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Thread: No Zabit thread?

  1. #1
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    No Zabit thread?

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    Gene must be slipping in his old age

    Zabit Magomedsharipov is a Sanda and Sambo (and a whole bunch of other things according to Wikipedia) fighter who is the #5 ranked featherweight (145lbs) fighter in the UFC with a record of 17-1 (5-0 in the UFC). Despite his Russian heritage, he bears striking similarity to Abraham Lincoln . Like many greats, Zabit attended a martial arts boarding school at a young age, training with Gusein Magomaev (who as I understand it, was trained in China) for around 10 years. Zabeast, as he is sometimes called among fans, is a wrecking machine in the octagon, delivering heavy pressure to his opponents from his arsenal of kicks and when it gets in close he's shown to be very good at clinch work or just sending his opponents to the ground via hip throws or leg sweeps where he submits them with his sambo. His long frame really helps him, I'm sure. He's tall; especially for this division. Many feel that he's a future champion and he's likely 1 - maybe 2 tops - fights away from the title with his next fight being against Calvan Kattar in Russia on Nov 6. Zabit trains in Russia most of the year and when preparing for a fight he trains with Mark Henry (coach of former UFC champions Frankie Edgar and Eddie Alvarez) in New Jersey.

    Here's some media I pulled mostly from YouTube with the exception of this link from the Sherdog forum that talks some about the boarding school he stayed at for 10 years.

    Here is a video of his last fight against Jeremy Stephens (a fighter that some consider to be a real litmus test to the upper echelon of the featherweight division). His performance wasn't in typical spin-and-smash Zabit style as it turns out he broke his hand just before the fight. Commentary is in Russian; you're not likely to find one with english commentary on YouTube since UFC is retentive as hell about IP and stuff.

    Some highlights from two of his UFC fights where Zabit is doing typical Zabit things

    This is a good video from a YouTuber MixedMollyWhoppery who does commentary on MMA, Zabit, The Master and the Shaolin of Dagestan, talking about Zabit's life growing up and why he's such a badazz

    A shorter video from MindSmash talking about Zabit being the Zabeast that he is: "The Best Fighter They've Ever Seen" | Zabit's Hidden Footwork In MMA

    A short, 3min promo video of Zabit from the UFC

    and lastly, Zabit's interview with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani. He's joined by a fellow fighter and translator as well as his manager (who can't stop talking)

    Zabit's chances at UFC gold are rough, but still very possible. Later this year the current champion (Max Holloway) will be facing Alexander Volkanovski who is a training partner of the recent UFC champion Israel Adesanya and despite Max being a killer, many feel that he may meet his match in Volkanovski. Whether Zabit has to face Holloway or Volkanovski, both will be a tough fight but he's got some real gifts and his career in the UFC is only just beginning, so it's really not a matter of if he wins the title, but when; outside of the two mentioned, I don't think anyone else in that division will give Zabit much trouble.

    His wikipedia page says that outside of MMA, he's a multiple-time Sanda champion (4x Russian champion, 1x European champion, and 1x world cup winner)

    This guy is something really special
    Last edited by Kymus; 10-12-2019 at 12:25 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by bawang View Post
    like that old japanese zen monk that grabs white woman student titties to awaken them to zen, i grab titties of kung fu people to awaken them to truth.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sal Canzonieri View Post
    You can discuss discrepancies and so on in people's posts without ripping them apart. So easy to do sitting behind a computer screen anonymously, but in person I'm sure you'd be very different, unless you're a total misanthrope without any friends.

  2. #2
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    Here's a video of Zabit's only loss thus far. This was in 2013 before he was in the UFC and fighting for ProFC.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSSpUQ-t5wE
    Quote Originally Posted by bawang View Post
    like that old japanese zen monk that grabs white woman student titties to awaken them to zen, i grab titties of kung fu people to awaken them to truth.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sal Canzonieri View Post
    You can discuss discrepancies and so on in people's posts without ripping them apart. So easy to do sitting behind a computer screen anonymously, but in person I'm sure you'd be very different, unless you're a total misanthrope without any friends.

  3. #3
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    The week before a fight, the UFC puts up footage of older fights (usually their last one or two wins). Here's Zabit vs Kyle Bochniak in April 2018. This video likely won't be around after Monday (11/11)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPJAe3X4bSM
    Quote Originally Posted by bawang View Post
    like that old japanese zen monk that grabs white woman student titties to awaken them to zen, i grab titties of kung fu people to awaken them to truth.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sal Canzonieri View Post
    You can discuss discrepancies and so on in people's posts without ripping them apart. So easy to do sitting behind a computer screen anonymously, but in person I'm sure you'd be very different, unless you're a total misanthrope without any friends.

