5 potential opponents for Zabit Magomedsharipov's UFC return

#2. Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Brian Ortega

A win over Brian Ortega would instantly vault Zabit Magomedsharipov into title contention

Prior to his health issues, Zabit Magomedsharipov was knocking on the door of a shot at the UFC featherweight title, with another big win looking likely to move him directly to the front of the queue.

His time away from the octagon has obviously set him back from that goal, but if the native of Dagestan wishes to climb instantly back into contention, then the fighter he’d need to beat would be Brian Ortega.

‘T-City’ most recently came up short in a title bout with current champ Alexander Volkanovski, but the fight was an instant classic. More importantly, he is still clearly one of the most dangerous fighters in the division, as his wins over fighters like Frankie Edgar and Chan Sung Jung showed.

Naturally, this would be an incredibly tricky fight for Zabit to take on. While he’d hope to have an advantage in the wrestling department, whether he could outstrike or outgrapple ‘T-City’ would be a huge question mark.

However, if the Dagestani could find a way to pull off a win, then it’d be very difficult to deny him a shot at the title in the near future, perhaps even in his next fight.

The UFC may consider this one a step too far for a fighter who hasn’t fought since 2019, but if they were to book it, it’d be hard not to be intrigued by what might happen.

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#1. Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Yair Rodriguez

It'd be hard not to get excited over a fight between Yair Rodriguez and Zabit Magomedsharipov

Over the years, we’ve seen a number of UFC fights that have seemingly been cursed to never happen, with Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson instantly coming to mind, for instance.

One fight that could easily end up joining that list is Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Yair Rodriguez. The two flashy featherweights have been matched against one another on a number of occasions in the past, most notably at UFC 228 in 2018, only for the bout to fall apart each time.

However, with Zabit now ready to return to action and Rodriguez returning from his own absence in late 2021, could 2022 be the year to re-book this clash?

The answer ought to be a resounding yes. After all, there’s a reason why the pairing had UFC fans salivating when it was first discussed nearly four years ago. Both Zabit and ‘El Pantera’ are amongst the most entertaining fighters on the whole UFC roster.

Quite what would happen in this fight is impossible to predict, given that both men are skilled in all areas and also fight with reckless abandon, particularly on the feet.

Given that Rodriguez appears to have lost no steam in his recent fight with Max Holloway, it could also be a very tricky fight for Magomedsharipov to return to action in.

However, a win over the Mexican could easily vault Zabit into instant title contention, meaning that the risk could well be worth the reward. Given how excited the fans were to see this clash the first time around, the UFC ought to book it again as soon as they can.