Tagir Ulanbekov marked his promotional debut with a victory at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi on Sunday – then dedicated the win to Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the late father of Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The Russian, who moved to 11-1 in MMA, defeated Brazil’s Bruno Silva by unanimous decision in the flyweight bout at Flash Forum.
A teammate of undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and one of the many fighters trained by Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, Ulanbekov paid tribute to his former coach immediately after the triumph. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov died in July from heart complications.
Khabib Nurmagomedov headlines UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi on October 24, the fifth and final event on the second Fight Island series. Upon Ulanbekov's victory, the Dagestan native took to social media, posting in Russia: "Father would be proud."
Speaking afterwards, Ulanbekov said: “I want to dedicate this victory to our coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov – rest in peace. This fight was a big responsibility for me, I had to motivate my teammates Khabib and Islam [Makhachev] – they are fighting on upcoming cards.
“I didn’t fight the way I wanted. Everybody says the first fight in UFC, you get too much pressure and everything, and I guess it’s true. I felt it as well.
“I wanted to keep the fight standing and I thought I would go through him much easier. I didn’t expect the fight to be this hard; it was one of my hardest fights to date.
“This was a long training camp; I was supposed to fight before but I didn’t, unfortunately. I didn’t fight because Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov died. So it was just pretty much a six-month, non-stop training camp, so now I want to rest.”
____________
UFC Fight Night 5 - in pictures
