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The much-awaited Octagon debut of 'Dagestani Gangster' Abubakar Nurmagomedov, cousin of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov ended in a massive disappointment as Abubakar was forced to tap in the first round due to a triangle choke. Nurmagomedov went up against veteran fighter David Zawada in a preliminary card bout at UFC Fight Night 163 at CSKA Arena in Moscow, Russia on his first fight inside the Octagon. (h/t MMA Junkie)
Heading into the fight, Nurmagomedov was being considered as an overwhelming favorite because his counterpart Zawada succumbed to two back to back defeats prior to this fight.
Zawada probably salvaged his career at the UFC with this win, recovering from two defeats in his first two outings for the promotion.
Getting to the fight, Nurmagomedov secured an early takedown and tried to secure a mount so that he could posture up and lay some vicious ground and pound on his German counterpart. However, Zawada managed to grab hold of the Russian and transition into an armbar attempt. As Nurmagomedov barely managed to scrape out of the situation, Zawada locked in a tight triangle choke and cranked as hard as he could, forcing Nurmagomedov to tap.
Nurmagomedov attracted a lot of attention ahead of his Octagon debut because of his surname, which made fans wonder if he too, is as good as his cousin. Well, after this fight, that comparison won't be drawn in a while.
Check out the move that turned out to be the beginning of the end for Nurmagomedov:
McGregor rub's salt on Nurmagomedov's wounds
Meanwhile, after Nurmagomedov's disappointing first-round loss, Conor McGregor took to social media to aim a dig at both Nurmagomedov and his cousin Khabib, who happens to be the Irishman's arch-rival.
"Nurmagotaptap" - wrote McGregor on Twitter before quickly deleting the post.
McGregor also took a jibe at Khabib asking the undefeated Russian to console his brother after the disappointing loss.
"Console him. Then tell him he's cut." - posted McGregor in another deleted tweet.