  4. #4
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    Zabit is scheduled to fight Calvin Kattar this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 163 in the main event. I'll do my best to update the results after the fight and give my take on it but you can either watch it on ESPN+, catch it on a pirate stream, or pay attention to the live stream results from MMA Mania (see below). The main card starts at 2pm (EST) so it may be 3pm or 4pm when Zabit fights

    https://www.mmamania.com/2019/11/5/2...tes-moscow-mma
    Last edited by Kymus; 11-06-2019 at 11:13 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by bawang View Post
    like that old japanese zen monk that grabs white woman student titties to awaken them to zen, i grab titties of kung fu people to awaken them to truth.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sal Canzonieri View Post
    You can discuss discrepancies and so on in people's posts without ripping them apart. So easy to do sitting behind a computer screen anonymously, but in person I'm sure you'd be very different, unless you're a total misanthrope without any friends.

  5. #5
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    I am slipping for sure. Thanks for bringing Zabit to my attention.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kymus View Post
    I'll do my best to update the results after the fight and give my take on it
    Cool Kymus. Thanks in advance.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  6. #6
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    My boy Zabit picked up another win, going 6-0 in the UFC and 18-1 overall in MMA!

    His opponent, Calvin Kattar was 3" shorter but had the same reach (Zabit is tall for the featherweight division) and is a power puncher with a style similar to Jeremy Stephens (who Zabit beat by unanimous decision back in March).

    In the first round, Zabit pressured with 4 punch combos and low kicks to the inside of Kattar's lead leg. Zabit would step forward in to a high horse stance and throw 3 jabs with his left, slipping Kattar's counter jab to the right very nicely, and then finish with a right cross or hook after Katter failed to counter because ZaBEAST was slipping real nice. Zabit said he was training with an elite boxer in preparation for this fight (the name of the boxer escapes me and as Zabit doesn't speak English, there's not a whole lot of media on him); it showed. Usually Zabit does like other Sanda fighters and pressures with all sorts of spinning kicks but this time he started out with some great boxing.

    In the second, Zabit started doing more of the typical Sanda with some spin kicks and also two attempts at a take down that ultimately failed. Kattar was landing a bit more and Zabit is known for not having the best cardio and that's likely why halfway through the round or so he went back to the boxing (to save energy)

    In the third, Zabit was tired. I think he was fighting off a staph infection (and like I said, his cardio isn't the best). Zabit spent a lot of time dodging Kattar's punches by keeping distance and leaning and moving back. A few times Kattar got Zabit real close to the fence (the danger zone, where lots of TKOs and KOs happen) but Zabit kept his footwork. Zabit countered some with kicks to the body but Kattar pressured him a lot with strikes to the body and swings to the head (which largely didn't connect unlike the body shots). With about a minute left in the fight, Zabit took Kattar down and was in his guard (if you're not familiar with the terminology, this is where you're between the other guy's legs. In BJJ it's called "full guard" as you're attempting to keep them from passing in to a more dangerous position that's closer to the body (scarf, side control, etc.) where submissions can be threatened). Kattar kept pounding on Zabit and kept his hips up to try and break Zabit's posture and force him to either disengage or lean in and eat punches, and eat punches Zabit did, but it was all on the top of his head; his chin was safe and sound. Zabit got a little close to passing (IIRC) and landed a few shots from the top and then the buzzer went.

    Zabit won by unanimous decision, winning the first two rounds and losing the third (which I would agree with).

    Zabit understandably wants a title shot next. The champ Max Holloway is defending his belt next month against the rising star Alexander Volkanovski, so Zabit will likely fight the winner of those two. In the post-fight interview in the ring, Zabit said (other than that he wants a title fight) that he was sorry for the poor performance in the third round and that next time he will be ready for 5 rounds against the champ. Most likely, that fight will happen within 6 months, though if Max loses and the UFC books an immediate rematch (which is somewhat possible, circumstances depending) then that will push things back.

    My only real concern with Zabit is his cardio. If he can square that away, I think he will really be an unstoppable force in the FW division given his high level of skill both as a striker and grappler; he can do it all, and he's the only one in that division that can say that.

    Zabit and Kattar's performance earned them a "Fight of the Night" award, which means that both fighters are taking home an extra $50K bonus from the UFC tonight
    Last edited by Kymus; 11-12-2019 at 08:39 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by bawang View Post
    like that old japanese zen monk that grabs white woman student titties to awaken them to zen, i grab titties of kung fu people to awaken them to truth.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sal Canzonieri View Post
    You can discuss discrepancies and so on in people's posts without ripping them apart. So easy to do sitting behind a computer screen anonymously, but in person I'm sure you'd be very different, unless you're a total misanthrope without any friends.

