A UFC comeback is so sought after by an ex-veteran of the promotion that he is willing to drop a major MMA title and leave the sport, outright. The combatant in question is Zhalgas Zhumagulov, who is coming off of his attempt at cementing himself as a two-division champion under the Oktagon MMA banner.
Ultimately, the verdict of that clash was a no-contest after an accidental low blow halted the contest between the European powerhouse’s 125-pound and 135-pound titleholders. Zhumagulov came in as the flyweight champ, aiming for fellow ex-UFC vet Igor Severino’s OMMA bantamweight belt, with the bout being waved off around the halfway mark of the second stanza.
The message about potentially hanging up the gloves was conveyed by way of his X account @ZhakoZhumagulov, as Zhumagulov said,
“I’ve already been to the UFC. I’ve fought my way back to the top and proved that I still belong among the best. If a return to the UFC isn’t in my future, then I’ll seriously consider walking away from the sport. No regrets. I’ve given this game everything.”
The UFC path of Zhalgas Zhumagulov and his MMA road since
While he debuted with the promotion riding a lot of momentum and the deeper context of who he fought matters, the UFC tenure of Zhalgas Zhumagulov did have more valleys than peaks. Entering the UFC off of a win over former UFC title challenger Ali Bagautinov, Zhumagulov would fall short in his promotional debut in a battle with Raulian Paiva. This came by way of unanimous decision at UFC 251: Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal and Zhumagulov then fell short against Amir Albazi on the Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 2 card.
After a subsequent victory on the Poirier vs. McGregor 3 event versus Jerome Rivera, the Kazakhstan native would then go on a four-fight losing skid. Those losses did notably come to Manel Kape, Jeff Molina, Charles Johnson, and then a split decision loss to Joshua Van.
After a pair of wins with Naiza FC, Zhumagulov then began his impressive run with Oktagon MMA and has not taken a loss in the sport since the narrow loss on points to the current reigning UFC flyweight champion, Van.