Failed opponent and former belt seekers
For Zabit Magomedsharipov, the fight at the UFC 249 tournament will be the seventh under the auspices of the largest MMA promotion in the world. In the previous six fights, he rather confidently prevailed, thanks to which he secured not only a place in the top of the division, but also the right to be considered one of the main contenders for the championship belt. At the same time, it is possible that a triumph in a duel with Calvin Cattar could open the way for him to the title, but Max Holloway confused all the cards. The Hawaiian suddenly lost to Alexander Volkanovsky and made the matchmakers think about holding a rematch.
This temporarily prevented Magomedsharipov and forced him to think about another intermediate battle. He found himself in a similar situation before, but then he got into the rivals the 11th number of the Kattar ranking table. This time, the Russians needed an opponent of a much higher level and status, a victory over which would remove all questions regarding his viability as the first applicant for the championship. In this regard, the former candidate for the rank of Brian Ortega became the ideal candidate.
Rumors about a fight between a Russian and an American have been around for a long time, but recently they have become more stable than ever. Zabit himself hinted about the fight with Brian, noting that an athlete from the top 5 division will most likely become his next opponent. According to journalist Brett Okamoto, in a personal conversation, Ortega confirmed that he was aware of conversations about his possible duel with Magomedsharipov. However, he has not yet received official documents.
It is noteworthy that Brian did not refuse to meet with Zabit, but noted that he intends to fight with him only five rounds. Thus, the American can hint at the problems of the Russian with endurance, which were revealed during the battles with Jeremy Stevens and the same Cattar. Magomedsharipov invariably sagged in the final five-minute period, thanks to which he gave not only vis-a-vis chances, but also food for thought to fans and experts.
Nevertheless, the Russian himself continues to deny the existence of problems with “physics” and expresses confidence in his readiness to cover the entire distance. In this regard, he should not give up the opportunity to conduct a five-round fight with Ortega, because this can be an excellent test for him in anticipation of a possible champion match. Previously, Magomedsharipov had never spent all 25 minutes in a cage, and Holloway and Volkanovsky had already proved that they felt great during long duels.
However, Ortega is not the only candidate for Zabita’s rivals. Also, the five strongest semi-lightweights of the UFC include Cheng Song Jung and Yair Rodriguez, each of which may well become an opponent of the Russian. Rumors about a meeting between Magomedsharipov and the South Korean have been around for a long time, and a duel was planned at all with the Mexican. However, he was injured and was replaced by Brandon Davis.
Earlier, Zabit already managed to declare that he was unlikely to fight Jung or Rodriguez in April, but such a development should not be completely ruled out. Ortega is a rather traumatic fighter, which he repeatedly proved in recent years. So, in 2016, the fight with Hakran Diaz was canceled through his fault, and in December 2019, he was forced to abandon the battle with the same Korean zombie. Then Brian tore the ligaments of the knee and it is not known whether he managed to finally recover from the damage.
Ex-counterpart Nurmagomedov and fighters from the top 15
As for Islam Makhachev, his situation is even more complicated. Two months before the show, there is no obvious candidate for opponents to the Russian, which seems to be a rather rare case. If Magomedsharipov at least roughly understands with whom he can fight, then his compatriot is in complete ignorance.
Initially, the main candidate for the battle with Islam was Kevin Lee. Athletes for a long time conflicted on social networks and expressed interest in face-to-face confrontation. But the UFC leadership decided differently and assigned the American a fight with Charles Oliveira. The native of Detroit himself was hardly upset, because he received the right to lead the tournament in Brazil, but the Russian remained in a difficult position.
Recently, there have been rumors that Makhachev will face off against Gregor Gillespie. The American had a series of 13 victories in a row and was considered an upward talent, until he was hard hit by the same Lee. At UFC 244, he was in a deep knockout, one of the ten best in 2019 according to RT, and dropped out of the top prospectuses of the division.
For Islam, a fight with Gregor would be an excellent test of strength and would help him enter the top ten, but judging by the reports of his partner Nurmagomedov, she would not be destined to take place. On his Twitter page, he mentioned the athletes with whom he wanted, but failed to arrange a fight recently. Makhachev noted Dan Hooker, Paul Felder and Kevin Lee, and also added Gillespie to their number.
If the Gillespie option is indeed no longer being considered, then the list of potential opponents of the Russian has narrowed to a minimum. It is very clear that he is not interested in the battle with a fighter from among the top 15, and only Conor McGregor, Donald Cerrone, Edson Barbosa, Al Yakvinta and Alexander Hernandez are free among the elite. In this case, the first two can be safely deleted. The Irishman is aiming for a champion title and is unlikely to exchange for something less, and his former counterpart received serious injuries and was eliminated indefinitely.
As a result, three athletes remain, while the most realistic is the fight between Makhachev and Yakvinta. Firstly, the Russian has already indicated a desire to beat Nurmagomedov’s former rival and challenged him on a social network, and secondly, he is more suitable than Islam for many indicators. So, Barbosa risks becoming too hard a test for him, even despite the fact that now the Brazilian takes only 10th place in the ranking. As for Hernandez, he is located on the 15th line and continues to recover after surgery on his shoulder. In this connection, his return to the cell remains in question.
Yakvinta is superior to Makhachev only in the ranking, but not in sports aspects. The Russian is obliged to have superiority in the struggle and certainly will not yield in shock equipment. Undoubtedly, it cannot be said that for Islam this fight will be a passing one, but you certainly should not perceive it as an outsider.