The rising star of Shara Magomedov in the UFC seems to be unhindered by even a first defeat in February while fans continue to follow the Russian.
With more a kickboxing background than the traditional Sambo and the struggle of his native Dagestan, Magomedov burst on stage in 2023. He continued to switch off rivals until finally met his competition on Michael 'Venom' page in Riyadh earlier this year.
Now he returns to UFC Abu Dhabi against Marc-Andre Barriault in an attempt to re-enter the win column. Indeed, though UFC victories have come, despite the fact that 'Shara Bullet' is blind in one eye and competes with a glass eye.
How did Shara Magomedov lose his eye?
It is unclear when Shara Magomedov sustained his eye injury exactly, but it is understood that he was injured during a Muay Thai sparring session and eventually lost the view. He tried to stop the damage, but after eight operations his vision could not be saved.
Doctors finally recommended that he completely removed the eye that he explained during an interview with Athletistic. This made the hunter terrified, who did not want injections to his eye much less to lose it completely.
“Before the operation I was particularly afraid of an injection in the eye,” he said. “I watched this video. Very unpleasant. I thought that was once the boring thing.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
“And there were such operations when an injection had to be made, where it was removed, one could say. At the moment local anesthesia is being administered, but you feel everything.”
Eventually, between his injury and the fact that he struggled financially to live in Dagestan, he considered withdrawing completely. But instead, instead, he went to MMA, where he made a name for himself in Russia before landing a UFC contract.
As a result of his injury, it was difficult for the UFC to book him all over the world. He is able to compete in Saudi Aarabia and the VAE, but it seems that many big states would refuse to license a hunter who has only one employer who has limited his career.
Shara Magomedov was inspired to compete by the rise of Michael Bisping
After his MMA retirement, Michael Bisping became notorious because he had fought for a world title in one of his eyes without a vision. Years earlier he was blinded during a fight with Vitor Belfort, and by the time he eliminated Luke Rockhold for the belt, he had only one work.
Since then he has taken Magomedov under his wings in a certain sense, even though the couple has a pretty substantial language barrier. The Russian cannot speak a word of English, and even if he could bisping the Dialect of Bisping from Noord -Engand, is probably confusing for those who are new in the language.
“It's incredible, man, what you have achieved so far,” Bisping told Magomedov during a video on his YouTube channel before the page fight. “I know what you will do in the future and you should be very proud, I am inspired by you, I really am and I really mean that.”
“You are a legend,” Magomedov said at a rare moment of emotion of the otherwise Stoic knockout artist. “To be honest, if it wasn't for you, I would probably have stopped fighting.”