  7. #7
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    Luke Thomas, who is a fantastic fight analyst and MMA journalist, broke down the recent Zabit fight and made some light analysis of Zabit as a fighter in general.

    Just some background on the rounds he's talking about. All UFC fights are 3x5min rounds. The exception being a "main event" (the last fight on the card) and title fights. Zabit and Kattar were originally scheduled to fight a 3rd fight but something happened and they had to move the fight to Russia (visa issue? I forget) a few weeks later. As the fight in Russia was the final fight on the card, it would normally be a 5rd fight but Zabit was training for 3rds and as such he and his team wanted the fight to remain 3rds (and they likely already knew he had staph).

    Fighters train for certain rounds based on gameplan and cardio, so going from 3rds to 5rds can make a big difference for some fighters (especially explosive ones like Zabit)
    Quote Originally Posted by bawang View Post
    like that old japanese zen monk that grabs white woman student titties to awaken them to zen, i grab titties of kung fu people to awaken them to truth.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sal Canzonieri View Post
    You can discuss discrepancies and so on in people's posts without ripping them apart. So easy to do sitting behind a computer screen anonymously, but in person I'm sure you'd be very different, unless you're a total misanthrope without any friends.

  8. #8
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    The Weasel did his own take on the Zabit vs Kattar fight. The Weasel is a popular fight analyst/podcaster on YouTube who goes by a pseudonym like a handful of other analysts (Lawrence Kenshin and Jack Slack immediately come to mind)

    Weasel's thoughts on this are similar to that of Luke Thomas: Zabit is an incredibly skilled, highly intelligent fighter but he lacks the cardio to be unstoppable. Given, it has been confirmed that Zabit was dealing with staph during the fight, but slowing down by the third round is common for him and he's always won in spite of it. While I personally believe that Zabit is without question a top 5 fighter in this division, maybe even top 3, without either cardio OR knockout power his chances of winning the title and keeping it are slim. He's got great striking, has some unorthodox moves that he does perfectly, and is great on the ground, but that cardio of his is desperate for improvement. If he can fix that, I think he'll be an unstoppable force in the division. Given, I'm biased since I'm a huge Zabit fan, but what I'm saying isn't all that different from analysts are saying as well. Zabit is a force; he just needs to evolve a bit more and he will be the force to be reckoned with.

    Zabit wants a title shot next, but almost everyone else thinks he should fight at least one five-round fight before getting a title shot. I really hate to agree with that take, but I kinda have to. Hoping Zabit evolves in to his final form because he is the guy that can really rule this division given all his unique tools.
    Quote Originally Posted by bawang View Post
    like that old japanese zen monk that grabs white woman student titties to awaken them to zen, i grab titties of kung fu people to awaken them to truth.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sal Canzonieri View Post
    You can discuss discrepancies and so on in people's posts without ripping them apart. So easy to do sitting behind a computer screen anonymously, but in person I'm sure you'd be very different, unless you're a total misanthrope without any friends.

  9. #9
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    cool story

    Mixed Martial Arts
    How Dagestan’s ‘Shaolin Temple’ produced UFC stars Zabit Magomedsharipov and Muslim Salikhov
    Zabit and Salikhov’s traditional martial arts values instilled in them as students at a wushu academy founded by painter and philosopher in an empty field
    ‘The main goal is to develop all-rounded human beings,’ says school’s coach – ‘the world will know our lads conduct themselves with dignity’
    Pavel Toropov
    Published: 3:18pm, 8 Aug, 2020


    Zabit Magomedsharipov with his sanda medals (left) and Muslim Salikhov at the 2013 World Combat Games. Photo: Pyat Storon Sveta

    Russia already has two UFC champions. Zabit Magomedsharipov, from the Russian republic of Dagestan, could soon become the third. Another promising Dagestani fighter, Muslim Salikhov, was signed by UFC in 2017 and won his last four bouts.
    Zabit and Salikhov, practitioners of traditional Chinese martial art wushu sanda, are humble and courteous to a fault. The only thing media have to talk about are their performances in the Octagon.
    These traditional martial arts values were instilled in them when the pair where students at a boarding school known as Dagestan’s Shaolin Temple.
    Called Pyat Storon Sveta in Russian, or “five cardinal directions” (North, South, East and West, plus a fifth one that symbolises personal enlightenment) the school teaches wushu. It was founded by philosopher and painter Gusein Magomaev and his wife, Olga.



