John Lineker Willing To Fight Zabit Magomedsharipov On Short Notice
The UFC is currently searching for someone to fight Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC 228.
Initially, Magomedsharipov was to face Yair Rodriguez on the card. That fight had been plagued from the very beginning. Rodriguez was involved in a highly-publicized spat with the UFC. Things got so bad that the Mexican was even released from the promotion.
Rodriguez took issue with the promotion wanting him to fight Magomedsharipov. “El Pantera” wanted a higher-ranked opponent instead. Both sides seemed to smooth things over soon after.
Yesterday (Thurs. August 23, 2018), however, it was announced that Rodriguez had pulled from the fight with an injury. This leaves his Dagestani counterpart without a dance partner for Dallas.
Enter John Lineker. The longtime bantamweight challenger has thrown his name in the hat as a potential replacement for Rodriguez. The Brazilian took to Twitter and threw out the challenge:
“ Hey Zabit! Since Yair is out, and no one wants me in my div. Ill fight you man!!!@zabit_mma @danawhite @seanshelby @ufc
— John Lineker (@johnlineker) August 23, 2018
Magomedsharipov responded to Lineker’s comments. He mentioned that he already called UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby, however, Shelby allegedly claimed Lineker is too small. That’s a fair argument. Magomedsharipov stands at 6’1” compared to a 5’3” Lineker:
I’m in! Let’s do it! Call mr. Sean Shelby but we called him. He said you’re too small. But I will fight you. Much respect for stepping up. https://t.co/n46k8gMN9r
— Zabit Magomedsharipov (@zabeast_mma) August 23, 2018
smaller but I am game!!
— John Lineker (@johnlineker) August 23, 2018
Lineker is sitting in a nice position at 135 pounds. The No. 6-ranked bantamweight is coming off back-to-back victories. In his last outing, Lineker scored a third-round knockout over Brian Kelleher at UFC 224.
Magomedsharipov has won 11 straight in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. He entered the UFC in mid-2017 with back-to-back submission wins. In his last Octagon appearance at UFC 223, he defeated Kyle Bochniak via unanimous decision.
It will be interesting to see who the UFC winds up pairing Magomedsharipov up with at UFC 228 – if anyone at all.
