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Top UFC featherweight contender Zabit Magomedsharipov has returned home to his home in Russia and has confirmed that he will not be competing on the promotion's August 29 card anymore.
Zabit Magomedsharipov was set to fight Yair Rodriguez in an epic featherweight clash in the main event of the UFC Fight Night event on August 29 in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, Rodriguez got sidelined from the bout due to injury and Zabit Magomedsharipov was left without an opponent. Calvin Kattar even offered to step up on short notice to fight the Russian but Zabit Magomedsharipov chose to focus on getting a shot at Alexander Volkanovski's featherweight strap instead.
It's now clear that Zabit Magomedsharipov is not going to fight anyone on the last UFC card in August. Taking to Instagram, Zabit said that he has returned home to Russia and will definitely not be competing on August 29
Zabit Magomedsharipov: As-salamu ‘alaykum greetings to all! I want to inform you that my fight on August 29 will not be. Rodriguez jumped out of the top 5 to replace anyone. Fighting those who are even lower in the rankings is a step back. I asked for either a belt fight or a fight with some interesting opponent with a name. There were no offers, so we turn off our camp and return to Russia. For the second time in a row @ufc breaks off preparation at the final stage. Thanks to everyone who supported and waited for this fight. The team and I did our best.
The situation with Zabit Magomedsharipov and how the UFC chooses to deal with it should be interesting to witness. The UFC could grant him a shot at the title because he has beaten quite a few top contenders in the division, or the matchmakers could wait till Yair recovers to re-book the fight again and determine the next challenger for the title.
