As per a recent tweet from LA Times’ Lance Pugmire, who wrote that UFC president Dana White confirmed the news that rising featherweight prospects, Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez are targeted for UFC 227 on Aug. 4 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Done deal for UFC 227 @STAPLESCenter Aug. 4 according to @danawhite: Yair Rodriguez vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov…
— Lance Pugmire (@pugboxing) May 8, 2018
Shortly after, MMAfighting’s Ariel Helwani reported that talks are still in preliminary stage nothing is final yet.
Reports that Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Yair Rodriguez is done for 227 are premature. I reported weeks ago that’s the fight and date they want but I’m told it’s not close to done at this time. Not off the table and could very well happen but not done.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 8, 2018
Rodriguez (10-2) is one of the UFC’s most promising prospects, was riding on a six-fight winning streak, before being defeated by Frankie Edgar via TKO at UFC 211 in May 2017.
Zabit is 3-0 in the UFC, with most recently coming off a Fight of the Night performance against Kyle Bochniak. Magomedsharipov holds a professional record of 15-1, with 12 of those victories coming via knockout, technical knockout or submission.
UFC 227 is set to take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The event will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between former titleholder Cody Garbrandt and champion, T.J. Dillashaw.
