The legendary former world champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is usually said to have rarely lost a lot as a round during his profession.
On his method to lightweight title glory, the Russian won 29 fights on the bounce, and retired at the highest of his game after three straight stoppages over Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. He was far and away essentially the most dominant fighter in history, often toying with opponents while battering them.
Nonetheless, on one night early in his UFC profession, on the prelim card of Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen’s infamous rematch, he almost had his hype train derailed.
Khabib Nurmagomedov faced Gleison Tibau at UFC 148
After a successful debut in January of 2012 against Kamal Shalorus, Khabib Nurmagomedov was thrown in on the deep end against Gleison Tibau, a veteran of just about twice as many professional fights. In reality, Tibau with 12 UFC outings, had been within the octagon almost as persistently as 17-0 Nurmagomedov had fought.
The Russian, for what would ultimately be the last time in his profession, entered as a slight underdog with bookmakers. And with the antics of Sonnen and Silva in addition to characters similar to Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz within the major event, the 2 understated personalities slipped under the radar.
Ultimately, Nurmagomedov would go on to have one in all the best careers within the history of fighting. But he ceaselessly cites Tibau, and never the litany of world champions he defeated, as his hardest ever opponent within the octagon.
Judges decision caused controversy after Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Gleison Tibau at UFC 148
On the night, Khabib Nurmagomedov was completely stifled when Tibau managed to stop all 13 of his takedown attempts. The Brazilian even landed one in all his own, and outstruck his rival throughout the three rounds.
Around the start of the third round, commentator Joe Rogan said on the printed: “Gleison at this point in the sport just simply appears to be the higher fighter”. A couple of minutes later, he declared that Nurmagomedov “probably will lose by a choice if nothing changes in the following 50 seconds or so.”
Nonetheless, all three judges scored the fight in favor of Nurmagomedov, picking him to have won each round. This baffled Rogan, who when commentary partner Mike Goldberg simply exclaimed “wow,” responded ‘wow indeed’.
The media scorecards painted a totally different picture, with MMADecisions.com’s six journalists scoring all moving into the direction of Tibau other than one. 4 of those media members even scored it 30-27 to the Brazilian.
Nonetheless, the controversy has long been the topic of debate. MMAFighting’s Alexander K Lee in 2020 through the coronavirus pandemic gave an in depth breakdown of the fight, and got here out having scored the fight 30-27 for Nurmagomedov before examining the greater stats and discussion across the fight.
And fans have been similarly dubious of the fight’s legend, with various Reddit threads criticizing Rogan and Goldberg’s commentary. One comment read: “The commentary on that fight is abysmal.
“They crowned Tibau the winner halfway through the 2nd and just kept hammering that Khabib is promising but in too deep on this one. Clouds the complete fight.”
Ultimately, Nurmagomedov’s response of breaking down in tears after the choice indicates that he was aware there was a probability it wouldn’t go his way. However the judges’ decision is final, and he would go on to go away the remaining of profession in little doubt.
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