Sharabutdin Magomedov may never be a UFC champion: Analyzing his limitations after UFC Saudi Arabia

Sharabutdin Magomedov is one of the UFC's latest imports from Dagestan, a distinct region in the Caucasus mountains of Russia, where combat sports runs deep in the veins of many. Magomedov, at first glance seems like yet another monster destined to conquer the UFC division unlucky enough to host him.

He has an undefeated record consisting mostly of finishes, and a frightening appearance that evokes memories of action movie villains. However, he is no unstoppable wrestler like many of his Dagestani contemporaries. In fact, wrestling is a glaring weakness in his game. He is a striker instead.

While this renders him more exciting to the casual fanbase in search of knockouts, he also lacks the dominant run of form expected of a Dagestani prospect. And after his recent UFC Saudi Arabia win over Antonio Trócoli, there appears to be a ceiling for 'Shara Bullet.'

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Sharabutdin Magomedov's skill-set is more flash than substance

Sharabutdin Magomedov made his promotional debut at UFC 294, where he took on Bruno Silva, who also welcomed reigning light heavyweight king Alex Pereira into the fold. Ahead of 'Shara Bullet's' first octagon appearance, he boasted an 11-0 record, of which 10 of those 11 wins were knockouts.

He had only gone to decision once and had looked like a vicious buzzsaw during his reign of terror in lesser promotions. Unfortunately, his bout with Silva revealed the first hint of trouble. Silva, though a respectable fighter, is not a strong wrestler by any means, yet conceded three takedowns to the Brazilian.

While it was understandable for Pereira to concede a few takedowns against Silva, as he was only on his sixth MMA fight with no prior amateur experience, it was unacceptable for Magomedov, who was on his 12th fight and hailed from a region of the world famed for its deep pool of wrestling talent.

"He's a bad boy, he's tough. His first fight in the UFC. I don't know how he's from Dagestan and has zero takedown defense."

Check out Dana White talk about Sharabutdin Magomedov's wrestling:

Even UFC CEO Dana White expressed bemusement over 'Shara Bullet's' poor anti-wrestling skills. He doesn't dig for underhooks frequently enough to initiate a sprawl, and shows no urgency to get back to a standing position. Instead of using his feet to push against his opponent's hips and create space, he throws elbows.

Elbows from the bottom accomplish little. They rarely lead to TKOs, don't deter the wrestler from pursuing more takedowns, and only mean that the elbower is not focused on stopping their opponent from transitioning to a better position. He cannot reach the true heights of middleweight success with such a skill gap.

Strong grapplers like Jack Hermansson, Marvin Vettori, Anthony Hernandez, Brendan Allen, Roman Dolidze, and especially Khamzat Chimaev and wrestling phenom Bo Nickal, would all have a field day with him. He even needed a fence-grab to stop a takedown from Antonio Trócoli, of all people.

Check out Sharabutdin Magomedov's fence grab at UFC Saudi Arabia:

Truth be told, even the strikers would trouble him, given how uncomfortable Magomedov is boxing. He is mainly a kicker, who opts for flashy techniques off the backfoot even when he doesn't have enough space to throw them with the kind of time and leverage needed to generate power.

This was evident against Trócoli, who revealed 'Shara Bullet's' limitations during pocket boxing exchanges. The Dagestani striker keeps his hands low, always dropping them after putting himself in hook range, and struggles to move his head off the center-line.

Someone like Sean Strickland, who specializes in crowding his opponents with pressure boxing would be a stylistic nightmare for him. Robert Whittaker would also find similar success against 'Shara Bullet,' whose chin is always exposed and head in place.

His lack of anti-pressure tools to deter aggressive foes would be his undoing. While Magomedov still TKO'd Trócoli, he had a far more competitive fight with an unremarkable fighter he should have run through, with the Brazilian now 12-4.

This does not bode well for his championship prospects. He is not skilled enough for middleweight, and not powerful enough for light heavyweight.

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Sharabutdin Magomedov can't fight on American soil

At first glance, not being able to fight in the United States seems to have nothing to do with Sharabutdin Magomedov's title prospects. The issue, however, is how this will impact his activity. Due to being blind in one eye, no athletic commission in the United States will clear him to fight.

For this reason, he can only fight in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which UFC CEO Dana White mentioned in the UFC Saudi Arabia post-fight press conference. This limits 'Shara Bullet' to about a fight per year, depending on how often Saudi Arabia intends to host UFC cards.

"Can he? Probably not. We'll keep him out here."

Check out Dana White answer a question about Sharabutdin Magomedov fighting in the United States:

Being inactive will only work against him, especially given his limited skill-set. He will have to be managed very carefully. Unfortunately, he has already been challenged by Bo Nickal, a high-level wrestler and thrilling prospect. To be forgotten due to relative inactivity would only hurt him.

The middleweight division has high-potential prospects like Nickal or unbeaten Chechen, Khamzat Chimaev. Fighters like Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland, Israel Adesanya, and more are all hovering around the title scene. How 'Shara Bullet' can make a case for himself over them with little activity needs answering.

He is already 30 years old and still unranked. Fighting once per year, unless he is matched up with and beats a top 10 opponent in his next two or three fights, he will struggle to work his way into title contention. Chimaev, while similarly inactive due to health and VISA issues, is at least ranked #11 in the division.

Time is not on his side, and it could hold him back in a massive way.