After what will likely be one of the most spectacular KOs in UFC history, Shara Magomedov is now on high moons. He has brought some of his focus back to a long-standing pursuit after UFC 308. That pursuit walks the walk and talks the talk by the name of Israel Adesanya. Shara ‘Bullet’ is loading in the magazine aimed at the Nigerian-Kiwi. The former 185-pound champ and very recent title challenger gave quite an animated reaction to it.
Like many other fighters, Adesanya was doing a live stream watch-along of UFC 308 from the Ethiad Arena. The rising UFC star scored a memorable second-round backfist KO of Armen Petrosyan (read highlights). During his post-fight moments, Magomedov called out Izzy again. ‘Stylebender’ bent some classic memes to answer.
Keep my name out your fu*king mouth…[points and chuckles]..what [sassily] what he say fu*k me for?
Israel Adesanya during UFC 308 watch-along for his Official YT channel (@FreeStylebender)
Luckily for Shara ‘Bullet’ Adesanya was watching the card and enjoyed his knockout. However, the two-time UFC middleweight champ wasn’t pleased with his call-up. He went the route of Will Smith‘s infamous Academy Awards outburst at Chris Rock (yes, it’s a recurring theme). Then, Adesanya followed it up with rapper 50 Cent and his iconic line.
Israel Adesanya reacts to Shara Bullet’s callout:
“Keep my name out your f***ing mouth… What the f*** did I do? Why he say f*** me for?” 😭
🎥 YT / @stylebender #UFC #MMA #UFC308
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 27, 2024
Adesanya is fresh off a title loss at the UFC 305 pay-per-view (PPV) top bill in Perth. Twice removed from the equation since 2023, he is rebounding slowly. Hence, Adesanya took the call out in stride, using the infamous ‘memes’. But, while the one-pirate is on a rise, he’ll hardly jump to the former champ in his next billing. He might find an opponent in Michel Pereira or Kevin Holland meanwhile. Magomedov is in no rush though.
Shara Magomedov pledges to pursue Israel Adesanya after UFC 308, just like their kickboxing days
Magomedov (15-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) remained undefeated on Saturday, with a sensational second-round TKO. Magomedov tossed a spinning backhander, and when the first landed, he turned and tossed another with the opposite arm. It landed cleanly, and Petrosyan was done. Consequently, it was a clear indicator of the talent pool to come after the UFC 308 main card opener (pay-per-view, 2 p.m. ET) at Yas Island.
Not surprisingly, Magomedov picked up a $50,000 POTN pay-per-view value fight bonus. But he didn’t immediately go for the “Dana, give me a title shot” road or call out prime consensus superstars. Instead, he wants to fight former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. He says he’s been after him since they were in the kickboxing world together. Now, he doubles down on that notion by any possible means.
I used to chase Israel when he fought kickboxing in China. I was fighting kickboxing in China too, Now that he switched to MMA, and now that I’m here, I’m ready… I’m ready to fight him … I beat his friend and sparring partner, Blood Diamond, in China and I was ready to fight him. I’m in no rush…
Shara Magomedov during UFC 308 pay-per-view (PPV) post-fight backstage interviews
Adesanya is in his first career slump. He lost the UFC 281 middleweight title to Alex Pereira but regained the title for UFC 287. This was followed by a loss at the hands of Sean Strickland 13 months ago. At UFC 305 in August, he suffered his second straight loss to new champion Dricus Du Plessis.
However, the Russian from Team GOR MMA knows what it means to fight such a name and prove himself. Magomedov is in no rush to get this done. He isn’t streamlining for gold right now either. There are a lot of hunters, predators, and barnburner fighters looking for gold. But middleweight has just one ‘pirate’ and easy “Izzy” is what he wants to poach next.
