Last weekend a large-scale UFC tournament took place in Abu Dhabi. The main card of the tournament featured Russian middleweight Sharabutdin Magomedov, who fought against Polish Michal Olekseichuk.
Shara Bullet is perhaps one of the most colorful fighters of the best promotion in the world. Shara competed in pop MMA, then showed her prominence in RCC and AMC Fight Nights and ended up in UFC. In the best league in the world, Magomedov captivated everyone with his extraordinary appearance, for which he received comparisons with a pirate, and, of course, his striking fighting style. Shara, unlike other Dagestanis, focuses on stand-up work; the basis of kickboxing and Thai boxing makes itself felt. Bullet kicks effectively and efficiently, he is good at manual work and loves to throw knees and elbows in the clinch. The American audience likes all this and Magomedov begins to gain popularity not only in Russia.
Shara treated Olekseychuk with confidence:
Shara’s new triumph! Bullet’s confident victory over an experienced Pole
Shara, like Michal, entered the fight with Olekseichuk on two weeks’ notice, which is a pretty serious risk. But Magomedov immediately positioned himself as a fighter who didn’t care where or who he fought; he would take any option. Adding to the risk was the fact that Magomedov fought his last fight just over a month ago: on June 22, Magomedov finished Antonio Trocoli in a tournament in Saudi Arabia and earned his first performance of the night bonus.
Magomedov also received a bonus for the fight with Olekseychuk, though only for the fight of the night. Despite the fact that the Russian and the Pole came out without warning, they fought a brilliant fight. This was to be expected; Michal, like Shara, is a good striker and loves to fight in position. Magomedov did not change his style, he worked a lot with low kicks, hitting his opponent’s legs, threw several kicks at different levels, and of course there were some spectacular elbows and roundhouse kicks, with which Magomedov seriously cut the Pole. Olekseychuk tried to work as the number one, to exert pressure, but this did not give him an advantage, as Shara received him well and interrupted his opponent in the standing position. The only thing in which the Pole outperformed the Russian was in freestyle wrestling, but several takedowns and holding did not help Michal – Shara took a crushing victory by unanimous decision of the judges.
Fight between Michal Oleksiejczuk and Shara Bullet
Photo: Josh Hedges/Getty Images
Magomedov’s second brilliant victory in less than a month and a half – Shara follows in the footsteps of Khamzat Chimaev. But it is worth making a reservation right away. Firstly, Magomedov takes a rather big risk by taking part in fights on short notice and so often that Chimaev himself will not let you lie. Secondly, Shara’s future prospects in the division are rather vague.
Magomed is good in stand-up, not just good, but also versatile and dangerous. And this is enough for the early stages of his UFC career, because at this time Shara fought with stylistically convenient opponents: Bruno Silva and Michal Oleksiejczuk are strikers, and Antonio Trocoli made his debut in the league on four days’ notice. And at the same time, both Silva and Olekseychuk transferred Magomed to the ground, which, of course, is an alarming bell, because neither Bruno nor Michal are ever wrestlers, in total they have one victory by technique between them. But these guys went to fight with Shara when they could not counter anything on the stand, and they succeeded. Yes, on the ground both Silva and Olekseichuk could not do anything, but, again, this is not Magomedov’s merit, but the lack of skill of the opponents.
Why Bullet is so popular:
“Simple Russian men” and bright style. Why everyone loves Shara Bullet
Shara definitely needs to improve his wrestling and ground game, without this it is impossible to compete in the UFC. You can remember Alex Pereira, but this is rather an exception to the rule, and the Brazilian trains with Glover Teixeira and at least works on defense against takedowns. In addition, Pereira is too powerful – it is difficult to take down fighters of his size and keep them there.
Shara has noticeable gaps in his wrestling that simply will not allow him to become a champion. In the top 15 of the middleweight division there are many fighters who have good wrestling skills, starting with, for example, Marvin Vettori, with whom Magomedov wanted to fight, and there is no point in talking about Khamzat Chimaev. And in general, the top 15 middleweights have fighters with good wrestling skills; none of them will fight Shara in a stand-up fight.
Yes, Shara won three fights, all quite confidently and brilliantly – here we just have to give Magomedov his due. But Bullet lacks versatility – spectacular stand-up technique alone will not allow him to become a UFC champion. It is necessary to establish protection against takedowns and improve wrestling skills – without this, there is nothing to do with serious rivals in the promotion, even with such brilliant fighters as Shara Bullet.
