Zabit Magomedsharipov was not his family’s last hope for a dominant UFC champion.
A number of years ago, talk of future UFC champions rarely unfolded without Magomedsharipov’s name coming up in conversation. The Dagestani went undefeated across six fights inside the Octagon to bring his overall MMA record to an impressive 18-1.
But just as he was being tipped for significant success in the aftermath of Magomedsharipov’s UFC main event win over Calvin Kattar, the 34-year-old disappeared from the MMA scene. And in 2022, Magomedsharipov’s shock MMA retirement was announced, leaving him widely branded as the biggest ‘what if’ in UFC history.
But with the premature end to a promising career, the torch might have been passed to an even greater prospect.
Zabit Magomedsharipov’s manager says the Dagestani’s undefeated brother is ‘way better’
While appearing on the Pound 4 Pound podcast hosted by two of his other fighters, former UFC champions Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz tipped one prospect for big things.
As fans continue to assess how high the ceiling might have been if Zabit had stayed in the sport a few years longer, another Magomedsharipov has been making waves.
And Abdelaziz boldly claimed that Khasan is “way better” than his prominent brother, even going as far as to suggest he could immediately fit in among the UFC’s best featherweights right now.
“I’ll tell you something, Zabit has a brother who I think is much better than Zabit,” Abdelaziz said.
“He fights in PFL. He’s 24 years old. I truly believe — he is the same style as Zabit with a way better gas tank, way better wrestling and grappling, and his striking, even better.
“I believe he can come to the UFC today and he is top five,” Abdelaziz added. “I am telling you, he is better than Zabit.”
Khasan Magomedsharipov, who won a gold medal at the European Junior Championship in Wushu Sanda at the age of 15 and is a four-time Dagestan Wushu Sanda champion, emerged as a rising talent during a 4-0 stint under the Bellator banner.
The Russian featherweight most recently made a successful debut in the PFL by outpointing Tyler Mathison at a Champions Series event in Dublin 13 months ago.
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Ali Abdelaziz partly blames the UFC for Zabit Magomedsharipov’s early retirement
During the same podcast appearance, Abdelaziz reflected on the surprisingly sudden end to Zabit’s MMA career.
The Egyptian manager pointed to the repeated failed attempts to book him against Yair Rodriguez as the catalyst. With that in mind, Abdelaziz believes both he and the UFC are to blame for Magomedsharipov’s shock retirement.
“Honestly, he got booked like three or four times with Yair Rodriguez. Yair Rodriguez kept pulling out on him,” Abdelaziz said. “He just lost love.
“I am not going to blame anyone from the UFC. I could, but I am not going to do it. I think it was a little bit of the UFC’s fault, and also maybe a little bit of my fault. I should never have made them book him again with Yair Rodriguez. This guy pulled out three, four times, right?
“In a way, I think Zabit fell off. He has a lot of business, married, kids. He said, ‘I don’t need to do this,’” Abdelaziz added.