UFC 324 Breakdown with Gumilev and Yunusov: Nurmagomedov’s Win and Future, Krylov’s Knockout, Pimblett Beaten Up

Hey everyone, hi there! You're watching the weekly discussion of the top combat sports news on the MMA-TV.com portal. My name is Yulia Mirey, and joining us are sports journalist and commentator Ruslan Gumilyov, as well as the bronze belt winner of the MMA Series in the bantamweight division, Bakhtovar Yunusov. Hi guys!

Hey, hey! Greetings to everyone!

Greetings to everyone, Yulia and Bakhtovar!

Hi.

So, just this past weekend at the highly anticipated latest UFC 324 event , Umar Nurmagomedov faced Deiveson Figueiredo and secured a victory by unanimous decision. I was listening to various international sports commentators, and their collective opinion was that if you truly want to successfully challenge for the championship title belt in the near future, you need to deliver a truly spectacular and memorable performance that people will be talking about the next day and throughout the following week. From a technical standpoint, Bakhtovar will share with us how impressive it was, but from the perspective of an average viewer, it was probably a bit boring. No wonder people were booing for three rounds straight. So, Bakhtovar, what did you think of the show?

Yes, I watched this fight. In fact, it was a very good fight from Umar, as always. He approached this fight very well tactically and took very few risks. And he knew very well that Deiveson Figueiredo, the former flyweight champion, is a very dangerous opponent. That is exactly why he chose to implement a much more cautious and safe strategy. He did precisely what he needed to do in order to secure the win. He took minimal risk, but in the end, the final result is what matters most to him.

Ruslan, what do you think? If someone wants to get the title, is it okay to play it safe like that and show technical skills, even if it's a bit boring?

Well, of course, now people will start saying that the UFC is in a new format, that the UFC is firing people who are even winning and not losing, and if something isn't entertaining or flashy enough, by the way, it doesn't even have to be in the octagon. Basically, if you don't make noise, that's already a big question. There's definitely something to think about here, but let's put it this way, Umar Nurmagomedov is a kind of separate figure, because on one hand, his last name, meaning that part of the publicity will always speak for him. By the way, that works both for him and against him. And secondly, he's a TOP fighter, an absolute TOP. And in this division, he was basically immediately included in the TOP three. Well, who could be ahead there? It’s only the current champion Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili, and that’s why he’s outside the scope of this show, I think. Well, as for the fight, if we analyze it, then we can talk about a lot of things, but for me personally It was quite spectacular. By Umar's standards, certainly. Because... Yes, of course, the audience there was booing. Everything you said. And something that we can analyze for a long time. But he is very, It seems to me that I went to a quality camp and was in one of the best forms. I haven't seen him in such condition lately. That is, constant pressure on Figueiredo, constant front kicks, high kicks. Look at the pace they kept. I mean, really, in terms of increasing the intensity and pressure, it was there from the first round to the last, just constantly ramping up. So I think he was... He had a great fight. And honestly, from a PR perspective, everything was spot on too.

What do you really think about that? Does he truly deserve it next, especially since he is currently sitting at number two in the rankings right now? Will he go on to fight for the championship belt against Petr Yan, or is there perhaps someone else who might be a much stronger contender at this point?

There are actually a few twists and turns there, so over the next couple of months, they'll be discussing who will fight whom. So, one of the scenarios—the most straightforward one, which was talked about even at the end of last year— is a rematch, the third fight between Yan and Dvalishvili. Accordingly, the pyramid and the whole structure would be built completely differently after that. The next option, which seems to be getting even more talk right now, is O'Malley versus Petr Yan. And, accordingly, there's still the possibility of a rematch between Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov. So, all these options are going to be considered now. And of course, one of the options is Petr Yan versus Umar Nurmagomedov. But I think that if this fight does happen—and the chances are high—it won't be the next fight, but the one after that. So, in my opinion, Petr will now be facing either Sean O'Malley or possibly a rematch with Merab.

