Umar Nurmagomedov has signed with Real American Freestyle and will make his promotional debut against Urijah Faber at RAF Abu Dhabi on Nov. 14 at Etihad Arena. Promotional officials confirmed the signing. Nurmagomedov is coming off a knockout loss to Song Yadong in the main event of UFC Shanghai in August, while Faber is seeking his first RAF win after tech fall losses to Henry Cejudo and Arman Tsarukyan. The card is headlined by Colby Covington defending a cruiserweight crossover title against Khamzat Chimaev.
Umar Nurmagomedov will make his Real American Freestyle debut against Urijah Faber at RAF Abu Dhabi on Nov. 14 at Etihad Arena. Promotional officials confirmed the signing, which brings the Russian bantamweight into the freestyle wrestling-based promotion.
Nurmagomedov, 30, arrives with a 20-2 record and sits fourth in the UFC bantamweight rankings. He trains with Eagles MMA and fights out of an orthodox stance, standing five-foot-eight with a 69-inch reach. He is coming off a knockout loss to Song Yadong in the main event of UFC Shanghai in August. His career numbers show a wrestling-forward attack: he averages 3.94 takedowns per 15 minutes while landing 3.76 significant strikes per minute at 56 percent accuracy.
Faber, 47, is a longtime Team Alpha Male standout with a 35-11 MMA record. The American stands five-foot-six with a 67-inch reach. In RAF he is still looking for his first win after tech fall losses to Henry Cejudo and Arman Tsarukyan. In MMA, Faber has averaged 1.54 takedowns per 15 minutes and 0.8 submission attempts, with 2.65 significant strikes landed per minute.
The card is headlined by Colby Covington, who will defend a cruiserweight crossover title against Khamzat Chimaev. Chimaev, 32, is 15-1 and ranked first at middleweight in the UFC, with a number 10 pound-for-pound ranking. He averages 5.29 takedowns per 15 minutes and 1.8 submission attempts, numbers that underline his grappling-heavy style.
Why it matters
- Nurmagomedov bounces back from his first knockout setback in a new ruleset, testing his wrestling credentials against a veteran.
- Faber gets another chance at his first RAF victory after consecutive tech fall defeats.
- The co-headliner and main event pair a pair of elite grapplers on a card built around wrestling-style crossover bouts.
