Usman
Nurmagomedov
must now prove he can handle the target on his
back.
The undefeated
American Kickboxing Academy star will put his
Bellator
MMA lightweight championship on the line against
Benson
Henderson when their grand prix quarterfinal headlines
Bellator 292 on Friday at the SAP Center in San Jose,
California. Nurmagomedov enters the cage with a perfect 16-0 record
in tow. He last competed at Bellator 288, where he captured the
155-pound title with a five-round unanimous decision over
Patricky
Freire on Nov. 18. Henderson, meanwhile, has rattled off
back-to-back wins ahead of the eight-man tournament. The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship and
World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder last appeared on Sept.
23, when he took a unanimous decision from
Peter
Queally at Bellator 285.
As Nurmagomedov and Henderson approach their upcoming battle at 155
pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to
this point:
24: Years of age for Nurmagomedov, who was born on April 17, 1998
in Kizilyurt, Russia.
8: Nurmagomedov victories by knockout or technical knockout,
accounting for 50% of his career total (16). His list of victims
includes
Svyatoslav
Shabanov,
Jerry
Kvarnstrom and
Ruslan
Tuyakov. Nurmagomedov owns five other victories by submission
(31%) and three more by decision (19%).
105: Seconds needed for Nurmagomedov to put away
Roman
Golovinov with punches at a UAE Warriors show on Nov. 29, 2019.
More than three years later, it remains his fastest finish to
date.
5: Countries in which Nurmagomedov has plied his mixed martial arts
trade. He has gone 8-0 in his native Russia, 4-0 in the United
States, 2-0 in the United Arab Emirates, 1-0 in Saudi Arabia and
1-0 in Kazakhstan.
.641: Cumulative winning percentage between the five men—Freire,
Christopher
Gonzalez,
Patrik
Pietila,
Luis Muro and
Mike
Hamel—Nurmagomedov has defeated as a member of the Bellator
roster. They sport a combined record of 66-37.
39: Years of age for Henderson, who was born in Colorado Springs on
Nov. 16, 1983.
9: Henderson wins by submission, accounting for 30% of his career
total (30). His methods of choice: five guillotine chokes and four
rear-naked chokes. Henderson holds five other wins by knockout or
technical knockout (17%) and 16 more by decision (53%).
105: Rounds completed by Henderson as a professional mixed martial
artist. The
MMA Lab cornerstone has gone the distance on 23 different
occasions and carries a 16-7 record in those bouts.
17: Consecutive calendar years in which Henderson has fought at
least once. He went 1-0 in 2006, 3-1 in 2007, 3-0 in 2008, 3-0 in
2009, 2-1 in 2010, 3-0 in 2011, 3-0 in 2012, 1-1 in 2013, 2-1 in
2014, 2-1 in 2015, 1-2 in 2016, 0-1 in 2017, 2-0 in 2018, 2-0 in
2019, 0-2 in 2020, 0-1 in 2021 and 2-0 in 2022.
215: Combined victories between the nine men—Freire,
Michael
Chandler (twice),
Anthony
Pettis (twice),
Brent
Primus,
Jason
Jackson,
Andrey
Koreshkov,
Donald
Cerrone,
Rafael dos
Anjos and
Rocky
Johnson—who have beaten Henderson. They boast a cumulative .700
winning percentage at 215-92.