Bakhtovar, there were certainly some very dangerous and intense moments from both of these guys in this fight, but which specific ones did you personally enjoy the most as a professional? What should we pay attention to? In which round were there moments that regular viewers might have missed, but you noticed and really liked?

But in this particular fight, there were actually very few dangerous moments. I really liked the closing moments of the 2nd round, especially when both of them threw caution to the wind and started trading heavy blows in those final 10 to 20 seconds. That specific burst of energy was when I truly felt like the upcoming 3rd round could turn out to be something really exciting and full of action. However, as it eventually turned out, the 3rd round itself wasn't quite as intense or fast-paced as that wild ending of the 2nd round had led me to believe. But even so, there were still a couple of standout moments during the fight when Umar managed to land some really good, well-timed high kicks that caught everyone's attention. On one particular occasion, he threw a powerful high kick, and Davison successfully took him down right at that moment. If Davison's reaction hadn't worked, we could be talking right now about how beautifully Umar Nurmagomedov knocked him out cold.

Going back to the booing, right now I'm just recalling the emotions. It's not because of Umar. It's because of Figueiredo. I mean, I don't know if Bakhtovar would agree, but Figueiredo acted absolutely correctly for his own safety. He understood that if he closed the distance even a little, he'd get hit. And if you look, throughout all three rounds he actually moved really well—sometimes, as they say, he was even cycling around. So, basically, his experience—everything was telling him, buddy, don't get into grappling exchanges, and if you do end up there, get out of it quickly.

Friends, let's move on to the next fight. Nikita Krylov and Modestas Bukauskas. Light heavyweight. Nikita is currently number thirteen in the rankings. He is 33 years old. And I recently found out that he was born on the same day as me, March 7th. And as soon as the fight began, the enemy immediately hit with a double. The public was also unhappy with this fight. Although, honestly, I thought it was pretty dynamic. And it seemed to me that the whole match was just exchanges. But in a truly beautiful moment, almost like a special gift to the watching audience just seconds before the very end of the fight, Nikita still managed to finish it with a spectacular knockout and successfully redeemed his last two losses to Bogdan Guskov and Dominick Reyes. Ruslan, of course, there was talk that this was Nikita's last chance, and he took it. What do you think, how will Nikita's career go from here? How could it develop in the UFC?

Listen, he really did make the most of it, 100 percent, and honestly, I'll admit... Like many of my colleagues, of course, I was really rooting for Nikita, but there were serious, and not unfounded, concerns about this fight. A lot of people really did say that a loss here would mean getting cut. And overall, he was up against a really great guy, who was on an impressive winning streak. And Nikita really did have those two losses, including a tough one against Bogdan Guskov, who you could already call a top-level opponent. Listen, to be specific, Nikita showed the best version of himself in recent years. I mean, we really did know he was a great striker, but sometimes a bit reckless, charging forward and doing something unexpected, not exactly sticking to the plan. By the way, in his post-fight interview, he himself said that one of the main goals for this fight was to 'hold himself back.' Let me draw an analogy: for example, after a series of losses, Sergey Pavlovich would come back and even in his last fight, he was holding himself back. In much the same way, Nikita Krylov was restraining himself in his own style. But he couldn't hold back completely—we saw a knockout in the final seconds, which was honestly awesome. He changed teams, and he admitted as much. He went through a really intense training camp. I think, to sum it up, he did a lot of work on his mistakes, including on the psychological side. All of that translated into a really impressive performance.

And by holding back, you mean not taking risks?

Yeah, exactly. But again, compared to a lot of others, he was actually taking quite a lot of risks. But for Nikita Krylov, let's just say, he wasn't operating at the bare minimum, but more at a moderate pace. I mean, he would often pause. If he got into exchanges and took a hit, he always tried to land the last punch in every exchange. In that sense, he really... he acted very, very smartly, and I'll say it again, he became more pragmatic. If you watch this fight again, you'll see there were moments where he stopped himself, and actually, he mentioned this in his post-fight interview. So, this change of team, new coach, all of that—I think it had a really positive effect on him.

Bakhtovar, what did you think of this fight? What can you say from a technical standpoint?

