Khabib Nurmagomedov landed an unbelievable 21 takedowns against Abel Trujillo in just THREE rounds back in 2013, setting a UFC record that still stands today! 🤯 Merab Dvalishvili came incredibly close with 20 takedowns across five rounds. Will anyone EVER break Khabib’s record? 🦅
Khabib Nurmagomedov's 21 takedowns against Abel Trujillo remain the single-fight record in UFC history, more than a decade after he set it. Nurmagomedov landed the mark over three rounds at UFC 160 on May 25, 2013, and won a unanimous decision.
The closest anyone has come is Merab Dvalishvili, who reached 20 takedowns across five rounds. That gives the record an unusual footnote: Dvalishvili needed two more rounds and still finished one short.
Nurmagomedov retired undefeated at 29-0. His most recent recorded fight was a second-round submission of Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 on October 24, 2020, his third straight title-fight finish after Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. The Russian averaged 5.32 takedowns per 15 minutes, with 4.1 significant strikes landed per minute at 48 percent accuracy.
Dvalishvili, a 35-year-old Georgian, is 21-5 and ranked first at bantamweight and second pound-for-pound. His takedown rate is higher than Nurmagomedov's, at 6.4 per 15 minutes. He lands 4.33 significant strikes per minute at 42 percent accuracy. His most recent recorded fight was a unanimous-decision loss to Petr Yan in a title bout at UFC 323 on December 6, 2025. Before that he beat Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision at UFC 320 and submitted Sean O'Malley at UFC 316.
Trujillo, now 43 and 15-8, was on the receiving end of the record. The American averages 2.18 takedowns per 15 minutes himself. His most recent recorded fight was a unanimous-decision loss to John Makdessi in December 2017.
Why it matters
- Records built over three rounds are harder to match than those built over five, since fewer minutes means a higher required pace.
- Dvalishvili's 20 came across 25 possible minutes, so Nurmagomedov averaged roughly 7 takedowns per round to Dvalishvili's 4.
- Dvalishvili's career takedown rate is higher than Nurmagomedov's, which keeps the record in view as long as he competes.
The pace Nurmagomedov sustained against Trujillo, about one takedown every two and a half minutes of fight time, is what keeps the mark intact.
