Zabit Magomedsharipov went 6-0 in the UFC without ever fighting for the title. He beat Calvin Kattar. He beat Jeremy Stephens. He was ranked inside the top three at featherweight and was scheduled to face Yair Rodriguez in a fight that would have put him next in line for the belt. Rodriguez pulled out. The fight was rescheduled. Rodriguez pulled out again. By Zabit’s account, that cycle repeated roughly five times. “Then you arrive, and two or three weeks before the fight, they tell you, ‘That’s it, he’s injured,’ and they postpone again,” he said. “Imagine that about five times. I got tired of it.”
He retired in June 2022 and has not competed since. On Sunday at Ora Arena in Istanbul, he steps onto a grappling mat for the first time in six years.
Event Details
Event: ACBJJ 22
Date: Sunday, August 30, 2026
Location: Ora Arena, Istanbul, Turkey
How to Watch: DelinquentMMA on YouTube (stream link to be updated)
Full Card
ALL-STARS NO-GI (70kg): Youssef Zalal vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov
ALL-STARS NO-GI (90kg): Kerim Engizek vs. Belal Muhammad
BATTLE GRAND TITLE (60kg): Moris Boleyan vs. Muhammad Mokaev
ALL-STARS TITLE NO-GI (60kg): Khalim Nazruloev vs. Asu Almabaev
BATTLE GRAND TITLE (80kg): Lom-Ali Eskiev vs. Islam Omarov
GRAND TITLE NO-GI (70kg): Gabriel Sousa vs. Gairbeg Ibragimov
BATTLE (70kg): Kamariddin Khasanov vs. Owais Yaqoob
ALL-STARS TITLE NO-GI (90kg): Magomedrasul Gasanov vs. Brendan Allen
BATTLE (80kg): Attila Korkmaz vs. Husein Kadimagomaev
BATTLE (100+kg): Kasim Aras vs. Ibragim Chuzhigaev
GRAND TITLE GI (100+kg): Matheus Felipe vs. Yatan Bueno
NO-GI (60kg): Hüseyin Kaya vs. Kaan Kazgan
BATTLE (70kg): Dilshod Norkuziev vs. İşfak Seyit
NO-GI (80kg): Yunus Emre Batan vs. Agshin Babayev
BATTLE (80kg): Dzhabar Askerov vs. Roger Huerta
NO-GI (100kg): Ibragim Tsechoev vs. Abdullah Mert Yağmur
BATTLE (90kg): Evgeny Morozov vs. Saygid Gusein Arslanaliev
Main Event: Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Youssef Zalal
In the UFC, Zabit was something most featherweights were not built to handle. His footwork and range management came from a striking background that went beyond the Dagestani wrestling everyone expected. He had a 73-inch reach at 6 feet 1 and used it to control distance in a way that made opponents look slow. His only professional loss came in 2015, years before the UFC run. In six fights under the banner he was never truly threatened. Then the Yair Rodriguez situation played out over two or three years of rescheduled and canceled bouts, and he stepped away.
He coached his brother Khasan and stayed largely out of public view until February 2026, when he signed with ACBJJ. At ACBJJ 21 last month, he was booked to make his return against Raul Rosas Jr., withdrew due to injury, and Khasan stepped in as his replacement. Rosas submitted Khasan. Rosas and Zabit had a staredown after. None of that is resolved, but Sunday in Istanbul is not about Rosas.
Youssef Zalal is 18-6-1 and not the kind of opponent you ease a returning fighter back in with. He has four submission wins in the UFC, tied for second most in featherweight division history. Last October he submitted Josh Emmett with an armbar in the first round. Before that, he beat Calvin Kattar by decision. Zalal’s most recent fight was a unanimous decision loss to Aljamain Sterling in April, a step up in competition that shows where he has been operating heading into this.
Zabit’s base is Dagestani, built on wrestling and pressure. Zalal will be hunting submissions. What we do not yet know is what six years away from competition does to a fighter’s ability to impose himself on the mat. There is no record of Zabit competing in a grappling event before this. Sunday is the first data point.
Co-Main: Belal Muhammad vs. Kerim Engizek
Belal Muhammad, the former UFC welterweight champion, steps off the MMA canvas and onto the grappling mat against Kerim Engizek, a former Oktagon welterweight titleholder. Belal built his UFC career on wrestling and clinch control. This is a chance to see what that looks like in a no-gi submission environment where the cage wall is not a factor.
Muhammad Mokaev vs. Moris Boleyan
Muhammad Mokaev built his reputation in the UFC flyweight division on relentless pressure and a submission game that never stops looking. Born in Dagestan and based in Manchester, he carries a wrestling-first approach supplemented by an active ground game that has set him apart from most fighters his size. At ACBJJ 22, he faces Moris Boleyan in a Battle Grand Title bout at 60kg. Boleyan has competed across the European grappling circuit and arrives with hardware on the line. This is one of the more compelling bouts outside the top two fights on this card.
Brendan Allen vs. Magomedrasul Gasanov
Brendan Allen has one of the more credible submission games in the UFC middleweight division. He has finished fights throughout his career and shown a willingness to take on difficult matchups at any level. At ACBJJ 22, he steps into a no-gi grappling environment against Magomedrasul Gasanov, a Dagestani wrestler whose base was built for exactly this kind of competition. Gasanov’s wrestling pressure will meet Allen’s submission awareness in an All-Stars Title No-Gi bout at 90kg, with a belt available to whoever can impose their game over the full match.
Elsewhere on the card, Roger Huerta steps onto the grappling mat against Dzhabar Askerov in a Battle bout at 80kg. Huerta was a fan favorite during the UFC’s mid-2000s expansion, finishing fights with enough style and intensity to land on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2007. Askerov brings a high-level kickboxing background and now tests what that translates to in a submission environment. Evgeny Morozov and Saygid Gusein Arslanaliev close the card in a Battle bout at 90kg, two physical fighters looking to end things before the judges get involved.
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