In 1972, Zagalav Abdulbekov of Dagestan, Russia, became the first from the region to win an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling. Since then, the Dagestani wrestling tradition has produced Olympic gold medalists like Buvaisar Saitiev (1996, 2004, 2008) and UFC champions such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.
Dagestan has become synonymous with wrestling, so when a fighter hails from there, fans often assume his base is wrestling. But middleweight Shara 'Bullet' Magomedov is changing that narrative. Unlike many of his fellow Dagestani fighters, Magomedov lacks that decorated wrestling background. Instead, he’s steadily rising through the UFC ranks with his striking, making him one of the rare exceptions from this wrestling powerhouse.
Magomedov will look to extend his perfect 15-0 record on Saturday at UFC Saudi Arabia, where he faces Michael 'Venom' Page in the co-main event at anb Arena in Riyadh. Both fighters are highly regarded kickboxers, and Magomedov, who has 12 KOs, is coming off a spectacular spinning double backfist knockout of Armen Petrosyan.
Given that Magomedov and Page are two of the best kickboxers in the sport, it's expected to be a striking battle. If Magomedov gets near the top at 185, though, he'll run into fighters like champion Dricus Du Plessis and No. 3 contender Khamzat Chimaev, who have strong wrestling bases.
However, that doesn’t faze the colorful and confident Magomedov, who has made a career of defying expectations.
"We've seen other champions in middleweight, such as [Israel] Adesanya and [Alex] Pereira who are not necessarily wrestling-based guys," Magomedov said through interpreter Sergey Nagorny. "They don't have base wrestling. I think that my wrestling is much better than theirs. And then, being from Dagestan, this is something that I did anyways. [I did it] just even in the streets, a lot of times just wrestling my friends, or wrestling in a street fight, or even while I was doing kickboxing and Muay Thai, I would stop by the wrestling gym once in a while just wrestle for myself. [I did it] just to kind of keep that skill up for myself. So I think that it's not going to be an issue in the UFC for me."
While his wrestling is far from a handicap, the impaired vision in his right eye is a real challenge, at least in theory. Magomedov injured his right eye in 2016 and treatments failed. He has little to no vision and, as a result, can't fight in the U.S. where athletic commissions would automatically disqualify him.
The UFC has kept him in the Middle East, where he's able to meet the requirements to compete. He's 4-0 in the UFC, and this Saturday’s bout will be his second fight in Riyadh. His other three matches were in Abu Dhabi.
He's inspired by former middleweight champion Michael Bisping, who lost sight in his right eye in 2013 and went on to capture the title by finishing Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 on June 4, 2016. Bisping had trouble passing eye examinations he was required to take, but kept his impairment to himself. He managed to talk his way through the medical exams to win a title and eventually land in the UFC Hall of Fame.
It's difficult to imagine competing at the highest level with impaired vision, but Bisping's success has Magomedov believing in his ability to duplicate Bisping's feat.
"Bisping indeed was a big inspiration for me," Magomedov said. "Because of all the surgeries and all of the procedures that I had to have on my eye in order to try to fix it, I wasn't sure myself [I could compete at a high-level in MMA]. I wasn't sure if somebody with impaired vision like mine could fight and could actually do it. When I saw Bisping actually did it and he got the belt, to me, that served like a huge motivation."
His friends told him not to follow in Bisping's footsteps. They pointed out that Bisping was an established veteran who was making big money at the time of his eye injury. That, they said to Magomedov, motivated Bisping to fight on. They tried to tell Magomedov that he wasn't in a similar situation.
Young, beginning fighters make next-to-nothing, but Magomedov was inspired enough to shrug off the concerns of friends and family and pursue his dream.
"Since then, I've had more than 30 fights, 30 professional fights in kickboxing, Muay Thai and MMA," he said. "I did not listen to anybody [who told me not to fight] and it looks like it's paying off."
The decision to fight is paying off because he's 15-0 with 12 finishes and he's moved to No. 14 in the UFC's middleweight rankings. Only the best of the best enter the rankings, and while he still has a long path to the top, his success so far has captured plenty of attention.
He's won three post-fight bonuses in his four UFC fights and he competes knowing that a kickboxer in the same position he's in now once did it.
Title or not, though, Magomedov has already won. He's made it to the highest level of the sport, and he's succeeding. That makes him a champion whether or not Dana White ever straps that belt around his waist.