Zabit Magomedsharipov has claimed that the Ultimate Fighting Championship offered him a title shot to try and get him out of retirement.In recent years, Zabit Magomedsharipov has been one of the biggest ‘what ifs’ in mixed martial arts. Beyond that, you could argue that claim extends to the entire history of the sport. With an 18-1 pro record and a 6-0 record in the UFC, it always felt as if Zabit was destined for a world title. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen him in the Octagon since November 2019 when he beat Calvin Kattar.
The reason for that is that he retired from active competition last summer due to a string of health issues. Many have hoped that he’d eventually come back, but that hasn’t been the case for the 32-year-old.
During a recent interview, Zabit briefly revealed that he was offered the chance to fight for the gold as a way to try and facilitate his return.
Zabit’s struggles
“They immediately offered a battle for the belt, but I still said no,” Magomedsharipov said.
Quotes via MMA News
For most fans, the idea of Zabit Magomedsharipov going up against Alexander Volkanovski is fascinating. In equal measure, though, it’s been a long time since we saw him compete. He may not be a fan of coming back due to his health issues or, as he’s stated before, perhaps he doesn’t trust the UFC anymore.
The featherweight division has some absolute killers residing in it. Still, it’d be nice to see Zabit pop back up again.
What are the cliffs on his early retirement again? Did his mother ban him from fighting and such? He was fun to watch!
UFC worried about lackluster future. Aging top fighters in almost every division and few prospects. TUF has prospects vs veterans who almost wiped out prospects. All of sudden they’re interested in China and Mexico…
Take a deep breath to enjoy top level merit-based MMA because seems like, at least in my humble opinion, we’re about to take a deep dive.
Using Merridews fav gif for this zabit statement
Who? 
Bump.
Seen a thing on Zabit pop up on ESPN today. This dude should have been a champion. Any more information on why this man really retired early right at the peak of his career. He chose to retire when he could have won the belt and more
He has some immune disorder he ain’t coming back they probably wanted him for 300
Damn I miss Zabit…
One of the dags that I enjoyed watching,
Where did his brother disappear to
Such as shame we didn’t get to see his full potential
Crazy how zabit was only In The UFC for 2 yrs 2017-2019
Hot take here lol… I think we saw Zabit’s ceiling in that 3rd Round of the Calvin Kattar fight and I think he saw it too.
If you are fading in the 3rd Round in your Prime losing it against that Kattar then I don’t think you would be up for a 4th or 5th Round against better fighters than that like Volk or Max were at the time. And I think Zabit was the kind of fighter that only wanted to be the best and that last Round of his career was enlightening. Just my opinion which is why I started with hot take lol
I thought he’d be a gate keeper at best. With the exception of his win over Calvin, his UFC wins were against guys that were on the downslide or mediocre at best. Never was overly impressed with him, even in the Kattar win.
From google search:
Why did Zabit quit UFC?
Disruptions of fights, and then health problems - all this did not allow me to perform/fight earlier. I have recovered now, but I don’t feel the way I used to. I cease to be an active athlete, but I do not leave the sport.Jun 16, 2022
Is he a coach or trainer now?
They overrate this guy soooo much its insane.
He has cardio for 2 rounds. For all the cool striking he does he never finished an opponent with his striking.
I’ll never understand how people think this guy would stand a chance against Max, Volk, Aldo and anyone with a gas tank in a 5 round fight.