MMA veterans Jorge Masvidal and Sharaputdin Magomedov will now be meeting in a submission-only grappling match at Hype Fighting: Brazil on March 11th, 2026. It’s a bit of an unusual matchup given that both men are much more well-known for their striking ability rather than their grappling, but it will likely still be exciting given their nature. Both of them are known for getting heated both in and out of competition, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see some kind of physical altercation happen. Obviously any officials will do their best to make sure that doesn’t happen, but it wouldn’t be the first time that referees haven’t been able to contain the action.
The booking also comes as a bit of a surprise because Masvidal has been fairly inactive for quite some time now. He announced his retirement from MMA after UFC 287 back in 2023 and has not stepped back in the cage since then, although he did get in the ring for a boxing match the following year. He lost a decision to Nate Diaz in 2024 and that was the last time that anyone saw Masvidal in action. At 41 it was getting increasingly unlikely that he would take either a boxing match or MMA fight, but grappling matches do tend to appeal to older competitors more.
The submission-only element does make it a lot more taxing, but it isn’t necessarily going to go down without a time-limit in place. Arman Tsarukyan and Magomedov fought to a draw when the time-limit expired in the last grappling match that Hype Fighting booked, so the same format might be used here. This isn’t the only grappling match scheduled for the promotion’s next show in Brazil either, as Arman Tsarukyan will be facing an unconfirmed opponent in the main event. The details for that bout will be announced in the coming days, although Hype Fighting owner Armand Martirosian revealed that he tried to secure Tom Hardy as his opponent.
Hype Fighting announced the news that Jorge Masvidal and Sharaputdin Magomedov would be having a grappling match at their next event in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
