Why Was Shara Magomedov Kicked Out of Khabib’s MMA Gym? Fans React at UFC Star’s Bizarre Ban by Abdulmanap

Preparing to take the stage against Michael ‘Venom’ Page at UFC Saudi Arabia, Shara Magomedov is determined to maintain both his winning streak and undefeated record. ‘The Pirate’ is the latest export from Dagestan but unlike most fighters from the region, he’s a striker who prefers to do his work on the feet. At one point, it seems that Shara ‘Bullet’ trained at Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father’s academy. Ahead of their clash, Magomedov opened up about a past experience that had him leave Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s gym and the reason might surprise you.

According to Russian media outlet Sport24, the undefeated fighter emphasized that he was initially part of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s group but had to withdraw his admission due to the fact that his hair was long, “He said three things that are important for an athlete. This is a hairstyle, the second is not to walk at night because there is no chance at night and the third is discipline to come to training on time.”

He further added, “The first one, 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. 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?”

According to Shara Magomedov, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov believed that a fighter shouldn’t concern himself with trying to impress or look good in front of girls. An athlete’s sole focus should be training, pushing his limits, and achieving greatness. Khabib and his father are infamous for their strict adherence to their religious beliefs, governed by strict codes and rules for living. And fans had a myriad of reactions to Magomedov’s confession. Let’s see what they had to say.

Fans divided over Shara Magomedov’s confession about Khabib’s father’s gym

Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov maintained a set of rules which defined how the fighters under him trained and it was mandatory for every fighter to obey that rule. A common feature of all his fighters is that they all sport extremely short hair or buzzcuts. One user emphasized that discipline and adherence to the rules of the program was the point, rather than Share Magomedov’s personal inclinations, “It’s not the hair that actually matters, it’s a discipline thing, as soon as he rejects something as trivial as cutting hair off it says he’s not committed to the program.”

On the other hand, another fan took Shara Magomedov’s side emphasizing that sporting long hair isn’t forbidden in the doctrine of Islam, “well in islam it isn’t haram to grow hair, it was just abdulmanap being too strict.” The short hair rule was perhaps more akin to Abdulmanap’s days as a military man, rather than his religious beliefs.

On the other hand, one user joked that ‘Bullet’ forgoing training under Abdulmanap for his hairstyle was a the reason for his shortcomings as a wrestler and grappler, “no wonder he has no wrestling.” One fan speculated that perhaps Shara ‘Bullet’ didn’t want to wrestle in the first place,“Every coach has their set gym rules, Shara doesnt like to wrestle anyway so it worked out for everyone.” 

Another fan called out ‘Bullet’ for not obeying the rules of the space, “Gyms have rules get in or move on.” Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov enforced strict rules and regulations, and it was no different for any student, whether it was his son Khabib Nurmagomedov or Islam Makhachev. Last but not least, according to a fan, Shara Magomedov should have listened to the late legendary coach as he could have had better takedown defense, “He should’ve listened ,maybe then he could stop and take down”

A little shift in the timeline and we could have witnessed a wrestling heavy fighter from the Khabib’s camp in the middleweight division. Regardless, what’s your take on Shara Magomedov’s story? Do you think he did the right thing by defying Khabib’s father or should he have complied? State your thoughts in the comments below.