UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was left to console his cousin Abubakar after he suffered a shock first-round defeat on his UFC debut in Moscow.
Making his promotional bow on home soil in Russia, Dagestani fighter Abubakar Nurmagomedov was submitted by Germany’s David Zawada via triangle choke at 2 minutes 50 seconds of round one of their welterweight bout at CSKA Arena.
The heavily fancied Nurmagomedov had arrived into the octagon flanked by cousin Khabib and trainer and uncle Abdulmanap, with strong home support in the Russian capital.
Zawada flew out of the traps, firing off jabs although Nurmagomedov looked to take control of the fight when he secured a takedown with a minute gone inside the round.
But despite the pressure, Zawada maneuvered superbly to lock in a triangle choke, forcing Nurmagomedov to tap.
The devastated Nurmagomedov stayed slumped on his knees, head in hands as his dream Moscow debut soured spectacularly in a way few would have predicted.
He was left to be consoled by cousin Khabib and trainer Abdulmanap, while Zawada picked up an unlikely first win in his third UFC bout.
Zawada improved to 17-5 with the win, while Nurmagomedov slipped to 15-3-1, and will be left to contemplate where he goes from here after what was set up to be a triumphant home debut in the UFC.
One man quick to put the boot in was Khabib's nemesis Conor McGregor, who took to Twitter to taunt the defeated Nurmagomedov, branding him "forever a failure."
Also on rt.com 'Forever a failure': Conor McGregor mocks Khabib's cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov after UFC Moscow defeat, then deletes his tweets