UFC lightweight contender Islam Makhachev is not a fan of Tim Elliott's "dirty" approach to his fight against Tagir Ulanbekov at UFC 272.
Makhachev is arguably the best active Dagestan fighter following the retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov. He's on the verge of a lightweight title shot with a win later this year against potential opponent Beneil Dariush.
Makhachev sat cageside to watch most of the UFC 272 event but also helped corner a few of his teammates. One of them was Ulanbekov, who faced a tough flyweight matchup against the veteran Elliott.
Elliott put on arguably one of the best performances of his career against Ulanbekov, but not without controversy. He appeared to grab Elliott's glove on multiple occasions during the fight and arguably landed an illegal knee as well on Ulanbekov.
Elliott would win the fight via a unanimous decision.
Makhachev took to Instagram to highlight some of the alleged missed fouls that Elliott committed during the fight against Ulanbekov.
"This fight clear example of so called. “dirty fighter," Makhachev said. "To make so many intentional fouls in one fight, you don’t see that often.
- Clearly intentional eye poke in the clinch. (That affected the whole fight after)
- Twice knee to the grounded opponent
- Grabbing a glove multiple times during exchanges
- Very clearly Grabbing the glove during grappling (you can’t stick your fingers into opponent’s glove, it’s illegal)
But I’m more surprised with the referee that let him do everything he wanted to. Still I’m very proud with my brother Tagir’s performance and he accepted this unfair L."
Makhachev wasn't the only one who was upset with how the fight played out. Nurmagomedov was animated and furious while in Ulanbekov's corner during the controversial moments.
Referee Chris Tognoni did briefly stop the fight to address an eye poke from Elliott but missed the alleged penalties that Makhachev discussed above.
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With the win, Tim Elliott moves to 18-12 while Ulanbekov's record now sits at 14-2.
Do you agree with Islam Makhachev's take on Tim Elliott?