I’m slowly starting to believe that the water in Dagestan is something else.
We’re all familiar with its finest product. The entire world is, by now. But there’s still a good chunk out there who have yet to be acquainted with the Magomedsharipov brothers of MMA.
29-year-old Zabit already began making waves in the UFC. In two short years, he was able to blaze his way up to the number three spot of the official featherweight rankings.
What makes him an exceptional beast, in my opinion, is his ability to transition from one discipline to another. He can easily switch from striking to wrestling to grappling the moment the need arises.
But as an amateur, he was more of a kicker. A superb one, in fact.
Just by looking at this clip of one of his early bouts from X years back, you can see his level of confidence behind each kick. He spins to lead and throws a roundhouse to follow up. Eventually, that money shot will land clean, just like what happened here.
The liver shot really is the greatest equalizer.
You can say the same thing about younger brother Hasan, although a few would probably give him a slight edge. At his age, this kid is already showing a lot of promise.
Take his amateur debut in 2018 as an example. Here he is wowing a small New Jersey crowd twice, after dropping his opponent with kicks that would make a 1980’s Jean-Claude Van Damme grin with glee.
Zabit Magomedsharipov’s younger brother, Hasan, 18, just had his amateur MMA debut in Voorhees, NJ. Look at how it ended: (video courtesy @MarkCoachmark13) pic.twitter.com/AkI3E72PXi
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 30, 2018
Hasan is currently 2-0 as a pro, and we should be on the lookout for his eventual rise. As for Zabit, a fight with Yair Rodriguez has evaded him once again. But if he’s looking for a new opponent, we know a guy.
In the meantime, here’s Zabit literally trying to lock horns with an angry goat.
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