LAS VEGAS – Raoni Barcelos already 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 card opener at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.
The Brazilian sees bouncing 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 face him at UFC on ESPN 19 in December 2020 before Barcelos was removed from the bout due to a medical suspension from his fight the month before.
“If I win against 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 more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 217.