Exclusive: Usman Nurmagomedov shares real reason for pulling out of Bellator Paris title defense
Usman Nurmagomedov recently opened up about the real reason behind his withdrawal from the Bellator Paris event that went down on May 17. He was scheduled to defend the lightweight title against Alexandr Shabliy, a bout that will now take place at Bellator San Diego this weekend.
Nurmagomedov is among the most exciting mixed martial artists to watch out for in Bellator and is known for being the younger brother of UFC bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov and cousin brother of MMA icon Khabib Nurmagomedov. He has a perfect 17-0 professional record, with eight knockouts and six submission wins.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Nurmagomedov opened up about having to withdraw from the Bellator Paris event due to health issues. Detailing the extent of his illness, he said:
"I got sick beginning of Ramadan. I got really sick, and as you know, during Ramadan, you can't eat or you can't drink anything, so I wasn't able to take any medicine during the day. That means my sickness was even getting longer... It prolonged my sickness. I wasn't able to train properly. I would be sick, get better for a week, and then get sick again for another week."
Nurmagomedov continued:
"We sat down with the team and decided that it's not going well... We decided to give a break to my body and recover. Get better, come back, and fight at a later date."
Usman added that he's perfectly healthy after three months of recuperating and looks forward to returning to the cage.
Usman Nurmagomedov reveals if $1 million prize money is on the line
In the same interview, Usman Nurmagomedov also revealed whether the winner of Bellator San Diego's lightweight title fight would receive the $1 million Grand Prix prize money. As mentioned, the Nurmagoemdov-Shabliy fight was meant to go down at Bellator Paris but was rescheduled due to Nurmagomedov's illness.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda MMA, the 26-year-old answered whether he would still be fighting for the seven-figure prize after the PFL acquired Bellator. Explaining that it ultimately didn't affect his mindset going into the fight, he said:
"I feel it's still a final because it's two guys going to the final, but they don't put $1 million. But I think, still, we have two guys who come to the final. For me, it's the same thing; nothing changes, even if it's the final or even if it's not the final. Shabliy deserves his title shot."