Yeah, it was a really good fight, there were some great exchanges. And it's truly a positive development that he was finally able to secure a definitive finish in the third round, especially when you consider that in his last two appearances, Krylov suffered disappointing losses. To be honest, it wasn't just my opinion—nearly everyone, including the expert analysts, genuinely believed that this might be the end of the road for him. He had been away from the sport for a very long time, and then upon his return, he faced two incredibly grueling battles that both ended in defeat. Because of that trajectory, there was a widespread consensus that this specific performance might actually be Krylov's final fight in his career. But fortunately for him, he turned it around and delivered what was a truly impressive fight. He made a comeback. And I think that... I hope that he really is back and will keep showing the same kind of fights he used to.

And what do you think, if we speculate a bit—let's touch on this topic—what are Nikita's career goals? He probably isn't aiming for the number one spot. So what are his goals then? To stay in the top ten for as long as possible, for example? Or what do you think?

Again, in his post-fight interview, he talked about someone he'd like to face again, to share the octagon with. That's Jan Blachowicz—or Blachovich, People pronounce his name differently, but we all know who he is—the guy Bogdan Guskov just fought. And they couldn't determine a winner there either. That would be a really awesome fight. I think that, at this point, this is probably the best possible fight for Nikita Krylov in terms of positivity. I mean, really, a guy who's still at the top, who has been truly the loudest and most high-profile opponent, and still remains so. That's why I'd love to see a matchup between Nikita Krylov and Jan. That's one of the scenarios that's possible for him. And then, if he actually happens to win—if this fight takes place and Nikita wins—it's entirely possible to say that he's back in the significant title contention race.

I sincerely wish both Nikita and Bogdan Guskov, who also fought him to a draw, that both of these guys successfully defeat that very tough Blachowicz. Let's move on to the next fight. Andrey Pulyaev and Ateba Gautier round out the list of Russian fighters who competed at the recent event. And honestly, it was really hard to watch. First of all, the opponent looked physically much bigger for some reason. I don't know how he managed to recover like that, compared to Andrey. He looked more muscular, like he was several kilos heavier. But of course, that's just visually. It seemed to me that at several points Andrey was just trying not to get killed. What did you think of the last fight?

"Yeah, Ateba Gautier is really big for his weight class. He looked like Francis Ngannou's little brother, or maybe even his son. Also just a really big guy. And his first punch landed really well. And Pulyaev went down for a knockdown. He lost two rounds, had two or three knockdowns, but managed to come back. Then, I think, he took the third round—at least in my opinion—so it was two to one by rounds. But Ateba Gautier has consistently been achieving victories in all of his most recent professional matches exclusively by way of devastating knockouts. But he couldn't knock out Pulyaev, even though there were knockdowns. But this shows that Pulyaev is at a really high level, even though I... I didn't know this fighter. To be completely honest with you, it initially seemed to me that he had simply struck gold and hit the ultimate jackpot by getting into the UFC. However, after witnessing his performance in this intense fight, I can confidently say that he is an exceptionally skilled and formidable competitor. It is now crystal clear that he is definitely not in the UFC by some random accident

Ruslan, what do you think?

