Why Sharaputdin Magomedov Can't Fight in America

Having been a sports editor at Redbrick for two years, Oscar is now the deputy editor of the paper. He has also worked as a freelancer for GRV Media, and was a track and field correspondent for The Daily Campus at the University of Connecticut.

Oscar is a keen Liverpool fan, and follows the UConn Huskies basketball team after having a year abroad there in 2023. Sign in to your GiveMeSport account Sharaputdin Magomedov has certainly made a name for himself during his brief career in the UFC, winning five of his six fights in the promotion so far. However, one thing that everyone has noticed about the Russian is the fact that he's never been on a card that is held in America.

Four out of his six UFC fights to date have been in Abu Dhabi, while the other two have been in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and his next fight, which takes place this weekend, is also taking place away from the United States of America.

When asked previously about whether Magomedov would be able to fight in the United States, UFC honcho Dana White said: “Can he? Probably not. We’ll keep him out here.”

This may seem like a strange comment about a fighter who is five from six in his UFC career, but Magomedov may not be able to fight in the US due to an eye condition.

The Dagestani suffered an injury to his right eye back in 2016, and a lack of care meant that he required eight surgeries to try to salvage his vision.

In an interview with ATHLETISTIC, he said: "Before the operation, I was mainly afraid of an injection in the eye. I watched this video. Very unpleasant. I thought that was the most boring thing ever. And there were such operations when an injection in the eye had to be made, where it was removed, one might say. At this time, local anesthesia is administered, but you feel everything."

Sharaputdin Magomedov is now contender in the UFC middleweight division - and he's done it all with just one eye...

It is unlikely that the American fighting commissions would approve a one-eyed fighter, so it may be that Magomedov is forced to fight in the Middle East and elsewhere for the foreseeable future.

Perhaps White is also scared of the American backlash against supporting such a controversial figure outside of the Octagon.

In May 2022, Magomedov was involved in an assault at a shopping centre. He took offence to a couple kissing in public on an escalator, leading to an altercation in which he assaulted the boyfriend.

There was an initial confrontation after alighting the escalator in which the civilian threw the first punch, and then proceeded to somewhat hold his own against the MMA star. They were broken up by onlookers and security.

That was not the end of it, though, as Magomedov waited for the man by one of the exits to finish the business. The fighter threw a sucker punch that knocked the man to the ground, and he continued to stamp on his head. It was an ugly scene, with the civilian not being able to keep his guard up as he had done earlier.

With such controversial allegations, it would not be surprising if Dana White continues to utilise Magomedov’s services in the UFC away from the US, somewhat out of the limelight from the major events. This is also not the only time in which Magomedov has used his fighting background to embroil himself in controversy.

Shara Magomedov's professional MMA record (as of 24/06/26)

At the ADCC Southeast Asia tournament, he feigned a tap and continued to jump on and kick his opponent. He was not awarded the victory, and it highlighted his volatile nature in the Octagon. Allegedly, the cause of the anger towards his opponent was that he had gone back on his promise to use ankle locks before the fight. This has not been confirmed, though, so the lashing out could be due to the Dagestani just being a sore loser.