Usman Nurmagomedov showed more slivers of greatness as he remained undefeated in MMA with a dominant first defense of his lightweight title at Bellator 292.
Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) sent former UFC and WEC champion Benson Henderson (30-12 MMA, 7-7 BMMA) into retirement on Friday with a first-round submission victory in their 155-pound title fight at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.
Touted by many insiders as perhaps the most talented member of the Nurmagomedov family, the younger cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, displayed his well rounded skillset when he dropped Henderson with a head kick early in their fight before finishing the job with a submission inside three minutes.
With current UFC lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev in his corner, the natural post-fight discussion of exactly how good Nurmagomedov is in comparison to other elites in his weight class came about.
At just 24, Nurmagomedov is in theory still years away from his prime, but is already a serious talent. So, how far can he go?
Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Danny Segura, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Farah Hannoun broke it down with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. Check out their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full episode below.
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel.
Video: Does Bellator champ Usman Nurmagomedov have potential to be world’s No. 1 lightweight?
