Zabit Magomedsharipov was supposed to fight Yair Rodriguez at the end of August. However, the fight will no longer take place. Stuck in the situation with no current opponent, Zabit has decided to straight away call out the man at the top of the featherweight ladder – Alexander Volkanovski.

Dana White confirmed the reports of Rodriguez pulling out from the fight during the post-fight press conference of Dana White Contender Series. The Mexican has suffered from a high ankle sprain and a fracture. The UFC supremo added that they are looking for replacements as well.

Magomedsharipov, who is third in the UFC featherweight rankings, holds a perfect record of 6-0 in the promotion. This is the second instance when his pairing with Rodriguez has fallen through. Even in 2018, his opponent pulled away from the fight.

While the UFC matchmakers are probably looking actively for possible replacements, the Russian has instead called out the champ straightaway.

However, Volkanovski has just fought a tough five-round fight with Max Holloway in July at UFC 251. There is virtually zero chance of him making a return so early. In all likelihood, Zabit knows that too. A more likely assumption would be that he is just letting the champ know that he is out in the ranks waiting for him.

Calvin Kattar has also offered to step in against Zabit Magomedsharipov

A more likely opponent to replace Yair Rodriguez is the fighter out of Massachusetts, Calvin Kattar. Right around the time when the news of Yair’s injury broke out, Kattar’s manager Tyson Chartier made it clear that his client was very much open for the short notice opponent.

The New England Cartel fighter has already fought the Russian last year. In a three-round main event that took place in Moscow, Zabit took home the victory due to a unanimous decision from the judges. However, Kattar had a slow start in the contest. A number of people argued that had the fight been for twenty-five minutes instead of fifteen, Kattar would have had much more of an advantage.

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Regardless, Kattar has bounced back from the loss with back-to-back victories against Jeremy Stephens and Dan Ige. He also boasts of being the only featherweight at the top of the division who has fought this year, apart from Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski. With momentum on his side, he can look to avenge his defeat against Zabit on short-notice.

Source | @zabeast_mma on Twitter @TysonChartier on Twitter