UFC lightweight fighter rejects offer to renew contract in favor of pursuing fight in Russia

‘The Tajik Tank’ has surprisingly rejected a brand new offer from the UFC as he pursues a debut fight in Russia.

Loik Radzhabov made his debut within the UFC back in 2023 when he took on the impressive Argentinian prospect, Esteban Ribovics.

After picking up the impressive unanimous decision win, the Tajikistan-born German was immediately highlighted as a possible future contender within the lightweight division.

But now just three years on from his first fight under the UFC banner, the 32-year-old is leaving the premier MMA promotion in the hunt for greener pastures.

Which UFC weight class is currently the deepest and most enjoyable?⚖️

Lightweight has all the time been thought to be the very best weight class within the UFC, but several of the divisions at the moment are catching up.

Loik Radzhabov rejects latest UFC contract in pursuit of fight in Russia

Following his win over Ribovics, Radzhabov was matched up with all-action lightweight, Mateusz Rebecki, who subsequently knocked him out within the second round.

He then rebounded with a 3rd round win over Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady almost a 12 months later, before then suffering one other loss to Trey Ogden in July 2024.

Since then, the 32-year-old has been out of motion and it was reported that he had been cut from the promotion last 12 months, nevertheless, latest details have emerged regarding his UFC exit.

“They told me let’s do a fight somewhere after which I can come back but I already don’t wish to anymore,” Radzhabov recently told Take Down TJK.

“I said I’d relatively fight in other leagues, I desired to fight in Russian leagues since there are a whole lot of our countrymen here and at the identical time, when there are some difficulties, they’ll help me immediately and there (within the USA), it’s harder,” he continued.

The 18-6-1 lightweight went on to disclose that he has now entered negotiations with Russian promotion, ACA, to fight under their banner next.

“We entered negotiations with ACA but to date they’ve not offered me anything, we were talking but then the last item I wrote didn’t say yes or no.

“I feel in October or November (I will likely be back), ACA tournament in Tajikistan, I feel I’ll perform there if we agree.”

Radzhabov went on to confess that he has received offers from other European promotions and can likely return to those offers if he isn’t capable of successfully come to terms with ACA.