I've known Andrey Pulyaev for a long time, since around 2021, when we first met at the 'Road to RCC' tournament. Back in those early days, he was really just getting started. He was a notably lanky young guy, tall, with long limbs, possessing an unconventional style, who started training professionally quite late. Maybe he'll correct me, but still, there are prodigies out there, like the Thais, who start building their pro records at age four. I've watched a lot of his statements after this fight, and now I'll try to briefly share my impressions and how I understood what he said. First of all. He admitted himself after the fight that he felt fear before facing this guy. Because that's honest, and by the way, it also says something extra about him as a person. Because Gauthier, in reality, is one of the loudest and most hyped guys in the UFC right now, someone they're really pushing, someone with a strong presence, and as Bakhtovar said, he's like Francis Ngannou's little brother. He himself says, 'I like Ngannou.' And of course, the fans go crazy for him—he comes out, boom-boom-boom, and his opponents just drop. All of this was pretty concerning, especially for Pulyaev, who, to be honest, had, well, just one win and one loss. And here's another thing that Pulyaev mentioned as well. He said that people forwarded him messages related to Gautier, where Gautier said, 'Yeah, we'll take care of it quickly, I think in the first round—he's basically a walkover opponent.' So, if you compare all of that—everything that happened before the fight and how it all turned out, I think it was a success. And overall, Andrey himself thinks so too. Because, as pretentious as it may sound, he didn't lose to himself. In other words, he went the full distance. At times—I've actually rewatched the fight just now—at times, he was really good. He managed to get back into it after a disastrous start, where I thought, 'Well, that's it, goodbye, the same thing is going to happen again.' He got into it, threw a lot of front kicks, middle kicks, worked the body really well with body kicks. All of that was there. In the second round, for two whole minutes he was dominating, and it seemed like he could turn things around. All that, maybe to some extent, the anxiety, the awkwardness, yeah. Gauthier is still a big guy, he hits hard. Of course, all of that led to those knockdowns, and the judges really had no other way to score it. I was watching, I understood—well, it's a unanimous decision. Maybe you could really give Andrey the third round, but the overall victory clearly goes to Gauthier. But to sum up, considering who he was up against, it was a good fight for Pulyaev. So now, I think, at this point, there's no talk of him being let go. The next fight for Pulyaev will be the decisive one. If he really puts on the best fight of his life and in the UFC, then it's quite possible his contract will be extended.

Bakhtovar, how do you go up against an opponent you're afraid of? Is it even worth stepping into the ring against such an opponent?

You must always believe that you are superior, that you will win, even if it is only by the smallest of margins. If you have one or two techniques that you perform better than anyone else, and you know you can win with them, then that is all you should focus your entire mind on. Go in there thinking, 'This is where I am superior, and I am going to use this specific technique to win this fight.' That's why... You absolutely shouldn't allow yourself to think about the possibility of losing, because if you permit two conflicting options to exist in your mind—the prospect of winning or the fear of losing—then in the heat of the fight you'll likely end up choosing the one that comes to you first. So you might unfortunately end up choosing to lose. That's exactly why you should always focus your entire mind on just one single option: the absolute certainty that you'll go out there and win no matter what happens.

Alright guys, let's say a couple of words about the main fight—Justin Gaethje versus Paddy Pimblett. It seemed to me like Justin Gaethje could have finished the fight in that very first round, but, just like in the classic movie Fight Club—remember that moment with Tyler Durden where he just lets it happen. ...he smashed the face of that blond guy, the light-haired guy played by Jared Leto, and when he left his face in pieces, he said, 'I just wanted to destroy something beautiful.' And it seems to me that Gaethje was doing exactly the same thing. He wanted to inflict the maximum possible damage on Paddy, and before this fight, I didn't really take him seriously, but... the fact that he survived, and how he survived, is actually admirable, beautiful even—he didn't refuse to go on at any point, he didn't just shut down. Honestly, I really started to respect him. What did you think of the fight?

If we're talking about the show itself, then it was a success. I mean, you know, I watched a lot of social media. I liked how Vlad Kovalev, known as 'Belaz,' covered the whole story—he was at the UFC, went there, promoted himself. Honestly, he was thrilled by it, and he just showed a panorama of how Paddy was hyping up the crowd as he walked out. So really, it was a very striking contrast that he showed, regardless of the outcome. I also liked the different reels that showed how you come out, dance, and then your face afterwards. It was, of course, very striking and impressive. Listen, I definitely agree with you in the sense that he showed a lot of incredible grit, did very well, and held on, all that. But honestly, it really feels like for every professional UFC fighter who competes at the very top level, that's just a given requirement. To be completely honest and serious about it, what actually happened in this situation is that he unfortunately missed out on the biggest chance of his life, at least at this stage. Because Justin Gaethje is a legend. Justin Gaethje is insanely good, but that's the kind of opponent you have to beat if you want to become a champion. Because you've got Arman Tsarukyan there, because you've got the fierce and terrifying Topuria, so... If you lose to Gaethje, then—pardon the slang—there's nothing for you to do against those two gentlemen. Basically, Pimblett is great for social media, for videos. He really works, I actually enjoy watching his fights. But in terms of being competitive at the very highest level, it turns out he just doesn't measure up. And one last thing. He said, 'I was inspired by Justin's fights, when he was taking guys out.' Now, I'm paraphrasing a bit, but that was the gist— 'And now I've felt those strikes myself.' And you know, if you're going to lose to someone, it should only be this guy. He's awesome, thanks to him, but I've still got everything ahead of me.' That's one way to look at it. Everything is still ahead.

