It looks like a pivotal featherweight clash will be taking place on Aug. 29 and it’s between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez.
Magomedsharipov’s manager, Rizvan Magomedov, spoke to Russian outlet TASS. He revealed that the UFC is looking to book his fighter against Rodriguez on Aug. 29 (h/t Sherdog).
“They are working on this fight,” Magomedov said. “They proposed Rodriguez to us because [Max] Holloway and [Alexander] Volkanovski will have a second fight. Therefore, we will fight with Yair. It will be a contender fight: Both fighters are on a good winning streak; the winner will fight for the title.”
While this is a crucial bout as it is between the number three-ranked Magomedsharipov and the fifth-ranked Rodriguez, if Rizvan is to be believed then this will be a number one contender bout. Champion Alex Volkanovski is set to put his 145-pound gold on the line against Max Holloway in a rematch on July 11. That bout will serve as UFC 251’s co-main event.
Magomedsharipov is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Calvin Kattar back in Nov. 2019. This extended Magomedsharipov’s winning streak to 14. He hasn’t suffered a loss since April 2013.
As for Rodriguez, he last competed back in Oct. 2019. “El Pantera” defeated Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision. Rodriguez has gone 2-0, 1 NC in his last three outings. He hasn’t been defeated since May 2017 when he suffered a TKO loss to Frankie Edgar.
MMA News will keep you up to speed on the UFC’s planned event for Aug. 29.
