Tim Welch, the coach of Sean O’Malley. has a concern about a potential showdown with Umar Nurmagomedov.
Umar has been on the rise in the UFC’s bantamweight division. Unfortunately, he saw his massive opportunity to face Cory Sandhagen slip away after suffering a shoulder injury during a sparring session. Umar’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, has said that Nurmagomedov is the fighter he’s had the most trouble getting booked for fights. Ali says it’s due to fighters avoiding Umar.
Tim Welch has a different take.
Tim Welch Fears Umar Nurmagomedov Could Pull Out Of Sean O’Malley Fight
During an interview with James Lynch for InsideFighting, Welch admitted that he has concerns about the possibility of Umar Nurmagomedov getting plucked from a fight with Sean O’Malley before it comes to fruition.
“Yeah, I’m definitely aware of how many fights he’s pulled out of and how many fights have gotten canceled with him,” Welch said. “Let me read real quick. Since 2018, canceled bouts with this guy, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight fights he’s pulled out of, and who knows why? Man, these fight camps are hard. Five-round fight camps are hard. So, to sign the dotted line with someone like that, it’s so risky. You’ve gotta maybe put in there something if he pulls out, he owes us some sort of ⎯ because it takes a lot out of you, these five-round fight camps. So, to fight someone like that you have to know he’s gonna show up somehow because him pulling out that many times, that would be scary.”
Lynch mentioned that some of those canceled bouts weren’t actually Umar’s fault. Welch then pointed out something that Kyler Phillips told him when his bout with Said Nurmagomedov last year had been pulled.
“Kyler Phillips told me, cause he was booked against the Said guy, and he told me on the same week, and no one was really talking about it, I think three or four of those Russians from that team pulled out of their fights in the same week,” Welch said.
With that said, Welch did admit that he feels a clash between Umar Nurmagomedov and Sean O’Malley would be one to remember.
“Man, if that Umar can put together two wins, that would be just a sweet fight,” Welch said.
It’s been reported online that Bekzat Almakhan will be Umar Nurmagomedov’s next opponent on a March 2nd UFC Fight Night card. The UFC has yet to confirm the news.
Here is the full video of Tim Welch discussing a possible Sean O’Malley vs. Umar Nurmagomedov fight:
