Zabit Magomedsharipov is officially off the August 29 fight night show.
Originally, the featherweight was set to square off against Yair Rodriguez in the main event; however, the latter was forced to pull out of the bout due to injury. Since then, Magomedsharipov has been angling to get a featherweight title shot against Alexander Volkanski, but the 145-pound champion shot down any notion that he’ll be stepping in as a replacement.
There were rumors that Calvin Kattar stepped up to take the short notice fight, but with the 29-year-old getting the victory over Kattar back in November, Magomedsharipov stated on Instagram that he doesn’t have any interest in a rematch and is only willing to fight a rank above him or a name talent (Transcript courtesy of BJPenn.com):
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.
When Magomedsharipov will make his return to the octagon is unknown at the moment. Rodriguez stated that he’ll be ready to fight around November, but since this is the second time that Yair has pulled out of a bout against Magomedsharipov then the featherweight may no longer be interested in that match-up.