Khabib Nurmagomedov's 5 best UFC fights

#2: vs Abel Trujillo, UFC 160 – 05/25/13

Khabib threw Abel Trujillo around like a ragdoll - setting a UFC record for most takedowns in the process

For his next fight following the Tavares knockout, Khabib was matched with fellow up-and-comer Abel Trujillo – a large, powerful 155lber from the Blackzilians camp who was coming off a violent stoppage of former Division III wrestling champion Marcus LeVesseur. But if Trujillo thought he could test Nurmagomedov’s takedown game, he was swiftly proven wrong.

Over the course of 15 minutes, the Dagestani fighter simply dominated Trujillo – throwing the huge Lightweight around like he was a rag doll with suplexes and slams. While Khabib didn’t come especially close to putting ‘Killa’ away – the closest he came was a triangle choke attempt in the waning seconds of the opening round – he beat him down so badly that by the third, it appeared like Trujillo had mentally given up.

When it was all said and done, Nurmagomedov had completed an astonishing 21 takedowns of 27 attempts across the three rounds – setting a UFC record in the process. Perhaps more impressively, despite throwing a large 155lber around for 15 solid minutes, he didn’t appear to tire or slow down at all.

It was a performance so good that despite the presence of former collegiate and Olympic wrestlers on the UFC roster – as well as proven, brilliant MMA wrestlers like Georges St-Pierre – many observers crowned ‘The Eagle’ – who once wrestled bear cubs as a child - as the best wrestler in the promotion.