Light heavyweight fighter Sharaputdin Magomedov has always been very vocal about his admiration for Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, the pair are not related at all despite hailing from the same country.
That doesn’t stop Magomedov from trying to follow ‘The Eagle’s’ way of life though. Like every other Russian fighter, ‘Bullet’ sees Nurmagomedov as a role model, the man who paved the way for other athletes like himself.
‘Bullet’ had once called ‘The Eagle’ an encyclopedia for him. Whenever he feels confused about what to do in a particular situation, he closes his eyes and thinks to himself, ‘What would Khabib do?‘.
To be fair, that would work in most cases. If someone is shooting for a takedown, or trying an armbar, or throwing a chair at your bus, do what Khabib did- don’t let them shoot, don’t let them stretch your arms, and beat the mad Irish lad and talk crap to him while you do it.
It’s all very simple and well-chronicled.
But it’s not just that. Khabib didn’t just set the bar, he paved the way for Russian fighters. By his own admission, people from his country earlier wanted to go to the Olympics. But now, they believe fighting and MMA will bring all the money and fame they want.
‘The Eagle’ is a trailblazer for sure, but he’s also a visionary, or rather his late father Abdulmanap was. The Nurmagomedovs have already trained a world champion, someone who is currently UFC’s pound-for-pound #1 fighter.
And he’s not even the only one. Each year, kids coming out of that region turn out to be more vicious and skilled than their previous generation.
Khabib runs a number of gyms in Russia and has his own fighting promotion, Eagle Fighting Championship.
So ‘The Eagle‘s story is something the ‘Bullet‘ looks to emulate. But Khabib is not the only one, young Shara finds himself motivated by.
Shara draws inspiration from Poatan
Shara is yet to have a ranked opponent on his resume. But given how well he’s done, that might cease to be the case soon.
In the UFC rankings, as one goes up every 5 steps up, the competition begins to compound. However, Shara believes he will be fine just like the current light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira.
Now Poatan was already an elite kickboxer even before he had stepped into the UFC, a finished product so to speak. But none of that inspired Shara. It’s his sheer willingness to be out there almost every 3-4 months and fight, something that Shara has also been trying to do.
In a recent interview with Red Corner MMA, the Russian fighter spoke about Pereira and how he can learn from his quick rise to being a champion,
“Not many UFC fighters get to the title so quickly. There’s a lot that I can learn from him. He’s a great example”
Now, a title shot for Shara is quite a bit away but ‘Bullet’ will need to channel his inner Pereira for his fight this weekend, which will be the toughest test of his UFC career so far.
As the curtain raiser for the main card, he takes on Armen Petrosyan and tries to defend his unbeaten record.
