Khabib Nurmagomedov's 5 best UFC fights

#5 vs. Edson Barboza, UFC 219 – 12/30/17

Edson Barboza was destroyed by Khabib at UFC 219 in a one-sided fight

A title shot for Khabib was all set to take place in March 2017 – not against Conor McGregor, who was off preparing to fight Floyd Mayweather – but against fellow top contender Tony Ferguson for the vacant belt instead. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to happen, as Khabib ended up hospitalised due to a bad weight cut, scrapping the fight altogether.

After some extended time on the shelf, the Dagestani returned on the final card of 2017 in another non-title fight, and this time he was faced with dangerous striker Edson Barboza. The Brazilian was clearly hoping that he’d be able to replicate the early success that Michael Johnson had on the feet with Khabib, albeit with a different ending. Instead, it was yet another chapter in the domination of ‘The Eagle’.

Barboza did manage to land a couple of his trademark leg kicks, but they seemed to have no effect on the Dagestani, who simply walked through them to land punches and set up his takedowns. And once he’d got the Brazilian on the ground, Khabib absolutely demolished him, hitting him with punches and elbows to the point where he could barely stand as the first round ended.

The second and third rounds were no less dominant for Khabib, who simply put more pressure on Barboza than the Brazilian was capable of handling. Time after time, Khabib walked him down with big punches, took him down and continued the beatdown. By the time the fight was over and the decision was announced – 30-25, 30-25 and 30-24 on the judges’ scorecards – the question was whether Barboza would ever be the same again.

It was arguably the most dominant performance of Khabib’s UFC career to that point, and it came as no surprise when he won the Lightweight title in his next fight – albeit against a different opponent than was initially expected. Can Conor McGregor survive such an onslaught at UFC 229? Only time will tell.