
Prospective UFC fighter Zabit Magomedsharipov announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in June. The 31-year-old, who had an amazing record of 6-0 in the UFC and 18-1 overall, made a surprise decision. Ariel Helwani, an MMA journalist, asserted earlier this year that Magomedsharipov's abrupt resignation was mostly motivated by his faith. However, the formerly rising featherweight star finally spoke up and disclosed the "primary reason" for his choice.
Fighting Flashback just posted a fresh interview with Magomedsharipov, in which he discussed his retirement. He said this when asked about his retirement,
“The reasons. There were many reasons,” he said. “Firstly because of refusals to fight with me. I had no fights for two years. Then there were injuries, I was sick a lot. I didn’t recover. Such, many reasons.”
“The main reason was that I was not able to fight,” he continued. “They didn’t give me a title shot. They promised one thing and did another. That was a little bit ... they promised me and didn’t keep a promise. That was the main reason why I got mad.”
In November of 2019, Zabit Magomedsharipov defeated Calvin Kattar by decision in his final UFC contest. Multiple attempts to match him up with Yair Rodriguez in a featherweight contender fight fell through because of persistent suspicions that Magomedsharipov had a condition that would end his career. Even though those health issues were actual, he sounded clearly dissatisfied with the way the UFC treated him in this most recent interview.
Zabit strongly refused when asked if he might engage in combat once more in the future, but left the door open.
“The time has passed, I don’t have such a desire,” he said before adding “I want to do it when I see someone fighting. When I join their training camp, me and other friends. There could be a wish. I have to think. I am going to think about your question.”
Zabit Magomedsharipov, a rising star in a violent sport, appears to want to devote the remainder of his life to helping others. Magomedsharipov updated his fans on his career earlier this year. His update, however, wasn't what his followers had anticipated. The Dagestani fighter ended his prizefighting career by announcing in an Instagram post that he is pursuing a career in medicine.
He was also asked about if he wants to pursue his career as a coach to which he replied positively. He stated,
“It could be. Why not?” he said. “It is interesting for me to work with children. Not adults, just children. To teach them. To communicate with them. It is interesting to me. I want to have rest from sport a year or two. Maybe then I will start, we will see.”
Magomedsharipov is only 31 years old, therefore there's still a remote chance that he might unretire. As things stand, he continues to be one of the biggest "What If" stories in MMA: a contender for the featherweight title who withdrew before putting himself to the test in a championship match.