Umar Nurmagomedov stole the UFC show with a KO so incredible it fortified his rep as future champion material

• Umar Nurmagomedov put UFC's bantamweights on notice with a vicious finish Saturday.
• The UFC returned to the Apex after a four-week hiatus and started 2023 with a bang.

LAS VEGAS — Oh. My. Goodness.

After watching Umar Nurmagomedov score a savage first-round knockout over Raoni Barcelos at the UFC Vegas 67 event, it's hard to not get carried away.

But considering his winning record, the abilities he's shown so far, and how combat sports runs deep through the veins of Nurmagomedov family members, predictions that Umar will one day follow his cousin Khabib as a dominant UFC champion do not seem far-fetched at all.

We've seen Umar's grappling prowess, and we've seen the relentless rear-naked chokes, however, on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, we saw a unicorn emerge.

Against Raoni Barcelos, Nurmagomedov displayed strike variety, intelligence in his output, and thinking on his feet.

Late in the opening round, Nurmagomedov threw a knee and clattered Barcelos with a close-range left hook that dropped him to the floor before following up with a hammer fist that bounced off his already unconscious opponent's skull.

UFC bantamweights better buckle up. This is a Nurmagomedov who can bang.

Nurmagomedov 'felt bad' about the beating he handed Barcelos

Nurmagomedov showed restraint by not continuing to beat Barcelos, and instead tried to cradle Barcelos' head.

He later told Insider backstage that it was because he "felt bad" as the opponent did not initially seem knocked out when he hit him with that hammer fist.

Barcelos later recovered but even when he was helped to a stool in the middle of the Octagon, he still looked dazed, confused, and disorientated.

Watch the finish right here:

Nurmagomedov then told Insider and other reporters at a post-event press conference that he wants to compete up to four times in 2023, and intends on holding the UFC belt aloft by 2024.

He's even determined to have a quick turnaround so he can fight on March 4 at the big pay-per-view show UFC 285 which Insider understands could be headlined by Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane's heavyweight fight.

It is unclear who, on this form, will volunteer to fight Nurmagomedov. Not when he can seemingly fight as competently on his feet as he can on the ground.

Currently ranked No.11 in the UFC's bantamweight division, the win over Barcelos will no doubt propel him higher in that weight class.

Victory advanced his pro MMA record to 16 wins (two knockouts, seven submissions, and seven decisions).

Abdul Razak Alhassan and Allan Nascimento performed well on the ESPN+ prelims

Earlier in the show, Allan Nascimento scored the UFC's first submission win of 2023 when he made Carlos Hernandez tap to a standing, rear-naked choke.

Abdul Razak Alhassan returned a brutal knockout win over Claudio Ribeiro in a bout in which both fighters were throwing with the worst of intentions.

Sean Strickland and Nassourdine Imavov headlined the first UFC event of the year.

The UFC then returns Saturday, January 21 with a pay-per-view show from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, before heading back to Las Vegas for a five-event run that's interrupted only once for a trip to Australia on February 12.