Zabit Magomedsharipov was not the last hope of his family for a dominant UFC champion.
A few years ago, talking about future UFC champions rarely agreed without the name of Magomedsharipov in conversation. The Dagestani went unbeaten about six fights in the Octagon to bring his overall MMA record to an impressive 18-1.
But just as he was tipped for considerable success in the aftermath of the victory of Magomedsharipov's UFC Main Event at Calvin Kattar, the 34-year-old disappeared from the MMA scene. And in 2022, the MMA pension from Magomedsharipov was announced, so that it was broadly branded as the largest 'what as' in the UFC history.
But with the premature end to a promising career, the torch may have been passed on to an even greater prospect.
The manager of Zabit Magomedsharipov says that the undefeated brother of Dagestani is 'much better'
While he was organized on the poundcast of Pound 4 Pound by two of his other hunters, former UFC champions Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz, ticked a prospect for big things.
Because fans continue to assess how high the ceiling could have been if Zabit had stayed in the sport for a few years, a different Magomedsharipov waves made.
And Abdelaziz claimed courageously that Khasan is “much better” than his prominent brother, even so far that he suggests that he would immediately fit into the best featherweights of the UFC.
“I will tell you something, Zabit has a brother who I think is much better than Zabit,” said Abdelaziz.
“He is fighting in PFL. He is 24 years old. I really believe – he is the same style as Zabit with a much better gas tank, struggling and struggling much better, and his striking, even better.
“I believe he can come to the UFC today and he is top five,” added Abdelaziz. “I tell you, he is better than Zabit.”
Khasan Magomedsharipov, who won a gold medal at the European Junior Championship in Wushu Sanda at the age of 15 and is a four-time Dagestan Wushu Sanda champion, arose as an emerging talent during a 4-0 stint under the Bellator Banner.
The Russian featherweight made the most recently a successful debut in the PFL by opening Tyler Mathison during a Champions series event in Dublin 13 months ago.
Ali Abdelaziz partially blame the UFC for the early retirement of Zabit Magomedsharipov
During the same podcast appearance, Abdelaziz thought about the surprisingly sudden end of the MMA career of Zabit.
The Egyptian manager pointed out the repeated failed attempts to book him against Yair Rodriguez as the catalyst. With that in mind, Abdelaziz believes that both he and the UFC are to blame for the shock period of Magomedsharipov.
“To be honest, he was booked three or four times with Yair Rodriguez. Yair Rodriguez continued to withdraw him,” said Abdelaziz. “He just lost love.
“I am not going to blame anyone for the UFC. I could not do it, but I am not going to do it. I think it was a little bit of the UFC's fault, and perhaps a bit of my fault. I should never have had them booked again with Yair Rodriguez. This man pulled three or four times, right?
“In a sense, I think Zabit has fallen off. He has many things, married, children. He said,” I don't have to do this, “Abdelaziz added.