UFC 321: Umar Nurmagomedov seeks redemption -- and a second title shot -- in bout with Mario Bautista

If there is one major lesson that Umar Nurmagomedov learned from his January title loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311, it's that not everything goes in life as planned, even when the proper preparations were executed to perfection. 

Nurmagomedov (18-1) entered as the betting favorite to become the new UFC bantamweight champion and looked strong in the early going until a broken left hand compromised both his effectiveness and his gas tank. Still, the native of Dagestan, Russia, remained competitive in a close loss via unanimous decision. 

"Not always everything is going to be how you want but you can't give up," Nurmagomedov told CBS Sports last week. "Sometimes, you are going to have a broken arm and are going to get injured in the middle of a fight. You have to come back stronger."

Nurmagomedov, the 29-year-old cousin of former lightweight champion Khabib (and older brother of PFL champion Usman), returns to the Octagon on Saturday for the first time since suffering his lone pro defeat when he faces Mario Bautista (16-2) at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi. 

UFC 321 fight card: Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Mario Bautista among can't miss fights

Shakiel Mahjouri

Given the fact that Dvalishvili, who returns in December in a rematch against Petr Yan, has just about completely cleaned out the division as he looks to become the first UFC champion to defend the title four times in one calendar year, there's plenty of reason to believe that Nurmagomedov, should he snap Bautista's eight-fight win streak, gets an immediate second shot at the title. 

"There is nobody else," Nurmagomedov said. "There is just Petr and he will fight for the title. Who else? I don't see nobody. If Mario Bautista wins, he will be 9-0 [in his last nine fights] and all the other guys have just one or two-fight win streak in the top 10. I think for fans and everybody, [Bautista] is a very interesting fight."

Despite Bautista's win streak, Nurmagomedov enters as more than a 6-to-1 betting favorite. Now fully healthy, the feeling remains that if there's anyone capable of ending the increasingly historic title reign of Dvalishvili, it's Nurmagomedov. 

The biggest flaw exposed in Nurmagomedov's loss was the fact that he couldn't visibly keep up with Dvalishvili's legendary gas tank after finding success early on. According to Nurmagomedov, that was more of a medical byproduct of the injury he sustained. 

"To be honest, I don't think I got tired too much more than him," Nurmagomedov said. "But when you break something in your body, your body begins to give to you some adrenaline to close this injury and take this pain. [Dvalishvili] is good and we can't tell that he's not good. A lot of things happened and we will see next time. I think I will close a lot of questions in next fight. We will see."

Nurmagomedov said he respects the skills of Bautista and credits him as "good striker" who "moves a lot." He also believes Bautista has proven he's an elite fighter on the level of those -- like Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov -- in the title picture. 

"I think I need to show a very good performance but I will not risk too much," Nurmagomedov said. "I will try to take this victory but I think I will try to do submission to take him down, take back and choke him. I want to show better skills in the striking.

"From my side, I have to work very hard. I have to be focused and do everything to [eventually] take [Dvalishvili's] belt. It's part of my doing, I have to do this."