In April 2012, Ruslan signed a contract with Bellator Fighting Championships. Magomedov was expected to compete in the, and was expected to face Brett Rogers in the quarterfinals at. However, Magomedov was forced out of the bout with a visa problems and replaced by Alexander Volkov.
Fight Nights MMA
Magomedov faced Strikeforce veteran and Cage WarriorsHeavyweight Champion Mike Hayes on February 23, 2013 on Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 10. He won via unanimous decision. Magomedov faced former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia on October 27, 2013 on Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 13. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
In February 2014, Magomedov signed a contract with the UFC to fight in their Heavyweight division. Magomedov made his UFC debut against fellow newcomer Viktor Pešta on May 31, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 41. By this time, Magomedov was splitting his training between the MMA Academy in Russia and Jackson/Winklejohn MMA in Albuquerque, USA. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Magomedov was briefly linked to a bout with Ben Rothwell for on August 30, 2014 at UFC 177. However, on July 9, the UFC announced Rothwell would be facing Alistair Overeem on September 5, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 50. Magomedov eventually was linked to a bout with Richard Odoms on the same card. However, on August 14, it was announced that the bout would be scrapped due to an injury from Odoms. Magomedov faced Josh Copeland on November 22, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 57. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Magomedov faced Shawn Jordan on October 3, 2015 at UFC 192. He won via unanimous decision. Magomedov was expected to face Gabriel Gonzaga on April 10, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 86. However, Magomedov was forced from the bout in early March due to injury and replaced by Derrick Lewis. Magomedov was expected to face Stefan Struve on October 8, 2016 at UFC 204, but had to pull out with injury. On September 26, 2016 Magomedov was suspended by USADA, the administrator of the UFC anti-doping program following a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection made on September 7, 2016 In February 2018, it was announced that Magomedov had received a two years USADA suspension after testing positive for ostarine in relation to a sample collected in October 29, 2016. In addition, Magomedov along with teammate Zubaira Tukhugov agreed to pay a total of 10,000 US Dollars towards arbitration costs. Magomedov was scheduled to face Marcos Rogerio de Lima on November 3, 2018 at UFC 230. However, it was reported on October 24, 2018 that he pulled out from the event due to visa issues and he was replaced by Adam Wieczorek. In April 2019, Magomedov received a lifetime ban from USADA after sustaining his second and third violations under the policy. Magomedov tested positive for two anabolic steroids in October 2018 and then in February 2019 refused to complete the sample collection process as requested by a doping control officer during an out-of-competition test session.
