UFC featherweight Charles Rosa has offered to fight Zabit Magomedsharipov in the wake of Yair Rodriguez withdrawing from their August 29 main event.
Fans have been waiting a long time to see Magomedsharipov go head to head with Rodriguez, but now, they’ll be forced to wait a little bit longer after Rodriguez withdrew from the bout due to an ankle injury, as reported by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
Now, the aforementioned Rosa has stepped up in order to throw his own name into the hat, citing a fight he had against Rodriguez many years ago as proof of his credentials.
I’ll fight him!! 👊🏻 send it @ufc I beat yair in Mexico City #BostonStrong
— Charles Rosa (@CharlesRosaMMA) August 5, 2020
“I’ll fight him!! Send it @ufc I beat yair in Mexico City #BostonStrong”.
During the fight in question back at UFC 188 in June 2015, Rodriguez was able to edge out a narrow split decision win over Rosa. Of course, as you can probably tell by his tweet, the American still doesn’t seem to agree with the decision made by the judges that night.
While Rosa may believe he’s worthy of taking on Magomedsharipov, plenty of others will almost certainly feel the same way, and that includes Calvin Kattar. Kattar also offered to step in against Magomedsharipov, who he lost a close decision to in 2019, after Rodriguez withdrew from the fight.
The featherweight division is arguably as stacked as it has ever been before, and with so many contenders making themselves known, you’d have to think the rest of 2020 is going to be pretty stacked at 145 pounds.
Hopefully, the UFC is able to find somebody to step in against Zabit Magomedsharipov—whether it’s Charles Rosa, Calvin Kattar, or another willing party.
Who would you like to see get the short-notice opportunity against Magomedsharipov?