Tagir Ulanbekov marked his promotional debut with a victory at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi on Sunday – then dedicated the win to Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the late father of Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Russian, who moved to 11-1 in MMA, defeated Brazil’s Bruno Silva by unanimous decision in the flyweight bout at Flash Forum. A teammate of undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and one of the many fighters trained by Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, Ulanbekov paid tribute to his former coach immediately after the triumph. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/sport/other-sport/khabib-nurmagomedov-s-father-abdulmanap-dies-from-covid-19-complications-1.1043654">died in July from heart complications</a>. Khabib Nurmagomedov <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/sport/other-sport/ufc-254-khabib-nurmagomedov-ready-for-war-against-justin-gaethje-in-abu-dhabi-1.1089502">headlines UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi</a> on October 24, the fifth and final event on the second Fight Island series. Upon Ulanbekov's victory, the Dagestan native took to social media, posting in Russia: "Father would be proud." Speaking afterwards, Ulanbekov said: “I want to dedicate this victory to our coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov – rest in peace. This fight was a big responsibility for me, I had to motivate my teammates Khabib and Islam [Makhachev] – they are fighting on upcoming cards. “I didn’t fight the way I wanted. Everybody says the first fight in UFC, you get too much pressure and everything, and I guess it’s true. I felt it as well. “I wanted to keep the fight standing and I thought I would go through him much easier. I didn’t expect the fight to be this hard; it was one of my hardest fights to date. “This was a long training camp; I was supposed to fight before but I didn’t, unfortunately. I didn’t fight because Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov died. So it was just pretty much a six-month, non-stop training camp, so now I want to rest.”