Magomedsharipov Injured Before Comeback

Zabit Magomedsharipov's comeback has been delayed before it started — and the sport's most celebrated retirement is still without a competitive conclusion.

The former UFC featherweight contender was scheduled to face Raul Rosas Jr. in a no-gi grappling match at ACBJJ 21 in Moscow this Sunday, his first competitive appearance since his unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar at UFC Moscow in November 2019. An injury has forced him out. His younger brother Khasan, fresh off a first-round submission win at PFL San Diego last weekend, steps in to headline against Rosas Jr. in his place.

The timing is painful in a specific way. Magomedsharipov's original retirement was itself the product of cancelled fights — most notably the repeatedly postponed matchup with Yair Rodriguez in 2020 that never materialised, leaving him without a defining fight at the moment his career was building toward one. He eventually walked away, citing broken promises and the sense that the UFC had not delivered what was owed to him. Seven years of inactivity followed.

At 35, Magomedsharipov remains one of the sport's great unanswered questions. The Kattar performance in Moscow still circulates as evidence of what he was capable of. Whether the ceiling was ever properly tested remains unknown.