Mario Bautista reveals UFC executive’s backstage promise after Umar Nurmagomedov loss

Hunter Campbell says ‘something fun’ awaits Mario Bautista next after UFC 321

Speaking to Sean O’Malley’s coach on his podcast, Red Hawk Recap, Mario Bautista reflected on his performance at Etihad Arena and looked ahead to what could be next.

Bautista’s win over Jose Aldo and more recent triumph over Patchy Mix were criticized by some who suggested his style would not put him in the UFC’s good books. That, however, was evidently not the case in defeat on October 25.

The 32-year-old revealed that UFC executive Hunter Campbell had approached him and promised him a “fun” assignment for his next fight.

“I haven’t really thought about (what is next),” Bautista said.

“But it was pretty cool, when we were leaving — you know they kick you out the back after you’re done, pretty much — Hunter came running out.

“He was just like, ‘Hey, I just wanna say thanks for doing this. Great effort,’ this and that. ‘We’re gonna get you something fun for next time. We’ll work something out.’

“I was like, ‘Oh, hell yeah.’ There’s a few people. Figgy’s (Deiveson Figueiredo’s) out there, (Marlon) ‘Chito’ (Vera), and we can do that (Cory) Sandhagen rematch too. Those are things I’ve seen online,” he added.

Umar Nurmagomedov’s honest admission at UFC 321

It was Nurmagomedov who emerged victorious from the fight in Abu Dhabi, but many remain skeptical about his chances against Merab Dvalishvili in their potential rematch given how Bautista was able to perform.

‘The Young Eagle’ himself seemingly acknowledged the competitive nature of his latest outing during his post-fight interview. Umar discussed being compared with Khabib Nurmagomedov, explaining that he simply can’t put in the kind of one-sided displays that his older cousin could.

“Khabib, I always try — I am serious guys, I try to do like him, but I can’t,” Umar told the fans in attendance while speaking to Daniel Cormier inside the Octagon.

“But victory is victory,” he added.