Khabib Nurmagomedov was all praise following Magomed Zaynukov’s impressive debut at UFC Abu Dhabi, but still went on to point out ‘one thing’ he felt was ‘not okay.’

Zaynukov made his long-awaited UFC debut on the main card of the Abu Dhabi event on the 25th of July, 2026. The 31-year-old took on young Pole Damian Rzepecki, who was also making his promotional debut.

A dominant performance from Zaynukov saw him beat Rzepecki via unanimous decision, scoring 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards. A stellar display saw the Russian put on a striking masterclass, highlighted by nasty elbows and a front kick that sent Rzepecki’s mouthguard flying.

Magomed ‘Chanco’ Zaynukov cruised to a unanimous decision victory against fellow debutant Damian Rzepecki at UFC Abu Dhabi (Image: @ufc/Instagram)

Despite Zaynukov’s dominant performance, Khabib Nurmagomedov highlighted one missed opportunity in the fight. ‘Chanco’ had missed a takedown, and Nurmagomedov let the 31-year-old know about it after the fight. The former UFC lightweight champion was quoted as saying, post-fight:

“It was a great, exciting, and fun fight, but you missed a takedown, and that’s not okay.”

‘The Eagle”s unbeaten record (29-0) when he retired is a testament to him expecting perfection in everything.

Magomed Zaynukov also had a Message for Ilia Topuria after his win

Magomed ‘Chanco’ Zaynukov also took aim at former lightweight champion Ilia Topuria following his win at UFC Abu Dhabi. Having learned that Rzepecki is from Topuria’s team, Zaynukov made it loud and clear which ‘school’ he was from in the post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. He said (via the translator):

Hey Ilia Topuria…He was saying that he was from the team of Ilia Topuria. I’m from the team of Nurmagomedovs. I come from the school of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. We do not care who we fight, we’ll take everyone on.

It is worth noting that Topuria lost his lightweight title to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250.

Ilia Topuria lost to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 [Image via Getty]

Gerard Crispin

Gerard Crispin is an editor and writer with expertise across MMA, Football, Tennis, Cricket, NBA and F1. He has published over 3500 articles in Combat Sports, across multiple websites, viz. Sportskeeda, FanSided MMA, MediaReferee, FirstSportz and PFSN. Crispin currently covers UFC for LowKickMMA.