It has been a long layoff for Zabit Magomedsharipov, who has not competed since November of 2019 where he scored a decision win over Calvin Kattar.

The Russian prospect has an 18-1 record including six straight UFC wins.

His long stretch of inactivity is partially due to numerous scrapped bookings of a fight against Yair Rodriguez.

“Zabeast” was ranked at #4 prior to his removal from the rankings, with over seventeen months since his last bout.

Following this news, Zabit may be retiring from MMA. A source close to him informed Igor Lazorin of TASS, a Russian media outlet.

At just 30 years old, few were expecting a retirement from the hyped contender, and it certainly seems as though his extended layoff is unlikely to come to an end anytime soon.