Umar Nurmagomedov has accidentally admitted he’s trained with a broken arm having suffered the injury late last year.
Nurmagomedov faces Merab Dvalisvili in the co-main event of UFC 311—UFC’s first pay-per-view event of 2025—for the bantamweight title on January 19.
The undefeated Russian has won all six of his UFC fights and features on a stacked card headlined by Islam Makhachev defending his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan.
In November, Nurmagomedov revealed a ‘small arm fracture’ had prevented him from fighting this month, which led to confusion, as it wasn’t long after that his fight with Dvalishvili was announced.
Brett Okamoto of ESPN pressed the 30-year-old, who celebrates his birthday on January 3, as to how he has now been able to fight in January.
Nurmagomedov probably wished his answer was a little shorter, with Dvalisvili sure to be keeping a close eye on his next opponent.
“After I was in Dagestan. I punched with my arm,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN MMA.
“I went to the show doctor and I showed them, they checked the bone.
“I got an X-ray and they said it was broken. After that, after 20 days I went again. Even when it was broken I was running.
“I wanted to stay in shape, I tried to do shadowboxing, try to be in shape and after 20 days I go again and it’s become much better.
“Even my punches, other things: I can grapple, do wrestling classes. I can do everything.
“Then I called my manager Ali [Abdelaziz] and I said to him: ‘Hey, I want to fight.’
“He said: ‘But you said you’re injured,’ and I said: ‘I told you, take this fight.’
“My manager and my brother [Usman Nurmagomedov] said: ‘Are you crazy? You can’t fight like that,’ and they said no.
“[UFC] asked again, they called me again: ‘Will you fight with Merab?’ Of course, I already asked Ali to make the fight happen.
“I want to fight in Ramadan, if Merab wants to fight I want to be active.”
Dana White will lose several key fighters to Ramadan at the end of February, which is probably why his promotion was in such a hurry to get Dvalishvili vs Nurmagomedov over the line this month.
Nurmagomedov’s admission could raise questions with the California State Athletic Commission (CSAS), who are sanctioning the bout in Inglewood, as they may deem it unsafe for the Russian to fight with such an injury.
Reports had suggested on Friday that the UFC removed the interview with Nurmagomedov from YouTube to prevent something like this happening, but those reports appear to be false, as the full interview is still available to watch.
MMA fans around the world have reacted to Nurmagomedov’s comments, claiming that they think he may be hiding an injury.
One took to X and wrote: “He probably isn’t 100/100 but it doesn’t seem like anything major. He was still punching and training I’m sure its fine.”
Another said: “Negative IQ.”
A third added: “It’s very simple. He doesn’t think Merab is a KO threat and probably thinks he can still win with a minor injury.
“Let’s be clear if this was serious he would not have taken the fight. Ali and team Khabib do not take risks like that. Which is smart by the way.”
Nurmagomedov is trained by his iconic MMA cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Coach Khabib has just entered one of the busiest months of his new role, with both Nurmagomedov and his brother Usman, as well as Makhachev, having world title fights at the end of the month.
Usman takes on Ireland’s Paul Hughes on January 25 in the PFL for the Bellator lightweight title on a card billed ‘Dagestan vs Ireland 2’.
Khabib is expected to corner all three men in their respective world championship bouts.