Abubakar Nurmagomedov was born on November 13, 1989 in the village of Goksuv in Khasavyurtovsky District, Dagestan. At primary school Abubakar began to train in freestyle wrestling, and after high school he joined to Combat Sambo under Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. In 2014 he won the bronze medal match at the Combat Sambo World Championships.
Nurmagomedov made his professional MMA debut in October 2011 against Ibrahim Dzhantukhanov of Russia, and won in the first round by Submission. At the Sochi Star tournament he was eliminated by Dagestani UFC hopeful Magomed Mustafaev by technical knockout in the first round. In the last fight before his American career he beat Vladimir Gunzu of Ukraine at Fight Star - Battle on Sura 3 in the first round.
In March Nurmagomedov signed a contract with WSOF. In his WSOF debut, Nurmagomedov defeated Jorge Moreno of USA on August 1, 2015 at via unanimous decision. After his debut he beat next opponent from Las Vegas, NevadaDanny Davis Jr. on December 18, 2015 at via unanimous decision. Nurmagomedov faced Matthew Frincu on April 2, 2016 at WSOF 30. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. Nurmagomedov faced John Howard on October 7, 2016 at. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Nurmagomedov faced Matt Secor on 18 March 2017 at WSOF 35. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Professional Fighters League
Nurmagomedov competed at PFL welterweight Grand-Prix. He faced Pavel Kusch in the opening round at PFL 3 on July 5, 2018. He lost the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the second round. Nurmagomedov faced Jonatan Westin on August 16, 2018 at PFL 6. He won the fight by unanimous decision. On October 15, 2018, it was announced that Nurmagomedov would replace João Zeferino in the Welterweight Tournament at PFL 10 on October 20, 2018. He faced Bojan Veličković in the quarter-final round. The bout ended in a unanimous draw with Nurmagomedov advancing due to winning the first round. However, Nurmagomedov did not advance to semifinals due to hand injury and Veličković replaced him.
At UFC 229, Khabib Nurmagomedov jumped the cage after his title victory and charged toward Conor McGregor's cornerman Dillon Danis. Soon after, McGregor and Abubakar attempted to exit the octagon, but a scuffle broke out between them after McGregor punched Abubakar. McGregor was then attacked by two of Khabib's corner men, Zubaira Tukhugov and Esed Emiragaev. On January 29, 2019, the NSAC announced a one-year suspension for Nurmagomedov, and a $25,000 fine. He became eligible to compete again on June 6, 2019.
