VIDEO: 17-year old Khabib Nurmagomedov loses in Combat Sambo
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is undefeated in professional mixed martial arts with an unblemished 28-0 record.
Nurmagomedov was set to defend his title against arguably his toughest test yet in Tony Ferguson, in the main event of UFC 249 on April 18. With all that is going on in the world due to the coronavirus pandemic, that fight has been on again, off again, but as of today it looks as if that bout definitely will not happen this month. The UFC champion is currently stuck in Russia, and with no official location announced for the UFC card, UFC President Dana White has acknowledged that Nurmagomedov will not compete.
“After talking to the UFC, we decided to fly over to the Emirates a month before the fight,” Nurmagomedov said. “I don’t remember the exact date – it was (March) 19 or 20. I’ll have to check. But when we landed in Emirates, we learned that they are going to close (the) borders and no one will be able to leave or fly in with (the) exception of residents.
“So, we had to fly back to Russia. Currently, I am in Dagestan and I am training and preparing every day, although I don’t know what am I preparing for, because after we came to Russia we also learned that the borders are going to be locked. Same like in the States, same like in Europe, Emirates – everywhere. The whole world is in quarantine right now.”
So…. with Khabib out, let’s take a look back to another Nurmagomedov contest.
It was in 2003 when then 17-year old Khabib Nurmagomedov faced 20-year-old Magomed Ibragimov in Russian Combat Sambo.
Ibragimov, naturalized as a Russian but representing Uzbekistan internationally, is certainly no slouch. He’s an Olympic bronze medalist wrestler from the 2016 games in Rio, while earning golds in back-to-back Asian Games in 2017 (New Dehli) and 2018 (Bishkek).
