‘Cheater’ Tim Elliott and ‘Sleeping’ Referee at UFC 272 Invites the Rage of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev

UFC 272 was nothing short of a rollercoaster. From early finishes to five-round battles, the event had it all. But what is UFC without a pinch of controversy before and after an event? In the early prelims of UFC 272, Tim Elliott won his flyweight division bout against Tagir Ulanbekov via unanimous decision, comprehensively winning the first two rounds.

However, there were claims of some illegal moves made by the American fighter in his 19th career MMA win. Ulanbekov’s coach and former UFC undisputed lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov went on to make remarks over the referee. The 33-year-old now retired Russian mixed martial artist shared a video of the same incident on his Instagram story. “Referee was sleeping,” wrote Nurmagomedov along with the video, expressing his anger over the loss.

Khabib Nurmagomedov began coaching and assisting his friends and teammates after retiring in 2020. Notably, this was only the second loss for him as a coach. Before Ulanbekov, Islam Mamedov failed to register a win against Benson Henderson at a Bellator MMA event.

How did the fight go?
Apart from the controversial moves, Elliot looked convincing in his win as he made sure he never gave Tagir Ulanbekov a comfortable position during the fight. The 35-year-old fighter completed three takedowns on his Dagestani rival in the first round itself. Elliott confused Ulanbekov with fake elbow strikes and an unusual style of fighting, finding easy striking moments in the meantime.

However, accusations of him grabbing his opponent’s gloves, poking his eye, and making a knee-strike while he was grounded raised questions on the fight’s refereeing.

Apart from Nurmagomedov, his friend and protégé Islam Makhachev also raised the matter. Makhachev shared a clip of Tim Elliott accepting that he was grabbing Ulanbekov’s glove during the post-match press conference.

When asked about it, Elliott admitted that he indeed grabbed the glove of the 30-year-old fighter. “Oh no I grabbed his glove… for sure. We’re fighting–I’m grabbing everything that I can,” he said. He continued, “The glove is part of the hand. His hand is inside the glove, I’m trying to grab his hand, so if it’s there, you’re not going to not grab the glove.”

Overall, it wasn’t a bad night for Khabib Nurmagomedov
Fortunately for Khabib, the night got better from thereon. First, his cousin Umar Nurmagomedov defeated Brian Kelleher in the featherweight division by a first-round submission via a read-naked choke.

After that, Khabib Nurmagomedov got another memorable moment in his UFC career. The UFC announced Nurmagomedov becomes the first inductee of the UFC – Hall of Fame Class of 2022. The Russian veteran fighter joined the “Modern Wing” of the UFC Hall of Fame, which features the likes of Michael Bisping, Ronda Rousey, and Rashad Evans.