Manager: Yair Rodriguez ‘Wants Nothing to Do’ With Zabit Magomedsharipov
A featherweight matchup between top prospects Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez has apparently been offered several times but it doesn’t appear the fight is any closer to reality.
On Wednesay a report surfaced that Magomedsharipov had been offered a fight with Rodriguez at the rumored UFC Fight Night card headed to Russia in September.
While the offer is very real it doesn’t appear that Rodriguez is interested in the matchup, at least according to Magomedsharipov’s manager Ali AbdelAziz, who says the fight has been offered several times but the former “Ultimate Fighter” winner has never accepted.
“Yair wants nothing to do with Zabit,” Abdezaziz said on Wednesday.
In a separate message on Twitter, Abdelaziz also confirmed the news that Magomedsharipov has been offered a fight with Rodriguez and accepted but that doesn’t mean the fight is actually happening.
A lot of media reached out to me about @zabit_mma fighting @panteraufc the fight was offered we accepted. Yair is a nice young man I have no issues with him but he wants nothing to do with Zabit. Like 99% of the division but this is the ufc job to match him not mine
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) April 25, 2018
According to Magomedsharipov’s manager, the fight with Rodriguez was proposed for dates in both July and August as well but by all accounts as of now it’s not expected to take place.
Rodriguez hasn’t fought since last May when he suffered his first loss in the UFC to former champion Frankie Edgar. Since then, Rodriguez has been retooling and recovering while awaiting his next fight in the UFC.
There were rumors that Rodriguez might return at UFC 225 in Chicago, which has been his adopted hometown since relocating to the United States but that card filled up quickly and didn’t leave much room for any late additions.
Magomedsharipov just recently inked a new multi-fight contract with the UFC after starting his career 3-0 with the promotion where he’s also won performance bonuses for all three of his fights.
As of now there’s still no word on when either fighter will return but at least for now Magomedsharipov and Rodriguez aren’t any closer to facing each other in the Octagon.
