Zabit Magomedsharipov claims UFC denied him title shot due to Russian dominance

Zabit Magomedsharipov revealed that he believes the UFC deliberately avoided giving him a title shot because of the dominance of Russian fighters in the promotion. He stated that fights were postponed three to four times and they could not reach an agreement. According to Zabit, there was an understanding that if Yair Rodriguez pulled out a third time, he would automatically receive a title fight, but the UFC found numerous excuses when that happened. The promotion then offered him different opponents like Korean Zombie, but Zabit maintains that at the time, only he and Yair Rodriguez were the legitimate title contenders. Despite being a top-ranked featherweight, Zabit never received his promised championship opportunity before his eventual retirement.