Zabit Magomedsharipov: 5 things that made him great

#2. His grappling

On the ground, Zabit Magomedsharipov was no less spectacular than he was when he fought standing. Whenever he was on top of his foes, he often sought to secure wrist control to prevent opponents from framing him or threatening him with D'Arce chokes. He would also push the top of his head against his opponent's chin, breaking their posture. Whenever his foes rolled onto their stomachs to stand back on their feet, Zabit Magomedsharipov would immediately attack their exposed backs.

He'd trap his opponents with body triangles or sink in his hooks to flatten them out under him. Like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Zabit paid particular attention to his opponent's first line of defense during grappling transitions, immediately addressing minor defensive tactics before his opponents could build from them.

Whenever he was on his opponent's back, Zabit Magomedsharipov often used wrist control to tug his foe's arm down, trapping it under their body as he flattened them out, essentially turning them into a one-handed fighter. With his hand keeping his foe's other arm trapped, he used his free hand to punish them with punches.

These punches didn't always have the most power behind them, but their purpose was usually to create openings for submission attempts. If his foes became concerned about using their free hand to block the punches he was landing, they were no longer thinking about defending submissions. Once they began anticipating a punch, he'd slide his arm under their chin to set up a rear naked choke.

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#1. Immense creativity

Most fighters have a few techniques that they rely on and build their entire fighting system around. Jon Jones, for example, relies heavily on push-kicks to the knee, oblique kicks, side kicks, and posting his lead arm out as he leans away while retreating to avoid his opponent's strikes. Amanda Nunes often throws a jab-right cross combination with an occasional low kick and rarely deviates from that approach.

Zabit Magomedsharipov was different. The sheer variety of his skill-set rendered him incredibly creative, especially in the striking phase of combat.

Not only did he possess a dynamic array of kicks, but he presented threats from both his southpaw and orthodox stances. His confidence in his deep striking arsenal encouraged him to attempt strikes that other fighters would never dare to. In his UFC debut, Magomedsharipov fought Mike Santiago, defeating him with a rear naked choke in the closing stages of the second round.

A round before securing the choke, Zabit threw a round kick that Santiago immediately caught. His foe sought to use Zabit's captured leg to set up a single-leg takedown. As he pushed the Dagestani back to upset his balance, Zabit Magomedsharipov used his free leg, hopping in place, to time Santiago with a knee as his foe ducked in to initiate a single-leg takedown. His creativity is inimitable and wholly unique and part of why Zabit Magomedsharipov is a sight to behold.