Shara Magomedov has told of a secret inspirational conversation he had with Cristiano Ronaldo after suffering his first octagon defeat.
The Dagestani kickboxer is a rising fan favorite, and caught the attention of soccer icon Ronaldo as he headed to Riyadh back in February to face Michael ‘Venom’ Page. He met with the legendary striker before the fight, but it wasn’t enough to earn him victory as he was defeated over three rounds.
However, Ronaldo did speak with ‘Shara Bullet‘ after his defeat, sending him words of encouragement. Four months on, the Russian is ready to return at UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday against Marc-Andre Barriault.
Shara Magomedov had secret conversation with Cristiano Ronaldo after first loss
Following an initial meeting at an Al-Nassr training session, Cristiano Ronaldo and Shara Magomedov appeared to have developed a close bond. The legendary soccer star is a known fight fan, attending countless boxing and MMA fights during his time in Saudi Arabia.
He is known to be friendly with Francis Ngannou in particular, and clearly took a liking to ‘Shara Bullet’ as well. “Yeah we spoke,” Magomedov told the media when asked about what was said between he and Ronaldo.
“He just said to keep your head high and don’t get upset. He reminded me to just keep doing the work so I can come back to the winning streak.”
Shara Magomedov is ready for big-time return at UFC Abu Dhabi
Following his defeat to MVP, Magomedov noted on social media that he was dealing with brutal health issues heading into the fight. However, after some time to recover he is plotting a big result to re-announce himself to the UFC fanbase.
“I’ve said it before that I had health issues but at the same time I said that I felt twice as good as I felt before,” he admitted. “But in reality, my coaches are saying that I could feel even better and be twice as good as I am right now.
“As long as I keep disciplined and approach this with the right mindset I can be great. Before I used to come into this just as an entertainer, just to entertain myself and my fans and have fun, it was like a hobby to me.
“Now I have a whole different mindset, it’s like a job to me. I think that I will be able to now keep moving forward.”