It appears Abubakar Nurmagomedov had to fight some early difficulty at UFC on ESPN 45.
Nurmagomedov (17-4-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) was edged out in a split choice loss to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (24-7 MMA, 10-3 UFC) in this past Saturday’s primary card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Coach Javier Mendez exposed that Nurmagomedov hurt his knee in Round 1, however chose to fight through it. Nurmagomedov was able to win Round 2 on 2 of the judges’ scorecards, however lost Round 3 on all 3.
“It was such a close and competitive battle,” Mendez stated on his YouTube channel. “Hats off to dos Santos. He’s a fantastic fighter. He truly is a terrific fighter. I seen him battle, and I stated, ‘Man, we got our hands complete.’ I was extremely proud of Abubakar. He battled like a warrior. He popped his knee in the veryfirst round. He comes back, he goes,