Zubaira Tukhugov recently shared an adorable example of how Khabib Nurmagomedov took care of him.
Tukhugov and Abubakar Nurmagomedov jumped over the cage and attacked Conor McGregor during the infamous UFC 229 brawl, resulting in two members of Nurmagomedov’s team being suspended. The Nevada State Athletic Commission later reduced his suspension by 35 days after reaching a community service agreement.
However, the reduced sentence was not a coincidence as it allowed him to qualify for UFC 242 on September 7, 2019. Ultimate Fighting Championship was all set to see Nurmagomedov defend his lightweight strap against Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 242. “Eagle” refused to return to battle until his teammates received permission to fight on the same bill.
Tukhugov also revealed that Nurmagomedov entered his turn at bat claiming the “Warrior” slot on the same card. When Dana White instead offered Tukhugov a fight at UFC Moscow later that year, the Dagestani claims that Nurmagomedov was even willing to turn down the Poirier matchup, which was at that point in his career. It was the biggest salary. Tukhugov soon received a call from the UFC’s Hunter Campbell, confirming his spot on the card to face Lerone Murphy in a split draw.
“No one has made it clear, but I have been suspended and my contract has been terminated.” Khabib said, “Zubaira will fight first, then I will fight too.”later [Conor] “For the McGregor fight, the UFC really needed Khabib, so they gave me a new contract,” Tukhugov recently told Russian podcaster Aslanbek Badaev. “They also promised to put me on the Abu Dhabi card with Khabib and Islam. But Dana White said there was no room for me on that card and they were going to have me fight in Moscow. He tried to get Khabib to change his mind, but Khabib said, “Okay, I’m breaking this deal now. If you don’t have the card, I’ll give the slot on my card to Zubaira.” ”It was something like that. It was his first really good payday, so I said, “Don’t do that.” Then Hunter called me and said he respected Khabib’s decision and decided to take a few guys out to put me on the card. That’s how I managed to participate in the event. ”
Tukhugov has gone 2-2 since then, most recently losing a split decision to Brazilian contender Elf Brenner at UFC 284 in February 2023.
