What Happened to UFC Fighter Zabit Magomedsharipov? Inside the Details

Throughout its tenure, the UFC has cultivated the talents of a host of fighters at varying levels of skill and who have had varying levels of success. Not every UFC fighter becomes a superstar, and some of the most promising ones find their careers cut short, such as Russian fighter Zabit Magomedsharipov.

Zabit made his UFC debut in September 2017 in the Featherweight Division and also competed in the Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB) where he won the ACB Featherweight Championship. But what happened to him?

In June 2022, Zabit announced his official retirement following a long period of not lining up any fights. He was removed from the UFC official rankings due to inactivity in April 2021, when he was ranked No. 3 in the Featherweight Division at the time, according to MMA Mania.

While he did not disclose at the time why he decided to retire, that changed a few months later in an August 2022 interview. “The reasons, there were many reasons,” he began, per the outlet.

“Firstly because of refusals to fight with me. I had no fights for two years,” he continued. “Then there were injuries, I was sick a lot. I didn’t recover. Such, many reasons.”

“The main reason was that I was not able to fight,” Zabit shared. “They didn’t give me a title shot. They promised one thing and did another. That was a little bit ... they promised me and didn’t keep a promise. That was the main reason why I got mad.”

During the interview, Zabi was asked if he had any future plans to return to the MMA fighting world, to which he quickly responded, “No,” before elaborating why. “The time has passed, I don’t have such a desire,” Zabit said at the time. “I want to do it when I see someone fighting. When I join their training camp, me and other friends. There could be a wish. I have to think. I am going to think about your question.”

Per Bloody Elbow, since his retirement, Zabit has taken up coaching his younger brother Khasan Magomedsharipov and has also continued to train — but that hasn’t stopped fans and UFC president and CEO Dana White longing for his return.

According to the outlet, in April 2025, a video was posted on social media of Zabit shadow-boxing with a caption that read, “He will be back soon.” This development naturally caused his fans to excitedly speculate that he was poised for an official fighting return.

In the three years that he has been away, Dana has tried multiple times and used multiple tactics to get him back to the UFC, including offering him an immediate title shot if he returns.

As of now, there has been no official confirmation from Zabit or his team regarding his return to the UFC — but that hasn’t stopped fans from piecing together recent online breadcrumbs to determine if his return is imminent.