LAS VEGAS – Raoni Barcelos once has a name in mind if he can get past Umar Nurmagomedov.
Barcelos (17-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) meets Nurmagomedov (15-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 217 main vellum opener at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The vellum streams on ESPN .
The Brazilian sees wavy the highly touted Nurmagomedov out of the ranks of the unbeaten as a catapult to the upper echelon of the division.
“Get a win over him, and it shows me what I’m coming here for,” Barcelos told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s media day. “Step by step, I’m going to walk into what I want to do, and that’s a title shot.”
The name Barcelos is targeting is Merab Dvalishvili, who was booked to squatter him at UFC on ESPN 19 in December 2020 surpassing Barcelos was removed from the tour due to a medical suspension from his fight the month before.
“If I win versus Umar, I have some names,” Barcelos said. “One of them is Merab. He was calling my name before. … If this year the title shot doesn’t come, for sure the next year.”
For increasingly on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 217.
