‘He looked amazing’: Fans hail Umar Nurmagomedov as UFC star promises more – and cousin Khabib wins praise for part in win (VIDEO)

Former lightweight champion Khabib watched on as his relative choked former M-1 champion Morozov unconscious in the second round, looking relieved as he tapped the canvas before entering the ring to embrace both men and their teams.

The victorious newcomer vowed to continue training hard and become an even more formidable fighter in the aftermath of his exceptional performance, which left viewers marveling at the unbeaten prospect’s potential.

“After Umar Nurmagomedov’s win, Khabib goes in the octagon to hug him, then walks over to his opponent, Sergey Morozov, and his team to give them a hug, too,” noted reporter Helen Yee in the minutes after the concussive end to the showdown. “All class.”

ESPN’s Ariel Helwani told his Twitter following of more than 934,000 that Nurmagomedov had made a “fantastic debut”, gushing: “He looked amazing.”

Fighters were also impressed. “Morozov did the right thing to defend the rear naked choke,” said Aljamain Sterling, the number one ranked fighter in Nurmagomedov’s bantamweight class.

“But Nurmagomedov just kept the constant pressure and finished beautifully. This man is going to be a problem. Welcome to the UFC, Umar.”

The uncanny timing and style of Nurmagomedov’s win, coming on the anniversary of his ally’s debut UFC victory and with the same finish, was noted by many fans and the retired great himself, who translated Umar’s reflections on his bow.

“Nine years ago this day, 20th of January 2012, I beat my opponent like this with this choke,” Khabib proudly observed afterwards.

“Today he did this, but I did in the third round. Umar did it in the second round.

“He is very excited about the future because he has to work a lot – he has to improve a lot of things in his game.

“He’s very happy to have finished this guy and he’s very happy to show the world that he can kick, punch, wrestle and grapple.

“At the same time, he’s a little bit sad because it was not his best performance and he believes he can show you guys better.

“In my opinion, he doesn’t understand what happened and his feeling. In a couple of days, he will.”

Umar vowed to be a champion and pledged to demonstrate the improvements he plans to make in future fights.

“In the beginning, I was a little bit tired – I don’t know why,” he admitted. “It means a lot for me and my family.”

Few fighters are likely to genuinely relish the risk of becoming the 14th name on Nurmagomedov’s winning record.

“Sensational debut for Umar Nurmagomedov,” said MMA writer Soumik Datta, adding that it was “always good” to see Khabib and former UFC champion Daniel Cormier, who was on post-fight interviewing duty, together.

“Believe this also the first time since [his] retirement [last October] that we’ve seen Khabib step into the UFC octagon.”

Also on rt.com Changing of the guard? Umar Nurmagomedov shines on UFC debut, submits Sergey Morozov in second round on Fight Island