A heartwarming story comes to a disastrous end.
Two months ago, Dorobshokh Nabotov, an undefeated fighter from Tajikistan, decided to shoot his shot at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO Dana White during the UFC 308 pre-fight press conference for a coveted UFC contract. Nabotov did not get a contract but got an opportunity to fight in front of White (digitally) on Friday night in South Korea on an episode of Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight.
Nabotov didn’t win.
Indeed, the Tajikistan fighter lost a unanimous decision to top Brazilian prospect Matheus Camilo at Z-Fight Night (ZFN) inside KINTEX Exhibition Hall 7A in Goyang, South Korea, and was streamed on UFC Fight Pass.
Camilo battered Nabotov with leg kicks and almost submitted him in the first and third rounds. All Nabotov did was use his wrestling to try to smother Camilo, but he was unsuccessful.
During the UFC Tampa post-fight press conference (watch here), White revealed that Camilo received a UFC contract for this win.
“I picked the other guy. You wouldn’t know that, but yeah, I picked other guy,” White said. “He won the fight. He looked damn good doing it. He was the better, well-rounded fighter. The other kid looked very one-dimensional, and The Korean Zombie told me he had a lot of problems with that kid that week, threatening to pull out of the fight if he didn’t get more corner men and crazy shit like that. So yeah, it played out the way it should have.”
We’re very pleased & excited to announce that #TeamIridium hammer @matheuscamilom (9-2) is taking his talents to the @ufc after his massive win at #ZFN02 on @UFCFightPass ? #TheDarkside pic.twitter.com/VDgMo6Q13h
— IridiumSportsAgency (@TeamIridiumISA) December 15, 2024
So, yeah, Camilo is now a UFC fighter, and Nabotov will go back to the regional scene and probably never get a shot again because MMAMania.com can confirm that he was very difficult to work with and caused problems for Chan Sung Jung, who got him the fight in his promotion.
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