A bout between ranked featherweight contenders Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez is being targeted for August 29.
Early Tuesday, a report from TASS confirmed with Zabit Magomedsharipov’s manager Rizvan Magomedov (corroborating an earlier report from Igor Lazorin) that the Russian contender is targeting a return on August 29 against fellow dynamo Yair Rodriguez in a bout with major title implications.
The pair have history as in 2018, Rodriguez had differences with the UFC over declining a bout with Magomedsharipov and was briefly released by the promotion. The two were later rescheduled for a bout at UFC 228 but Rodriguez was forced to withdraw once again due to injury.
Zabit Magomedsharipov goes into the bout on a 14 fight win-streak that includes six victories in the UFC. After entering the promotion with much intrigue, Magomedsharipov lived up to expectations with several impressive finishes that showcased his unorthodox and multi-faceted attack. He heads into the fight with Rodriguez after winning a Submission of the Year with his victory over Brandon Davis and going the distance with contenders Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar.
After winning The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America in 2014, Yair Rodriguez quickly became one of the top prospects in the promotion and was given a heavy promotional push from the UFC. Surging to a 6-0 start in the company, Rodriguez came up short against Frankie Edgar in 2017 and went on a hiatus for over a year that included being released and re-instated by the UFC. After his Knockout of the Year candidate over The Korean Zombie, Rodriguez had a pair of fights with Jeremy Stephens with one ending via No Contest in seconds due to an eye-poke, and and the other seeing him win a three-round decision in the rematch weeks later.
More news on the location and the undercard will be updated as they are announced.
