It is often said that legendary former world champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has rarely lost a round in his career.
On his way to lightweight title glory, the Russian won 29 fights and retired at the top of his game after three straight stoppages against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. He was by far the most dominant fighter in history and often toyed with opponents while abusing them.
But one night early in his UFC career, on the prelim card of the infamous Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen rematch, he nearly derailed his hype train.
Khabib Nurmagomedov faced Gleison Tibau at UFC 148
After a successful debut in January 2012 against Kamal Shalorus, Khabib Nurmagomedov was thrown into the deep end against Gleison Tibau, a veteran of almost twice as many professional fights. In fact, with twelve UFC outings, Tibau had been in the octagon almost as many times as Nurmagomedov had fought at 17-0.
Photo by Donald Miralle/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The Russian entered the bookmakers as a slight underdog for what would ultimately be the last time in his career. And with the antics of Sonnen and Silva and characters like Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz in the main event, the two understated personalities slipped under the radar.
Ultimately, Nurmagomedov would have one of the greatest careers in fighting history. But he forever mentions Tibau, and not the litany of world champions he defeated, as his toughest opponent ever in the octagon.
Judge's decision sparked controversy after Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Gleison Tibau at UFC 148
That night, Khabib Nurmagomedov was completely suppressed as Tibau managed to stop all thirteen takedown attempts. The Brazilian even landed one of his own and defeated his rival throughout the three rounds.
Around the start of the third round, commentator Joe Rogan said on-air: “Gleison just seems to be the better fighter at this point in the game”. A few minutes later, he stated that Nurmagomedov “will probably lose by decision if nothing changes in the next fifty seconds.”
However, all three judges scored the fight in Nurmagomedov's favor, choosing him to have won every round. This stunned Rogan, who when commentary partner Mike Goldberg simply exclaimed “wow,” responded with “wow indeed.”
The media scorecards painted a very different picture, with MMADecisions.com's six journalists all scoring in Tibau's direction, except for one. Four of those media members even scored 30-27 for the Brazilian.
However, the controversy has been a subject of debate for a long time. MMAFighting's Alexander K Lee gave a detailed overview of the fight in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, coming out after scoring the fight 30-27 for Nurmagomedov before exploring the larger statistics and discussion surrounding the fight.
And fans were similarly skeptical about the legend of the fight, with a number of Reddit threads criticizing Rogan and Goldberg's commentary. One comment read: “The commentary on that fight is terrible.
“They crowned Tibau the winner halfway through the 2nd and kept harping on the fact that Khabib is promising, but goes too far into this. Clouds the whole fight.”
Ultimately, Nurmagomedov's reaction of breaking down in tears after the decision indicates he was aware there was a chance things wouldn't go his way. But the jury's decision is final, and he would leave the rest of his career without any doubt.
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