Ulanbekov’s ranked #10 in the UFC flyweight division with a 16-2 record. The Dagestan-native has only lost once in the UFC – a very controversial fight against ‘The Ultimate Fighter 24’ winner Tim Elliott in 2022.

Going the full distance, Elliott defeated Ulanbekov by unanimous decision, cheating along the way.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov told Tagir Ulanbekov to grab opponent’s glove after Tim Elliott did it first

At UFC 272 with coach Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner, Ulanbekov says Elliott grabbed the inside of his glove, holding him in place while he ate a punch to the face.

“Tim just put his fingers in my gloves and I couldn’t pull it back,” Ulanbekov told Red Corner MMA.

“I was trying to get it out and he was punching me. It had never happened to me before.”

Elliott’s illegal glove grab was caught on replay with UFC commentator Joe Rogan calling the move ‘so dirty’.

“I couldn’t take him down,” Ulanbekov continued. “I can’t tell the referee that he’s grabbing my glove. I was shouting to Khabib, ‘Hey, he’s grabbing my glove!’ and he shouted back at me, ‘Grab him too!’

“[Khabib] added that legendary phrase, he was like, ‘Grab his glove too and punch him back!’”

Tagir Ulanbekov calls Tim Elliott ‘dirty fighter’ for eyepoke that left him injured for two weeks

Apparently, the glove grab isn’t the only thing that bothers Ulanbekov about the Tim Elliott fight.

The flyweight contender took issue with a brutal eyepoke from Elliott, one the referee didn’t notice, calling out his former foe for his ‘dirty’ tactics.

“That guy is a very dirty fighter,” Ulanbekov said of Elliott.

“Very dirty, for real.

“I pushed him to the fence the ref didn’t see that and put a thumb in my eye as deep as he could.

“He scratched my retina or something like that. My eye was really bad two weeks after that…”

On a three-fight win streak since then, Tagir Ulanbekov is set to face off against former Bellator and RIZIN Champion Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC Baku on June 21st.