The confirmation of the new contract, which tied Muradov to at least four more duels in the elite organization, came in mid-March. The Uzbek then even arranged a match, which he subsequently had to cancel due to an infection on his body. And now the shock. Surprise.
First, foreign fight servers reported on the unexpected news, then a hot turn in the UFC was also confirmed on social networks by a native of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. “I just landed in Istanbul and, like you, I got the news that I’m not a UFC fighter as of today. I wrote to the managers… I don’t know why, but I just got a message saying thank you for everything and stuff like that. They didn’t write the reason,” said Muradov.
At the same time, Muradov first peeked into the UFC in 2019, he fought a total of seven duels overseas, leaving as the winner four times, losing twice, and the last match against the Russian juice Aliaschab Chizriev ended without a winner due to an illegal hit with a finger in the eye. However, Muradov will not add another fight in the cage of the elite league, he was unexpectedly fired.
“It doesn’t matter, life goes on,” says the most famous Uzbek in mixed martial arts. But he will certainly have no shortage of future offers. By competing overseas, he built a good negotiating position. He admitted to Sport.cz that he does not rule out a return to Europe. “In a short period of time, three organizations wrote to me asking if I wanted to go to them, but we’ll see. I certainly don’t want to go somewhere abroad. On the contrary, I want to enjoy the home fans, because I see Oktagon or KSW growing. Now it depends on the menu. I don’t want to shout that I’m going here or there,” he says.
Thus Muradov’s journey through the American league ends, but he does not intend to collapse. “It’s over. I wrote to the managers because I want to know what and how, but if the UFC says it’s done, then it is,” admits the end of the five-year chapter. “It does not matter. One door closed, another opened. We’ll see what comes next.’
The coming weeks will tell which offer from a rival organization is the most attractive for the 34-year-old slugger. Apparently, a return to the Czech-Slovak scene, where Muradov worked just before leaving for the UFC, is also not ruled out.
