Khabib Nurmagomedov’s UFC record currently stands at 28-0 (8 KOs) before his rumoured fight against Justin Gaethje later this year.
However, Gaethje believes that the Russian doesn’t deserve his undefeated record as he actually ‘lost’ to Gleison Tibau back at UFC 148.
If you want to decide for yourself whether Khabib deserves his undefeated record, watch the video further down this article.
Khabib faced the Brazilian Tibau back in July 2012, in just his second UFC fight, winning via unanimous decision on the judges' scorecards. However, the fight was incredibly close, with Tibau himself saying that he thought he controlled the fight.
Tibau successfully stopped Khabib’s takedowns throughout the fight, making it one of just two fights where the Russian failed to score a single takedown. For anyone that watches Khabib on a regular basis, he's all about the wrestling and grappling; if he takes you down and gets you on the mat, it's basically game over for you.
Just ask Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier, who both fell victim of this tactic in the Russian's most recent fights.
Gaethje, however, believes that perfect record shouldn't be existing to this day, weighing in with his own opinion on the fight, telling ESPN: “I think he lost to Tibau though, that’s just me.”
Gaethje was joined by fellow fighter Tony Ferguson, who has gone on record to say that Tibau was the better man at UFC 148.
Despite the obvious controversy around the decision, Khabib remains undefeated officially in the sport and will look to improve his record if he faces Gaethje later this year.
UFC president Dana White is aiming for Khabib vs Gaethje to headline UFC 253 at the sport’s Fight Island on September 19, but given the recent passing of his father, who also plays a crucial role in his corner, the fight is far from finalised.
Gaethje’s remarks could be a way of getting into the Russian’s head as they prepare for the bout, which, aforementioned, is still in the planning stage.
If you wanted to watch the highlights of the fight Khabib 'lost', check it out below.
As you can see from the video, there's plenty of tactical analysis to go with it, which does suggest that perhaps Khabib was lucky to get the win that night... after all, UFC judges do sometimes come with a very bad reputation.
Khabib hasn’t fought since his win over Poirier back at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi, which extended his run as the UFC Lightweight world champion. He is currently staying away from the sport and social media following the death of his father earlier this month.
Gaethje, meanwhile, beat Tony Ferguson via TKO last time out to take his record to 22-2 (19 KOs).
Even without the controversy surrounding Khabib’s fight against Tibau, ‘The Eagle’ vs Gaethje could become one of the fights of the year.