Last week UFC president Dana White announced that Yair Rodriguez suffered an ankle injury and out vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov, in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 33 on August 29, at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. A replacement was sought, but now Magomedsharipov has announced on his social network that he was returning home to Dagestan, Russia, and would not be fighting.
“Peace be upon you, greetings to all,” he began, via Google Translate. “I want to inform you that my fight on August 29 is not happening. Rodriguez was ranked #5. … Fighting those who are even lower in the rankings is a step back. I asked for either a title fight or a fight with some interesting opponent with a name. There were no offers, so we turn off our camp and return to Russia. For the second time in a row, UFC breaks off preparation at the final stage. Thanks to everyone who supported and waited for this fight. The team and I did our best.”
“ZaBeast” is on a 14-fight win streak, the last six in the UFC, capped by Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar.
It’s not known if the UFC will move a fight scheduled down the card like Robbie Lawler vs. Neil Magny into the main event position.
