Zabit Magomedsharipov has appeared to heap blame on the UFC for failing to deliver promised fights which led to his retirement.
Magomedsharipov was one of the brightest talents on the UFC roster and holds a record of six victories with no defeats since he signed with the promotion. Magomedsharipov hadn't fought since defeating Calvin Kattar at UFC Fight Night 163 back in 2019 and it had been more than two years since he last made an appearance for the promotion.
The Russian star announced his retirement from the UFC despite his extremely promising record to end hopes of him progressing to a featherweight title shot in the near future. And the fighter, who has hung up the gloves aged just 31, believes he came unstuck with many opponents refusing to fight him combined with injuries and sickness.
“The reasons … there were many reasons,” he said during an interview at a press conference when explaining why he called an early halt to his UFC career. “Firstly because of refusals to fight with me. I had no fights for two years. Then there were injuries, I was sick a lot. I didn’t recover. So many reasons.
“The main reason was that I was not able to fight. They didn’t give me a title shot. They promised one thing and did another. That was a little bit … they promised me and didn’t keep a promise. That was the main reason why I got mad.”
Magomedsharipov was considered a huge talent and had already picked up wins against Jeremy Stephens and Brandon Davis prior to his win over Kattar which shot his name into a leading contention spot.
The UFC believed an ideal opponent would be Yair Rodriguez who was also a contender in the division, and the promotion attempted to make that fight on multiple occasions but it ultimately failed to materialise. Rumours had initially intensified that the Russian was dealing with a serious medical condition which prevented him from fighting.
Would you like to see Zabit Magomedsharipov return to the UFC? Let us know in the comments section below
However he has now appeared to have placed blame instead on the UFC rather than his own alleged deteriorating health, joining UFC welterweight Nate Diaz in becoming another man to criticise their handling of his career. When pressed on if he would make a future return to the UFC or take up a coaching role, Magomedsharipov continued: “The time has passed, I don’t have such a desire.
"I want to do it when I see someone fighting. When I join their training camp, me and other friends. There could be a wish. I have to think. I am going to think about your question.
“But it could be open to coaching. Why not? It is interesting for me to work with children. Not adults, just children. To teach them. To communicate with them. It is interesting to me. I want to have rest from sport a year or two. Maybe then I will start, we will see."
