Some wars are fought in silence, behind the scenes, against obstacles no one else can see. Sharaputdin Magomedov knows this struggle all too well. His journey to the UFC wasn’t just about perfecting his strikes or honing his kicks—it was about defying the limits of his own body.

Going against the grain as a fighter from Dagestan who’s known more for his striking than his wrestling, ‘Shara Bullet’ has built his reputation on precision and power. But how does he manage to do that with compromised vision? In a recent conversation with Michael Bisping, Magomedov revealed how in his darkest moments, it was ‘The Count’ who served as his guiding light to not give up on his dreams.

Michael Bisping finds out the impact he had on Sharaputdin Magomedov’s journey to the UFC

When Sharaputdin Magomedov met with Michael Bisping for an interview on his YouTube channel, it wasn’t just a meeting between two fighters—it was a conversation between two warriors who had walked the same path. “Obviously, we have a lot in common, with the eye,” Bisping acknowledged, breaking the ice. “I read it was an accident in Thailand, do you mind telling me what happened?”

Magomedov, speaking through a translator, peeled back the layers of his hidden struggle. His vision had always been unpredictable—some days clear, other days a blur. He voiced his concerns to his coaches, but their response was always the same: “No, it’s fine, just go and fight. You’re going to be all right.”

But as the stakes grew higher, so did the scrutiny. A medical commission finally called it out—“Hey, there’s obviously something wrong with your eye.” Yet, he was still allowed to compete. For Magomedov, it was a harsh reality. The dream he had fought for suddenly felt out of reach. That’s when he started following Bisping’s journey.

Magomedov confessed, “And that’s when I started following you and I saw that you were also having issues with your eyes, but you weren’t telling anybody. Because I was doing the same thing as you were doing, kind of squinting, hiding it from people”

But there was one problem—he didn’t know how to reach out. “I knew zero English,” he confessed. “I didn’t know how to approach you, how to write to you.” So, instead, he watched. He studied Bisping’s journey, his perseverance, and refusal to quit. And in that, Magomedov found the motivation to push forward. So, what exactly happened to his eye?

When pressed by Bisping, ‘Shara Bullet’ revealed that it was a detached retina, the same injury that led to ‘The Count’ losing his vision in one eye. His right eye endured eight surgeries, each more excruciating than the last. “My eyes were tortured specifically,” he once revealed, describing the procedures as nothing short of agony. But in the end, the damage was irreversible. The vision in his right eye was gone.

But Magomedov, much like Bisping before him, refused to see it as an end. It was just another challenge to overcome. However, before he began down the path he is on today, he almost became a member of the legendary Team Khabib if it wasn’t for one particular issue.

‘Shara Bullet’ reveals why he never managed to train under Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov

Sharaputdin Magomedov was born in Dagestan, the heartland of dominant MMA fighters, where wrestling is king, and striking takes a backseat. But unlike his countrymen, he doesn’t fit the mold. His kicks are sharp, his movement unpredictable, and his style closer to an artist’s brushstroke than a wrestler’s grind. Why? Because he never became part of ‘Team Khabib.’ And the reason? A haircut.

During a recent media event, ‘Shara Bullet’ confessed, “I always had a long haircut and in my childhood, youth, school time I heard about the gym. The problem was that to sign up there you had to have the haircut. There was one time I went there when Khabib was young, and he actually wasn’t training that day, so I trained.”

But then came the verdict from ‘The Eagle’s legendary coach and father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov himself. What was it? According to Magomedov, “I left, and the problem was that Abdulmanap said ‘You need a short bald hairstyle.’ Then, I didn’t understand the meaning of it, it seems that it may not interfere in principle. Yes, well, if you take it from the outside, why do you grow it?”

Imagine if he had traded his hair for wrestling mats and endless rounds of grappling. We would never have seen the brilliance of Magomedov’s striking. Instead, he chose to fight on—against the grain, against the odds, and against every limitation life threw his way. And now, when he steps into the Octagon against Michael ‘Venom’ Page at UFC Saudi Arabia, one thing is clear—Magomedov isn’t just another Dagestani fighter. He’s something entirely different!

What do you think about his perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!