    Magomaev, now 70, was one of the most successful karate instructors in the Soviet Union. But in the early 1980s he switched to wushu, considering it the origin of all martial arts.
    The couple then left Moscow for Gusein’s native Dagestan, a multi-ethnic mountainous region in the south of Russia. Next to a village called Khalimbek-Aul, the Magomaevs started to build a wushu academy from scratch in an empty field. Soon hundreds of people started to arrive from all over the Soviet Union to learn.
    But the Magomaevs wanted to teach children. “The most noble profession that exists is working with children – raising them, educating them, coaching them,” Gusein said. They decided to turn the academy into a boarding school for boys where wushu was part of the curriculum. Dagestan was the right place to do it.
    In the 19th century it took the Russian Empire decades to establish its rule over the fiercely independent mountain people of the Caucasus in what is now Dagestan. In every one of the dozens of local ethnic groups, men valued bravery and prowess in battle.
    Nowadays, Dagestanis express their warrior genes in combat sport. Three million people live in Dagestan, just 2 per cent of the Russian population, but out of 10 Russian fighters currently ranked by the UFC, seven are Dagestani.


    Gusein Magomaev teaching wushu in his school in Dagestan in the 1980s. Photo: Pyat Storon Sveta

    The collapse of the USSR devastated Dagestan. The economy folded, poverty soared. The youth, deprived of education and employment opportunities, were sucked into an Islamic insurgency.
    Amid this chaos, the Magomaevs and their students put up buildings and recruited teachers. They funded everything, with the state practically bankrupt in the 1990s.
    The school formally opened in 1996, accepting boys from the age of 10 from all over Dagestan. There were no fees.
    One of the school’s coaches is Evgeniy Saschenko, who arrived in 1990 as a 14-year-old, travelling alone across 1,000 kilometresto learn wushu from Magomaev. “I told my parents that if they don’t let me go, I will run away,” Saschenko said.
    An outsider, Saschenko had to win the respect of the tough local boys and learn the customs. But his sporting career was cut short, as there was no money to send competitors anywhere. He became a coach.
    Saschenko recalls the hardships of the 1990s. During the insurgency he had to guard the school. “We were issued weapons and radios … the country was in chaos, but we had the strongest desire to learn and to train,” he says.
    “In the evenings Gusein Saigidovich (Magomaev) read to us – Plato, Seneca, Lao Tzu, about Confucius. He and his wife became second parents to me and to other lads.”


    Coach Evgeniy Saschenko with a student during a competition. Photo: Pyat Storon Sveta

    Thirty years later, coach Saschenko is still there. He married a teacher and their eldest son, Artur, is junior world kick-boxing champion.
    The school now has a large gym, modern classrooms and dormitories for 300 boys. Last year 170 children applied. The school could only take 50.
    By 2019, the school had produced 4,616 wushu champions – at regional, national, European and world level.


    Gusein Magomaev teaching a wushu class in the 1980s. Students arrived from all over the USSR. Photo: Pyat Storon Sveta

    Discipline is strict and the days are spent studying and training. “It is like the army – you know exactly what you must be doing, and when,” UFC star Salikhov recalls.
    The school walls are adorned with stern slogans. “Respect others and you will be respected. Look down on others, and you will be looked down on,” reads one.
    But the English department has colourful murals of London’s Beefeaters and red double-decker buses. The school prides itself on the quality of its English education.


    Zabit Magomedsharipov and Evgeniy Saschenko with students in the school gym. Photo: Pyat Storon Sveta

    This is not a Soviet-style “sports school” where grades and exam results are a formality. “The teachers demand a lot of you. You can get a good education here,” Salikhov says.
    Saschenko adds: “The main goal of our founder is to develop all-rounded human beings. If a person isn’t developed intellectually, it is like having a body part missing. If a person has no ethics, it is the same. There are many great athletes, but not all are worthy human beings.”
    At tournaments the students are even discouraged from celebrating after a win, says Salikhov. This is considered disrespectful.


    Coach Evgeniy Saschenko (right) with Zabit Magomedsharipov (centre). Photo: Pyat Storon Sveta

    Salikhov and Zabit reached the pinnacle of sanda. Five-time world champion Salikhov is acknowledged as one of the best – in 2006, he won the open-weight King of Kung Fu tournament in Chongqing, the first non-Chinese to do so. Zabit is five-time Russian champion and 2012 European champion.
    Despite sanda being well suited to MMA, the school’s students have trouble with one technique – finishing off the opponent, hitting a man when he is down and hurt.
    “I don’t like it. If you see that the guy is not going to get up, better walk away rather than really try to do him in,” Salikhov says.


    Muslim Salikhov kicks Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in their welterweight fight during UFC 251. Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via USA TODAY Sports

    Will this mindset affect their careers in MMA where brutality and notoriety drive up viewing figures and earning power?
    Saschenko’s reply is unequivocal. “Zabit and Muslim will find their own fans – there are many people for whom modesty and decency have value,” he says. “The world will know that our lads conduct themselves with dignity.”
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