Zubaira Alikhanovich Tukhugov is a Russian mixed martial artist of Chechen descent, who fights in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2010, Tukhugov made a name for himself, fighting in promotions like Cage Warriors, ProFC, Fight Nights and others, before joining the UFC in 2014.
Tukhugov made his professional debut in 2010 beating his three opponents by winning Pankration Atrium Cup 2 eight man, one night tournament. After a 10-3 mixed martial arts records, he would be signed by the Russian promotion, Fight Nights, where he won all of his 3 fights, defeating Romano De Los Reyes, Harun Kina and Vaso Bakocevic. During his time on Fight Nights, Tukhugov did a fight for Cage Warriors, defeating Denys Pidnebesnyi at CWFC 58.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
In December 2013, it was announced that Tukhugov had signed a contract with UFC and was scheduled to make his promotional debut against Thiago Tavares on February 15 at. However, Tavares was forced to pull out due to an undisclosed injury, and was replaced by UFC newcomer Douglas Silva de Andrade. Tukhugov dominated the fight and got a unanimous decision win. Tukhugov later faced Ernest Chavez on October 4, at. He won the fight via technical knockout due to punches in the first round. Tukhugov was expected to face Thiago Tavares on June 6, 2015 at However, the pairing was scrapped after Tukhugov suffered a rib injury. Tukhugov faced Phillipe Nover on December 10, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 80. He won the fight by split decision. Tukhugov next faced Renato Moicano on May 14, 2016 at UFC 198. In a controversial series of events, despite Tukhogov suffering a kick to the groin in the first round and again in the second round, referee Eduardo Herdy signaled the competitors to continue. Tukhogov lost the fight via split decision. Tukhugov was expected to face Tiago Trator on December 9, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 102. However, on November 14, Tukhugov was pulled from the card after being notified by USADA of a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected earlier. In February 2018, it was announced that Tukhugov received a two years USADA suspension and contributed USD ten thousand dollar for the arbitration proceedings in testing positive for ostarine from a sample collected on October 29, 2016. Tukhugov was scheduled to face Artem Lobov on October 27, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 138. However, it was reported that Tukhugov was removed from the fight due his role in the UFC 229 post-fight melee. After a three-year lay-off, Tukhugov returned to face Lerone Murphy on September 7, 2019 at UFC 242. The back-and-forth fight ended in a split draw with one judge assigning each fighter a 29-28 win and the third seeing it as a 28-28 draw. Tukhugov faced Kevin Aguilar on February 23, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 168. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. Tukhugov is scheduled to face Hakeem Dawodu on September 1, 2020 at UFC 253.
At UFC 229, Khabib Nurmagomedov jumped the cage after his victory and charged toward Conor McGregor's cornerman Dillon Danis. Soon after, McGregor and Khabib's cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov attempted to exit the octagon, but a scuffle broke out between them after McGregor hit Abubakar, who then punched him back. Seeing this Tukhgov jumped the cage and punched McGregor before security pulled him and Asadulla Emiragaev away. On January 29, 2019, the NSAC announced a one-year suspension for Tukhugov, and a $25,000 fine. On May 22, 2019, NSAC reduced the suspensions by 35 days which allowed Tukhugov to be eligible to compete again on September 1, 2019.
