With an undefeated six-fight run, the last and only third-ever Suloev stretch submission win in the UFC, and a ninja-like fighting style to go with his Abraham Lincoln-like appearance, Zabit Magomedsharipov looked like he was destined for greatness. But he ended up arguably the biggest ‘what-if’ in the history of the promotion. Four years after hanging up his gloves, the Russian striking maestro is opening up about what prompted his decision, and his fingers are pointing to the UFC.

“They just didn’t want to make me champion,” Magomedsharipov told ACBJJ. “Because at that time, there were already a lot of Russian champions. Khabib was champion then, Yan too. They didn’t like the idea of a third champion being from Russia. But before that, while those guys weren’t champions yet, they were promoting me really well…”

Back when he was active, the 35-year-old tore through the promotion’s ranks from 2017-19. And he won all six of his bouts while defeating the likes of Calvin Kattar and Jeremy Stephens. He was supposed to face Yair Rodriguez in a potential No. 1 contender bout back in August 2020. But the latter withdrew from the fight due to an injury. Magomedsharipov never fought again. 

“There were a lot of reasons [I retired],” Magomedsharipov added. “It just never worked out. I wanted to fight. The fights got postponed 3-4 times. We just couldn’t come to an agreement somehow. I was cutting weight, going through full training camps, flying out to America… and when you’ve already gone through the whole process, the weight cut, training, camp, everything, then you arrive, and 2-3 weeks before the fight, they tell you, ‘That’s it, he’s injured,’ and they postpone it again. So I’d go back home.

“Then I’d start preparing all over again. Imagine going through all that every time. That happened to me like 5 times. I got tired too. How much can a person take? We had some kind of agreement with them that if he pulled out a third time, they’d automatically give me the title shot. Those conversations happened. But the third time, they found a lot of excuses again.

“Then they started offering me different opponents, Zombie and others. But realistically, at that moment, it was me and Rodriguez who were the real contenders.”

As per Tapology, Zabit had two bouts against Yair canceled. His other canceled UFC bouts were his debut and his October 2018 scheduled bout against Calvin Kattar. The pair faced off in November of the same year, and Zabit got the decision win.

A month later, Alexander Volkanovski kicked off his dominant reign by dethroning Max Holloway. Here’s where we missed Zabit’s potential.

Yair and Zabit are dynamic strikers who are naturally inclined to do the flashy moves and find success with them. There aren’t a lot of fighters who can do that.

He was a rare breed of a Russian star who relied on striking rather than suffocating grappling. Whether Yan and Khabib were champions or not, Zabit facing a Holloway or a Volkanovski would have been an elite display of mixed martial arts.

Yair Rodriguez faced these featherweight legends later and suffered losses against both of them. But could Zabit have gotten the job done?

We can only guess. Three years after his fight against Kattar, in April 2021, Magomedsharipov was removed from the UFC’s featherweight rankings due to his inactivity. Before his removal, he was ranked No. 3 in the featherweight division.

He later confirmed his abrupt retirement from the sport in 2022. At the time, a variety of health issues were cited as the reason. 

But recently, he appears to have returned to MMA. 

Zabit Magomedsharipov signed with ACBJJ

In February earlier this year, Zabit Magomedsharipov announced that he had signed with the Absolute Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (ACBJJ). It’s the same Russian grappling promotion where the likes of Arman Tsarukyan and Alexander Volkov had previously featured. 

“Major decisions are made in silence,” ACBJJ president Zaurbek Khasiev said in a statement. “Negotiations are complete. Zabit Magomedsharipov joins ACBJJ. We are assembling the elite. Stay tuned.”

According to reports, the 35-year-old will make his debut in the promotion at ACBJJ 21 on July 5, 2026, in Moscow at 154 lbs. It will be over six years since Magomedsharipov last fought in the UFC. While a fight appears to have been confirmed, an opponent has yet to be revealed. 

Zabit Magomedsharipov’s story shows that just signing with the biggest MMA promotion in the world doesn’t guarantee success. Even though he had limitless potential, if you are not in the promotion’s good graces, they will discard you.

Read More