The much anticipated fight of Damir Ismagulov at UFC 267, unfortunately, failed due to the fact that the fighter could not make the prescribed weight due to a malfunction in the body. Until that moment, Damir was confidently moving in the strongest league in the world, having 4 victories in a row.
Throughout his professional career, Ismagulov defeated opponents 23 times, knocking them out, forcing them to surrender or dominating during the fight, confidently taking the victory by the decision of the judges. He also became the lightweight champion of the M-1 Challenge and successfully defended the belt, transferred to the UFC Octagon.
Along with Arman Ashimov, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Assu Almabaev, Damir confidently forged the glory of Kazakh fighters in the M-1 Challenge raid. Yet one defeat on this glorious path happened. How did this happen?
In September 2015, the Republic of Ingushetia hosted an international mixed martial arts tournament M-1 Challenge 61 Battle of the Narts. Damir then had his fifth professional match and was the winner of the Russian Cup in MMA.
He was opposed by Ramazan Esembayev, a former master of sports in freestyle wrestling and behind him there were 10 fights in the professional arena, of which only once he lost to his opponent and another time a draw was recorded. Ramazan successfully competed in the M-1 Challenge raid, and also had several victories in Japanese tournaments.