"Yeah, it was a really cool fight for the fans, but... For a seasoned professional athlete, it was an incredibly reckless and strategically dumb fight. Both competitors unnecessarily engaged in risky exchanges that they really did not need to participate in. Despite the chaotic nature of the bout, I still believed that Pimblett would come out on top after all. But he missed out on what was truly a massive, career-defining opportunity. I never really thought he was at that elite championship level just yet, but I still firmly expected that he would find a way to beat Justin Gaethje. Gaethje is such a fascinating case because he sometimes transforms into an incredibly smart and disciplined fighter, but usually he remains a dangerously reckless brawler. He is the kind of fighter who is always willing to move forward

So now, Bakhtovar, Yulia, they're just holding their heads, and Dana White too. The White House, everything was planned out—Paddy Pimblett, Topuria, it was all perfect.

However, I truly believe they would have preferred to save that massive matchup for a major venue somewhere in Europe. This is because Ilia Topuria is a proud Georgian who currently resides in Spain, while Paddy Pimblett hails from Liverpool, England. Consequently, for the European market, it would have been a truly incredible fight to draw a massive crowd. But unfortunately, that highly anticipated fight simply did not happen.

в последнем бою, к сожалению, проиграл. Какие у тебя сейчас карьерные планы, контракты? Вообще, чем дальше заниматься собираешься? Потому что был такой слух, что ты женился, и тебе теперь больше не надо драться. У тебя всё хорошо теперь."

No, no, that’s not it. My ultimate dream that I think about every day is actually achieving something truly significant in the world of mixed martial arts. I didn't just start this sport without a very clear and specific purpose in mind. I had and still have major goals that I am absolutely determined to achieve before my time in this sport is done. And of course, every fighter thinks about the UFC, and I still want to get there. Yeah, it was very unfortunate that, in the penultimate fight, which was in America, I basically got robbed, you could say, because I took all three rounds, but they called it a draw. And as I was specifically told later on, that entire professional tournament was actually organized and funded by one of the primary corporate sponsors of the very same fighter who was scheduled to be up against me in the ring. And in my very last professional fight, I actually did really well throughout the entire first round, but unfortunately, during the second round, I unexpectedly got caught in a tight chokehold. That moment marked my very first loss in my career. It is quite difficult, and very hard to accept that. But unfortunately, it just wasn't my day at all. If I had lost the fight in the exact same way that Jack Della Maddalena lost his match against Islam Makhachev, then I probably would have seriously considered calling it quits with this professional sport altogether, simply because Maddalena honestly couldn't do anything effective against Islam's dominance. But in my specific case, I successfully took the first round, and I took it very confidently and decisively. And the second round was going really well too, but I got caught. I'm not stopping here. I dedicate myself to training every single day, consistently working hard during both the morning and the evening sessions. My current professional contract with Dominance is reaching its conclusion very soon, and because of that, I will be carefully looking at all the available options for which management company I can work with in the future. We are going to stay focused on the path ahead and we will keep moving forward toward our goals.

So, there aren't any upcoming fights scheduled yet, right?

No, there aren't any upcoming fights scheduled yet.

On that note, friends, we're wrapping up this video discussion. Thank you for spending this morning with me, talking about the fights. Have a great day, and see you next week. Thank you.

Thank you, thank you very much.