What happened to Sharaputdin Magomedov’s eye?

Sharaputdin Magomedov, one of the most intriguing prospects in MMA, has just signed with the UFC. Magomedov enters the UFC at 11-0 with 10 knockouts and also has some impressive kickboxing wins including a decision over current UFC fighter and City Kickboxing product Blood Diamond.

Magomedov has won 11 straight MMA bouts including 8 first-round finishes, however many are still skeptical of his skill level as his MMA opponents hold a combined record of 112-57 and he has yet to face a truly elite opponent. The good news is all of those questions will be answered shortly once he steps into the UFC Octagon.

Sharaputdin Magomedov’s eye issues almost cost him his MMA career

One of the first questions most fans will have when they are first introduced to “Shara Bullet” will likely be “what’s up with his eye?” After suffering an eye injury early in his career, Magomedov required eight surgeries on his right eye.

Describing the process in an interview with Athletistic, Magomedov described the procedures as follows:

“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. …. They pierce [the eye] from two or three sides. It seems that a puncture is a camera, and the other two are something to pump, upload something there. I had many different stages, my eyes were tortured specifically.”

A daunting process indeed.

There were concerns Magomedov would not be able to fight again and that he may lose vision in the eye completely, but at the end of the process doctors cleared him to resume training and competing in MMA.  The whole process resulted in a nearly two-year layoff but since his return he has looked nearly unstoppable, finishing every opponent but one between the final eye surgery and press time.

Magomedov is also no stranger to controversy outside the cage. This past June, Magomedov went viral for punching a man in a mall in Dagestan for kissing a woman in front of him.

Magomedov will make his UFC debut at UFC 294 on Saturday, Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi.