"It's already too late" - Fans fall for Zabit Magomedsharipov's rumored UFC return teased by teammate on April Fool's Day

Fans were recently sent into a frenzy after Zabit Magomedsharipov's teammate teased his return to action via social media on April Fool's Day. Given Magomedsharipov's perfect 6-0 record in the UFC, it's no surprise that many were hoping the April Fool's Day prank was real.

After making his professional MMA debut in May 2012, Magomedsharipov quickly racked up an impressive 13-1 record before signing with the UFC. After beating Mike Santiago via second-round submission in his promotional debut at UFC Rotterdam in September 2017, he went on a five-fight unbeaten run before officially hanging up his gloves for good in September 2022.

Given that he abruptly ended his professional career after showing considerable promise, many hoped to see him make a comeback someday. With fans still keen on the idea, it's unsurprising that Magomedsharipov's teammate could successfully prank many of his social media followers.

In an April Fool's Day post on Instagram, Magomedsharipov's teammate Muskhab Kudiev shared footage of the Dagestani fighter sparring and captioned the post:

"He will be back soon."

Soon after, fans flocked to the post's comments section to share their reactions to Magomedsharipov potentially coming back to active fighting.

One fan wrote:

"It's already too late. Who does he want to fight?? With Movsar [Evloev]? With Islam [Makhachev]? With Umar [Nurmagomedov]? On condition of the UFC."

Another fan wrote:

"Bring it back!"

Check out some more reactions below:

Screenshots from @muskhab_mudiev on Instagram

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When Aljamain Sterling revealed that Zabit Magomedsharipov knocked him out during training

After Aljamain Sterling's win over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 last April, many commended 'Funk Master' for his performance. Given that Magomedsharipov also holds a win over Kattar, many began comparing Sterling's win to the Dagestani fighter's victory.

When one fan lauded Sterling for controlling Kattar in a manner that Magomedsharipov couldn't via an X post, the former UFC bantamweight champion revealed that the retired MMA star had once KO'd him in training. He wrote:

"Zabit TKO/KO'd me in training back in 2017, when I [was] smaller and had NO idea who he was. This fight was scary for me because of how well he fought Zabit, and I'm thoroughly happy with the performance over a beast of a competitor."