Athletes
Shara Magomedov | The Pirate Returns
Eleven Months On From His Last Octagon Appearance, Shara “Bullet” Magomedov Is Back, And Ready To Put On A Show.
The co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres will see a middleweight matchup between two fighters with a penchant for violence, but they serve up their respective brands of MMA action in very different ways.
Michel Pereira is renowned for his video game-esque use of techniques, including backflips, spinning flying kicks, and running off the cage. While the Brazilian enters the cage as a human highlight reel, Shara “Bullet” Magomedov’s approach is much more straightforward – he wants to take your head off.
Magomedov walks down his opponents with a pressure-fighting style where he looks to back up his opposite number and connect with heavy strikes. He has some spinning techniques in his arsenal, too, but in the main, he’s just steady, but relentless, pressure, coupled with heavy hands.
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In Baku, the two middleweight crowd-pleasers will go-head to-head in a battle that Magomedov hopes will allow him to showcase his best work at an event that takes place close to his Dagestan roots.
“I’ve wanted to fight Pereira for a long time, even back when he had won eight in a row,” Magomedov told UFC.com this week. “But I'm happy that it will happen in Baku, because it’s a very close location to Dagestan. I will show what Kafkas is – the spirit of Kafkas.”
“Kafkas” is the term sometimes used to refer to the Caucasus region where Magomedov grew up. The region has produced a host of champions, including Khabib Nurmagomeov and Islam Makhachev, but Magomedov’s fighting style is markedly different from his two UFC champion compatriots.
His unique, pirate-inspired look, coupled with his crowd-pleasing fighting style, instantly drew the support of UFC fans as he racked up early victories over Bruno Silva, Antonio Trocoli, Michal Oleksiejczuk, and Armen Petrosyan. But in February 2025, the Dagestan-born fighter took his first career loss at the hands of the always-tricky Michael “Venom” Page.
Since that defeat to Page, Magomedov has bounced back with a unanimous decision victory over the gritty Canadian Marc-Andre Barriault, and on Saturday night he’ll look to make it two wins in a row when he faces Pereira, who earned a razor-close, split-decision victory over Zachary Reese in his last outing back in February.
The loss to “MVP” remains the only blemish on Magomedov’s MMA record, and he admitted he’d love nothing more than to rematch the Englishman in a bid to get that win back.
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“This will be the third time that I’m in the co-main event, and for the next fight, I want to be in a main event,” he stated. “I want a really big name, an opponent who is interesting for the fans and, of course, I am open to revenge with ‘Venom.’”
Shara Magomedov Fight Week Interview | UFC Baku
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Shara Magomedov Fight Week Interview | UFC Baku
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With matchups with Page and potentially former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya both of interest, Magomedov knows that a big win in Baku will give him the platform to call for his next opportunity. After seeing what happened against Page when he wasn’t at 100 percent, Magomedov made sure that he’s fully fit and ready to deliver in Azerbaijan this weekend.
“The main lesson is that if you fight, you need to fight in good shape, in good health,” he said. “We need to show our best to the fans when we're fighting.”
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Now fighting fit and ready to return, Magomedov has his focus on Pereira this weekend, but with two names on his mind, and a fight date already circled on his calendar, the UFC’s resident pirate is ready to make a statement in Baku on Saturday night.
“The fight will be like a fire, and the one who wants to win the most will win,” he stated. “I don't think that I need to expect something special. He showed all his skills in his previous fights, (and it’s) the same from me.
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“I want to fight maybe in Belgrade on August 1, but generally, I want to say that I want to show what Kafkas is, and my pirate ship is ready to travel to any location in the world.”
UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres took place live from National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 27, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!