UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway defends his crown against Alexander Volkanovski in the co-main event of UFC 245 on December 14.
Should he earn a fourth title defense, “Blessed” will have no shortage of contenders lining up to face him next. One of them could be Zabit Magomedsharipov who most recently outpointed Calvin Kattar in the UFC Moscow headliner last month.
One person who kept a close eye on that fight was #12 featherweight contender Shane Burgos, with his only career loss coming to Kattar.
“It was a good fight,” Burgos said on a recent episode of the TSN MMA Show. “First round was really competitive. Back-and-forth. I think Zabit did a little bit more in that first round so he gets the first round. I gave the second round to him for the takedown. Third round was all Kattar. I really do wish it was a five-round fight.”
Magomedsharipov stated after the fight that he felt he was deserving of challenging for the featherweight title next.
However, Burgos isn’t completely convinced. He believes the upcoming UFC Busan headliner between Brian Ortega and the Korean Zombie on December 21 will ultimately decide things.
“I mean, it depends on how the Zombie fight goes,” Burgos added. “I think if Zombie beats Ortega, they’ll probably do Zombie vs. Holloway.
“And if they do that, I think they’ll do Yair [Rodriguez] vs. Zabit which is the fight that was supposed to happen, a fight that everybody wants to see anyway. Let’s say Ortega wins and Holloway wins — you got Yair and Zabit and it’s not clear-cut. I don’t know, it’s hard to say.”
In an interview with The Body Lock last month, Burgos also stated he felt the Korean Zombie had the style to cause Holloway some problems.
That said, “Hurricane” still expects to see Holloway and Magomedsharipov collide eventually, especially if it comes down to just the latter and Rodriguez.
“It’ll happen,” he concluded. “If Holloway wins this fight and Ortega wins, I do think they will fight.”