With Ilia Topuria catapulting himself into superstardom this past Saturday with a huge KO win over Max Holloway at UFC 308, the question begs who will be able to stop the undefeated Spaniard?
Following Ilia Topuria‘s blockbuster win over Max Holloway in the UFC 308 main event, the promotion brought former opponent of both fighters, Alexander Volkanovski into the Octagon for a brief face-off with ‘El Matador’.
UFC CEO Dana White then doubled down on the decision stating in the post-fight press conference that ‘The Great’ Volkanoski would be next to fight Topuria, despite having lost against him this past February.
Joe Rogan reminds fans of Zabit Magomedsharipov as he mourns his retirement
With the 27-year-old champion looking extremely comfortable against every opponent he has faced thus far, fans aren’t too overwhelmed at the thought of the Spaniard rematching against Volkanovski, especially considering their first meeting.
One man who could’ve surely stood as a tough challenge for ‘El Matador’, is Zabit Magomedsharipov. The undefeated Russian fighter will go down as one of the biggest ‘what ifs’ in UFC history after he prematurely retired at 28 years old.
UFC commentator and icon, Joe Rogan, recently reminded the fanbase of Magomedsharipov, admitting that he was seriously ‘bummed out’ when the featherweight decided to step away from fighting.
“Zabit Magomedsharipov, that was a guy that I was like, f*ck man, I was really bummed out when he stepped out when he just decided enough’s enough,” Rogan admitted on JRE.
The Russian decided to retire from fighting to pursue a career in medicine after suffering from health issues throughout his fighting career.
Magomedsharipov was most well-known for his incredibly diverse striking arsenal, as well as tremendous grappling and wrestling, making him a stiff challenge for any fighter in the current featherweight crop.
“That guy was f*cking good man. He did some wild sh*t, he was so interesting because he was from Dagestan but he fought like a Karate fighter, wild kicks, he could do anything.
“Crazy trips too. He was just so clever and creative and such an interesting fighter to watch. I was bummed out man, like really bummed out when that guy retired,” Rogan continued.
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Khabib Nurmagomedov gave Zabit the nickname ‘ZaBeast’ to combat tricky pronunciation
Someone else who was extremely fond of Zabit Magomedsharipov was former UFC lightweight king, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Magomedsharipov and ‘The Eagle’ are good friends and continue to keep in contact despite having both retired from the sport. Nurmagomedov continued to give fans promise after claiming Zabit didn’t promise his mother that he wouldn’t return to fighting, potentially leaving the door open.
Certain fighter names have historically been difficult for commentators and announcers to pronounce, with the Nurmagomedov name being one Rogan previously struggled with when announcing Umar Nurmagomedov.
Because of that, Khabib gave Zabit the nickname ‘ZaBeast’ to help combat the struggle of pronouncing his name properly.
Zabit now spends the majority of his time coaching his younger brother who fights under the PFL banner, Khasan Magomedsharipov, with fans hoping one day he decides to return to the UFC.