With four victories in four Ultimate Fighting Championship appearances, Zabit Magomedsharipov (16-1) looks poised to find his place at 145 pounds. He is currently ranked No. 13, and a win over his next opponent may just propel him into the top 10, especially considering that opponent is Jeremy Stephens, who is now No. 6 on the list.
Magomedsharipov will look to topple his toughest assignment yet when he faces “Lil’ Heathen” at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 2 at UFC 235. Get to know more about the Dagestani fighter through this by-the-numbers report.
3: Fights at Russian-based promotion ProFC. Magomedsharipov started his professional career with a perfect record of 4-0, two of which were for ProFC. It is also in the said promotion where he suffered his first loss, a third-round submission to Igor Egorov.
12: Straight victories after suffering the first and only loss of his career. Four of those happened in the UFC where he also earned two Performance of the Night bonuses and one Fight of the Night award.
23: Takedowns scored in UFC competition. Magomedsharipov continues to be unstoppable with his takedowns, landing six in his most recent fight with Brandon Davis. His most in a single fight was against Sheymon Moraes at 11.
78: Percent takedown defense. As proficient as his takedown skills is his ability to stuff takedowns. In the UFC, only Mike Santiago was able to take him to the ground.
97: Significant strikes is his highest output in a single UFC fight. He did it on Kyle Bochniak at UFC 223. In the said bout, Bochniak suffered a broken orbital and multiple stitches on the head.
53: Percent striking accuracy inside the Octagon. Of the 405 significant strikes he has attempted, Magomedsharipov landed 214. As a result of his brilliant takedown techniques, he landed 22% of those strikes on the ground.
7: Submission victories on his resume. Magomedsharipov has slick submissions as evidenced by the variety of techniques he has tapped opponents with. He has won by rear-naked choke, armbar, triangle choke, guillotine choke, anaconda choke and a modified kneebar.
3: First-round finishes, all of which happened at the Absolute Championship Berkut. His victims include Abdul-Rakhman Temirov, Sheikh-Magomed Arapkhanov and Valdines Silva.
10: Rounds spent inside the Octagon. He spent two rounds with Mike Santiago, three rounds with Sheymon Moraes, three full rounds with Kyle Bochniak and two rounds with Brandon Davis.
5: Countries in which he has fought in. Magomedsharipov has displayed his skills at events in Ukraine, Russia, Netherlands, China and the United States.
12: Fighters ahead of him in the official UFC rankings. These are Chan Sung Jung, Yair Rodriguez, Ricardo Lamas, Josh Emmett, Mirsad Bektic, Cub Swanson, Jeremy Stephens, Renato Carneiro, Alexander Volkanovski, Frankie Edgar, Brian Ortega and Jose Aldo.
27: Years of age. Magomedsharipov was born on March 1, 1991 in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, Russia. His combat sports background includes freestyle wrestling and sanda.