like Dvalishvili.
“The Machine” has lived up to his nickname while running roughshod over every contender at 135 pounds and he’s already starting to lap the competition with his next fight scheduled in a rematch against Petr Yan at UFC 323 in December. Bautista truly believes beating Nurmagomedov gets him the winner of that fight and odds are good it’s going to be Dvalishvili again.
“That’s an exciting challenge to me,” Bautista said about facing Dvalishvili. “I’m not being cocky or anything but I would definitely find out a lot about myself leading into that fight and being in that fight. It’s just exciting to me. It’s just a great challenge.
“You get to find out who you are and I know who I am and to bring the best out of me, I think [that’s] guys like Umar, guys like Merab. Just these top guys. I would be super excited for that fight.”
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