At UFC 308, Sharaputdin Magomedov defeated Armen Petrosyan with a spectacular double-spinning back fist, earning him the biggest victory of his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) history. He continued his 15-0 pro MMA run with the second-round TKO at the Etihad Arena. Now, he has set his sights on former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya as his next opponent. In the post-fight interview, he called out Adesanya by saying, “I’m happy, very happy. Listen to me. I am the best striker in this division. I will smash Israel Adesanya. Stay in your seat. This island was captured by a pirate—don’t panic.”

However, despite his $50,000 performance of the night victory, it is worth noting that Magomedov is still unranked and Petrosyan has been his biggest opponent in the UFC run so far. As a result, Israel Adesanya’s friends Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo have some words of warning to share with ‘Bullet’ before he gets himself into a fight with ‘The Last Stylebender.’

On the recent edition of his ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast with Cejudo, Usman shared that despite the beautiful finish in the end, it was actually Petrosyan who dominated the first and second rounds of the match against ‘Bullet.’ So if it wasn’t for the TKO, Sharaputdin Magomedov might’ve simply lost the match. Because of this, Usman believes the 30-year-old Russian is not yet ready for an opponent like Adesanya.

Usman said, “My man [Magomedov] threw two [spinning backfists] and got Petrosyan out of there. He had great footwork the whole fight. It’s a bigger version of Zabit. Fantastic matchup for him, a good step up. I know at the end of the fight he called out Israel Adesanya. Slow your roll, buddy, slow your roll.”

The opinion was seconded by former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion, Henry Cejudo. The 37-year-old shared his belief that Israel Adesanya‘s kicks can be really brutal for Sharaputdin Magomedov to face. For a fighter who relies on his strong foundation, it is something that can be easily broken down by ‘Izzy.’ He said, “Israel would break his [Magomedov’s] foundations with kicks.” But will Magomedov and Adesanya actually have a match anytime soon? Well, that’s up for Adesanya to decide who truly had an intriguing reaction to ‘Bullet’s’ callout.

Israel Adesanya’s reaction to Sharaputdin Magomedov’s callout

Israel Adesanya is known for being an anime fan and often talks as if he truly is an anime protagonist. However, this time it was his inner Hollywood star who shared a reaction against the callout by Sharaputdin Magomedov at UFC 308. ‘Izzy’ was watching the event, and as soon as he heard ‘Bullet’ calling him out, he channeled his inner Will Smith to give out a solid reaction.

Taking to his Twitter, he recreated the infamous Academy Awards moment by saying, “Keep my name out of your f—king mouth… What the f–k did I do? Why he say f–k me for?” Well, it surely looks like Adesanya is not highly interested in facing Magomedov. Instead, he would go for other fights, such as facing Michel Pereira.

However, he would still have ‘Bullet’ waiting for him, as Sharaputdin Magomedov revealed in the post-fight interview that he is in no rush and would be willing to wait to have the fight. “I’m in no rush. I’m not running in front of the train. The only way for Israel Adesanya to avoid the fight with me is to retire.” It surely looks like the 30-year-old desperately wants this fight to happen. But what do you think? Will ‘Bullet’ be able to defeat someone like Magomedov? Let us know in the comments.