With Khabib in corner, Abubakar Nurmagomedov earns dominant UFC 260 win

With his brother Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner, Abubakar Nurmagomedov picked up his first UFC victory Saturday.

At UFC 260, Nurmagomedov (15-3-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) dominated a fellow promotional sophomore, Jared Gooden, on the feet and on the ground en route to a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

UFC 260 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.

After some fouls in Round 1, Nurmagomedov and Gooden (17-6 MMA, 0-2 UFC) each had their moments. It was a close round, but Nurmagomedov found slightly more success in the striking department. In Round 2, Nurmagomedov found success in the striking including one big punch on a clinch break that hurt Gooden.

Nurmagomedov found his takedown in Round 3 when he dragged Gooden to the canvas. From there, he remained in dominant top position. Gooden was unable to get up and the fight ended.

The fight wasn’t just Nurmagomedov’s first UFC win, it was his first in-cage appearance since November 2019, when he was submitted by David Zawada. Gooden has come up short in both UFC outings. Prior to UFC 260, Gooden lost a unanimous decision to Alan Jouban this past November.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 260 results include:

• Abubakar Nurmagomedov def. Jared Gooden via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

• Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Modestas Bukauskas via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

• Omar Morales def. Shane Young via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

• Marc-Andre Barriault def. Abu Azaitar via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:56