Javier Mendez Says Umar Nurmagomedov KO Loss Was His Fault

Javier Mendez, the head coach of UFC bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov, admitted that his fighter's KO loss to Song Yadong was his own fault. In one of the biggest upsets of the year at UFC Shanghai in August, Song brutally knocked out Nurmagomedov, leaving everyone stunned. Mendez noticed that Nurmagomedov has a habit of dipping his head down, which left him vulnerable for Song to catch him and put him out cold.

As Nurmagomedov's head coach, Mendez takes responsibility for this mistake. In an interview with Farah Hannoun of MMAjunkie.com, Mendez pointed out this issue, saying, "The fight-ending sequence is what I take away because we’ve been in that situation where he turns away when the shot comes in. He turns away, he’s going for a shot, then he (dips), too much time, and the turn.

He’s supposed to just shoot in." Mendez explained that Nurmagomedov has done this before with other fighters like Mario Bautista and another opponent, but never in training. He acknowledged that this is a mental twitch that needs to be corrected and that he must put it in his fighter's head. Despite the devastating loss, Mendez doesn't want his fighter to be idle for too long.

Once cleared by a doctor, Mendez wants Nurmagomedov to return to the Octagon as soon as possible. Nurmagomedov remains one of the top-five ranked bantamweights in the UFC and should be in line for another big fight in the near future.