Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Yair Rodriguez scheduled for August

A fight over two years in the making seems to finally be coming together. No. 3 ranked UFC featherweight Zabit Magomedsharipov (18-1) will face No. 5 ranked Yair Rodriguez (13-2) on a UFC Fight Night card some time in August, per the Russian news agency TASS.

Zabit’s manager, Rizvan Magomedov, says the fight is “in the works.” He also suggests that this will be a title eliminator: “Both fighters are on good winning streaks; the winner will fight for the title.”

Zabit is 6-0 in the UFC, while Yair is 8-1. Both fighters are known for their flashy, fan-friendly fight style. When Rodriguez last fought, he beat Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision, while Magomedsharipov’s last fight was a unanimous decision victory over Calvin Kattar at UFC Fight Night 163 in Moscow.

This is not the first time that this fight has been discussed; however, the previous negotiations were not fruitful.