Sharaputdin Magomedov was given the nickname of “Barbarossa” by his coach, from the Ottoman pirate and admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa.
“I arrive to take all the treasures, all the money, all the fame. I’ve been pirating in Russia. Now I am going to be pirating near the shores of America.”
When asked why Sharaputdin chose to stake his career in middleweight over welterweight, Sharaputdin responds “The opposition at 185 is more exciting… I have the power, the height, the weight, the skill, everything needed to succeed at 185.” Shara then says he would like to debut against Marvin Vettori because he saw him sparring at Tiger Muay Thai and people said his wrestling could give him problems; Shara ends the statement “Let’s go, I am ready to solve these problems.”
In another opponent he would like to test himself against, Shara picks Paulo Costa because he sees a threat “a threat I can erase, but it’s there”
“It’s the way of life in Dagestan that led me to martial arts. Street life… you have to stand your ground.” “This is the kind of experience a lot of kids don’t get now, smartphones, messengers… that kind of stuff. In my childhood we used to play offline, not online.”
Shara has told stories about his childhood before, saying his parents would be on the verge of kicking him out of the house only for the offense of getting a bruise when he would fight other children, thinking he lost and dishonored his family
Shara then says he thinks Adesanya will win the rematch against Alex Pereira “both Adesanya and Pereira are strikers, so anything can happen any time they fight… on this level nobody’s safe.” “I’ll be rooting for Pereira, but I think Adesanya will take this one.”
When asked about any “superpower” that he has, Shara comments “I think it’s from my ability to throw from angles nobody expects, sometimes I don’t even see these combos coming myself.”
The interviewer closes the interview “what’s up with the mall brawl, is the case closed?”
“The case is closed, but the video is still viral… it is what it is, it happened.”
