Shara Bullet remains interested in Israel Adesanya fight, but he’s willing to step aside for training partner

In the aftermath of his UFC Baku victory, Sharabutdin Magomedov is still intrigued by a potential bout with Israel Adesanya, but he could hand that opportunity to someone else.

Shara “Bullet” was featured in the UFC Baku co-main event this past Saturday. He mixed it up with Michel Pereira in a bout that wasn’t without some controversy. Referee Herb Dean was scolded by Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall for failing to deduct a point from Magomedov despite pulling his opponent’s hair and delivering an eye poke.

Nonetheless, Shara “Bullet” walked out of National Gymnastics Arena with a unanimous decision win. During the post-fight presser, Magomedov was asked about his desire to fight Adesanya, who is a former two-time UFC Middleweight Champion. Magomedov listed his reasons, but he wouldn’t mind if his teammate, Abus Magomedov, gets to fight “The Last Stylebender” instead (h/t Bloody Elbow).

“He is a great match-up, a great fighter,” Magomedov said. “He’s fast, good size, he’s tall, he’s very interesting and he isn’t that old still.

“It would have been a great exciting match-up for me, but if I need to let my brother Abus take that match-up then that’s what I’ll do. Abus is an awesome dude, we trained together for this whole camp, I knew he wanted to put that choke in because he was training it all camp.”

Abus was also featured on the UFC Baku card. He secured an opening round submission against Michal Oleksiejczuk. It was a nice bounce back win for the 37-fight veteran, as he had been coming off a loss to Joe Pyfer. Abus is now 4-1 in his last five fights.

It’s been a rough stretch for Adesanya as of late. He hasn’t earned a win since knocking out Alex Pereira back in April 2023. Adesanya has gone 0-4 since that victory, but he doesn’t plan to retire from pro MMA competition just yet.

Would you rather see Israel Adesanya fight Shara “Bullet” or Abus Magomedov? Is there someone else you have in mind for “The Last Stylebender?” Tell us in the comments below.