Chael Sonnen “Captivated” by Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov after latest UFC victory

UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen believes surging middleweight Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov could become one of the sport’s biggest stars.

Magomedov passed his latest UFC test by unanimous decision over Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC Abu Dhabi last weekend. He remains unbeaten in his MMA career and is 3-0 inside the UFC Octagon.

Magomedov’s success in the cage is unprecedented, given some of his physical limitations. He suffered an injury to his right eye in 2016, which required eight surgeries and resulted in virtual blindness.

Sonnen is a student of MMA and one of the brightest stars to ever grace the Octagon. He believes Magomedov has what it takes to add his name to the all-time greats with some more development and experience.

Chael Sonnen is stunned by Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov’s quick ascent

In a recent episode of Good Guy/Bad Guy with Daniel Cormier, Sonnen reacted to Magomedov’s meteoric ascent.

“There’s something happening. When he comes on TV, there’s something happening. I might not know what it is, but he captivates me,” Sonnen said of Magomedov. “This guy is already a co-main event? That is an incredible career. He’s amassing a great record, because I’m not seeing all the skills there, because I don’t watch him and go ‘Wow, where has this guy been?’…when I look at ‘Bullet’, he belongs in big fights, he belongs on posters…

“I want to see this guy, I want to hear from this guy, learn about this guy. As far as the skills, I think he’s learning on the job, and he’s not the first guy that’s had to learn on the job. Israel Adesanya is about as complete of a fighter you’re going to find, but he wasn’t on Day 1. He had some holes. So if ‘Bullet’ is open to learning, absorb, take the criticism, take it to heart, he’s gonna have a fun future.”

Magomedov called out UFC fan favorite Nick Diaz immediately following the win over Oleksiejczuk. He also wants to fight at the UFC’s upcoming return to Abu Dhabi at UFC 308, featuring a featherweight headliner between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.