Magomedsharipov holds the
UFC partially responsible for his premature
retirement.
Magomedsharipov (18-1) is one of the biggest “what ifs” in MMA
history. From elite striking to grappling, the Dagestani standout
could seemingly do it all. However, Magomedsharipov fought for the
last time in 2019 and officially retired in 2022 to pursue a career
in medicine.
Magomedsharipov recently opened up about his premature retirement.
Magomedsharipov blames multiple fight cancellations, which
eventually took a toll on him. Magomedsharipov particularly notes
that he had multiple fights against fellow featherweight contender
Yair
Rodriguez canceled. After going through multiple training camps
and weight cuts, only to have Rodriguez pull out at the last
minute, Magomedsharipov had enough.
Rodriguez was even briefly released from the UFC after allegedly
refusing to fight Magomedsharipov. While Rodriguez was supposed to
fight Magomedsharipov upon his return to the UFC, the Mexican
pulled out again. However, Magomedsharipov also holds the UFC
responsible. Magomedsharipov claims that he had a deal with the UFC
that he would be granted the title shot if Rodriguez pulled out a
third time. However, the UFC allegedly didn’t keep its word, and
Magomedsharipov believes he knows why. According to
Magomedsharipov, with Khabib
Nurmagomedov and Petr Yan
already being champions, the UFC didn’t want a third champion from
Russia at the time. Magomedsharipov admits that the UFC was
promoting him well before Nurmagomedov and Yan became
champions.
‘How Much Can You Take?’
“Three or four times they had postponed fights and we couldn’t make
a deal,” Magomedsharipov told Absolute Championship of Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu (ACBJJ). “But all these times I was making weight, going
through camps, flying out to America. And by the time you get
there, you’ve already been through so much: weight cut, training
camp and everything. And then you arrive, and two or three weeks
before the fight, they tell you, ‘That’s it, he’s injured.’ And
they postpone again. I’d go home again and start getting ready all
over again. Imagine that like five times. I got tired of it, like,
how much can you take?
“We had some agreements with them: if he pulls out of the fight a
third time, they would automatically give me the title fight. And
the third time he found excuses… Then they started offering me
someone else, first ‘Zombie,’ then some other guy. But really at
that time it was just me and Rodriguez; the two of us were
contenders. And they just didn’t want to make me a champion. I know
why, too. Because at that time we already had a lot of champions
from Russia. Khabib was the champion then, and Yan. And because of
that it wasn’t beneficial for them that a third champion would be
from Russia. At first, before [Khabib and Yan] were around, they
promoted me really well.”