Athletes
TAGIR ULANBEKOV EYES TOP OF FLYWEIGHT DIVISION
Talented Standout Discusses Carrying On Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s Legacy, Importance Of Finishing Ahead of Clash With Joshua Van
We speak about legacy a great deal in this sport, often trying to determine where an athlete stands in the pantheon of all-time greats while they are still competing, still in the process of crafting their own stories.
One’s true legacy is best measured after their career is over or when those individuals are no longer with us, as we have the distance needed to garner a more complete picture of the lasting impact they made and the reverberations their careers had throughout their field.
In some instances, we’re able to look at those that came after them, picking up where they left off and continuing the traditions and approaches passed on to them by their predecessors; greatness instilled and transferred to another generation, forged in the same principles, all tied back to the one that started it all. Such is the case with the athletes trained, built, guided by the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov and now training under his son, former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
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“It’s very important for us because he wasn’t just a coach, a regular coach,” began Tagir Ulanbekov, speaking about how meaningful it is to carry on that legacy just a few days prior to his clash with Joshua Van this weekend. “He spent a lot of time, gave us a lot of motivational stuff, things he taught us about how to be a man in life.
“The amount of time, the amount of hours that he put into us, it is now our honor, our responsibility to go out and show all of this,” added the ranked flyweight, speaking with the aid of translator Sergey Nagorny. “It’s not just for us to go out and do whatever we want: we have to continue the legacy, we have to continue to carry his name, continue to do the things that he instilled in us.”
You see how serious each member of the team takes that responsibility and the great pride they have to represent their late coach — whom Ulanbekov simply refers to as “The Coach” — every time they assemble together to prepare and each time one of them steps into the cage to compete.
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While there are certainly individual results and accolades at stake, each fight is also an opportunity to further show the lessons imparted by Nurmagomedov and pay respect to the hours of work, care, and attention he poured into each and every one of them, just as his son continues to do now.
It has been evident in Islam Makhachev’s rise to the top of the lightweight division and the performance of others like bantamweight prospect Umar Nurmagomedov and Ulanbekov, as well, with the ranked flyweight pointing to Makhachev’s recent triumph at UFC 302 as a motivating factor as he prepares to venture into the Octagon this weekend against Van.
“Of course, it’s a big deal for me to do the camp together with the champ in Kislovodsk,” he said of training with Makhachev and others in the Northern Caucasus city. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t in New Jersey during the fight, but seeing he won and the way he won motivates me even more to come out and perform, and make sure to get a win, as well.”
In his last two outings, Ulanbekov hasn’t just been securing victories, though.
Against Nate Maness towards the end of 2022, the 32-year-old contender got himself back into the win column in quick, impressive fashion, locking onto a high-elbow guillotine choke the instant Maness left his neck exposed while trying to work back to his feet. This past December, Ulanbekov collected another finish, halting the four-fight winning streak of American Cody Durden by clamping down on a face crank to secure the second-round submission win.
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“It’s very important to not just come out and win,” said Ulanbekov, who carries a 4-1 mark in the Octagon and 15-2 overall record into his 2024 debut this weekend at the UFC APEX. “When you win in a fashion where you finish the fight early, you show all of the hard work that you have done.
“It’s very important for you to show that you weren’t preparing like a regular person — you were preparing with really hard, hard work. It’s also important to win in such a fashion because it makes you better in the eyes of the media, in the eyes of the fans.
“Most importantly, it shows the promotion that you’re the type of fighter that will come out every time, show his full self, and finish fights, so it’s good for you in the promotion, as well.”
The victories helped propel Ulanbekov to the No. 12 position in the flyweight rankings, and initially secure him an opportunity to compete opposite Alex Perez this weekend.
But after Perez jumped at the chance to replace Manel Kape and face Matheus Nicolau at the end of April, parlaying that into a blistering second-round knockout win that reminded everyone of his standing in the weight class, this weekend’s flyweight deck was reshuffled.
Instead of Ulanbekov facing Perez and Van facing fellow prospect Tatsuro Taira, the former title challenger Perez was positioned opposite Taira, and Ulanbekov was paired off with Van.
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“The change of the opponent is of course something I noticed because I wanted to fight the No. 5-ranked guy, but we have what we have,” Ulanbekov said with a smile. “The fact that his speed is faster or whatever is not something that I’m worried about, something that I’m concerned about — I’ve fought guys with much more experience than him.
"I’m ready,” he added. “I’m set up to come out and show my full self, show what I’m capable of, and whoever is in front of me is whoever is going to get it.”
Things tend to move like the tides in the flyweight division, with a flurry of activity often taking place over two or three events, followed by a couple weeks with limited action before the seas push forward again, bringing another collection of fights to the fore.
Saturday’s event boasts four flyweight contests, with Maness taking on Jimmy Flick and Asu Almabayev facing off against divisional newcomer Jose Johnson, in addition to the two marquee matchups previously mentioned.
With champion Alexandre Pantoja having retained his title at the start of last month and another wave of matchups in the 125-pound ranks likely to come crashing into the Octagon during the latter half of the summer, this weekend is an opportunity for Ulanbekov to potentially add to his resume and highlight reel, and take another step towards joining Makhachev as another champion carrying on the legacy of “The Coach.”
“On Saturday, my job is to win the fight and I’m going to do everything I can to win the fight,” offered Ulanbekov when asked how he stands out amongst the pack this weekend. “What I need to do is come out there, finish my opponent, do it definitively, and then I can make a statement and say, ‘I’m not here for nothing! I really belong in this division and I belong at the top!’”
UFC Fight Night: Perez vs Taira took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 15, 2024. See the final Prelim and Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
