Rising Star Zabit Magomedsharipov Admits His Endurance Isn’t “The Best”

Zabit Magomedsharipov has drawn plenty of praise since arriving in the UFC. After all, the featherweight’s gone 6-0 to date in the Octagon. But, more recently the rising star’s cardio has come into question, and Magomedsharipov has acknowledged it isn’t the “best”.

Magomedsharipov comments on his endurance

Throughout much of Magomedsharipov’s UFC run he’s done nothing but impress. Not only has the Dagestan fighter defeated all six opponents that he’s faced. But, the 28-year-old has dropped jaws with his acrobatic striking, and Magomedsharipov has also demonstrated he’s a serious threat with submissions too.

But, in Magomedsharipov’s last two bouts against Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar, his explosiveness has been noticeably reduced in round three. Magomedsharipov won both those bouts. But, some have begun to wonder how he’d do in five-round headliners or championship fights.

While speaking to RT Sports not long ago, Magomedsharipov had this to say about his endurance (quote via LowKick MMA):

“I wouldn’t say that I’ve got the best endurance. I have no problems going five rounds during training. Sometimes my weight cut doesn’t go as planned. I can get sick. I use up a lot of energy, when you kick it takes a lot of you. If it’s just boxing, I can easily go five rounds. When you do the same thing all the time, it doesn’t take much energy.”

It’s interesting to see Magomedsharipov admit this, but at the same time, relay he doesn’t have a problem going five rounds in training. It could be that in training, he isn’t going to as many explosive techniques? Or he’s monitoring his offensive output more?

So, you have to wonder if moving forward, we might see Magomedsharipov take his foot off the gas pedal a bit more in the opening rounds.

And what about getting asked about his cardio?

Magomedsharipov was also asked to comment on being asked about his endurance all the time, and the dynamic fighter said this:

“At first it was annoying. Now, I don’t pay attention to it. Every other person I meet wants to talk about endurance. Everything’s okay, but it definitely gets tiring,” he said. “It must be contagious; every other person tells you the same thing. I have trainers, after all, they probably know what I’m missing. I know myself.”

Understandable right?

Magomedsharipov also reported in the interview that the plan is to have him fight at the April 18th, UFC 249 card. But, his opponent, which Zabit says is a top-five ranked featherweight, has yet to sign the bout agreement.