Shara Magomedov gets honest about eye condition with UFC veteran, who has also gone through similar ordeal
UFC middleweight prospect Shara Magomedov is quite the unique individual in the sport. Not only is he one of the most dangerous strikers in the UFC today, but he's also blind in one eye. You read that correctly. 'Bullet' fights - and wins - against some of the most dangerous men in the world while seeing through just one eye.
You might think that this remarkable feat is unheard of but you'd be wrong. This was done by another guy before - and he became a UFC champion. We're talking about former UFC middleweight champion and bonafide legend Michael 'The Count' Bisping.
The English MMA icon walked so the Dagestani rising star could run. It's not a surprise that Magomedov looks up to Bisping as an inspiration. In an interview with Bisping himself, Magomedov spoke of a time when he used him as motivation for a title fight in a local promotion in Russia (translated):
"I needed some sort of motivation to be able to fight in the championships. Because I thought that with my condition, I was never going to be allowed to do that. And that's when I started following you. And I saw that you were also having issues with your eye but you weren't telling anybody."
'Bullet' added:
"When I saw what you were able to achieve with you condition - my condition's very similar - you were a huge motivation for me to even be in the sport in the first place."
Check out Shara Magomedov's comments below (3:00):
Michael Bisping and Shara Magomedov agree that the eye problem never bothered them
Michael Bisping thanked Shara Magomedov for the kind words and said that he is humbled by the realization that his pursuit of greatness despite his disability inspired someone. He also mentioned that, like 'Bullet', he initially suffered from a detached retina but his condition progressed to glaucoma.
Despite this, 'The Count' found tremendous success inside the octagon. He simply never felt like the eye condition mattered - which is crazy for any able-bodied human to hear.
Bisping said (4:18):
"It never bothered me. People were always like, 'well, how do you fight with one eye?' But for me, I was like, I knew I could fight and I still became the champion. The only problem for me was obviously the doctors and the commissions and things like that. It doesn't look like it bothers you."
Magomedov will fight Michael 'Venom' Page in the co-main event of UFC Saudi Arabia this weekend. In his five-fight UFC run so far, 'Bullet' has only fought in the Middle East.