Footage went viral recently of newly-signed UFC middleweight Sharabutdin ‘Shara Bullet’ Magomedov getting into a physical altercation at a recent ADCC Open tournament. The competition in question was the ADCC Southeast Asia Open and Magomedov was competing against Polish grappler Jakub Bilko. When Magomedov stood up at one point, Bilko started to attack his opponent’s legs and managed to lock up a heel hook in order to force him to tap. Magomedov jumped up and charged at Bilko as soon as the match was over, kicking him as he walked away.
It’s unusual to see a fighter like Magomedov competing at an ADCC Open in the first place considering he has a 10-0 professional record and is about to make his UFC middleweight debut soon, but he explained his presence and the physical altercation that followed in an interview with fight.ru:
“I signed up for the entry level. It was my first grappling competition. I came to the tournament, and they told me that since I am a professional fighter, they can throw me into blue belts. I went and signed up for the blue ones. And in the end they take me and throw me into black belts. I signed up for 90 kg, and they threw me into black belts up to 100 kg. Just crossed out of both sections and thrown into black belts. I thought I’d fight, no big deal. A Pole was drawn for the semi-final bout. (My coach) told me not to fight him, he does twisting of the heel, this is a big risk, the ankle takes a long time to heal. You can drop out of competition for six months or a year.”
It’s unclear how accurate Magomedov’s claims are, but it’s common practice for tournaments to force professional fighters to compete in higher divisions, because competing against white belts would be completely inappropriate. With many rulesets, the legal techniques change as you progress up the divisions and under ADCC rules heel hooks would have been legal at the higher levels. Magomedov explains that he was aware of that, but believed he came to an agreement with Bilko:
“Then, at the entrance to the arena, I ran into these Poles. I went up to him and asked: ‘Do you understand Russian?’ He says, ‘Yes, I understand a little.’ We agreed with him without ‘heels.’ I thought that if he agreed so, then I would fight. He agreed. Then he approached one of the coaches and complained about me. He asked me what I want from him. I called a friend, asked him to explain to him in English, because maybe he misunderstood me, thought that I was running into him.”
“Then a friend approached me and said that the Pole agreed and 100% would not twist my legs. I go to the fight, and he immediately lies on his back, does not fight with me, but immediately lies on his back. I attacked him from above—and he immediately goes on his leg. Scoundrel. This made me angry. The will to fight is gone. He acted wickedly. I got up angry and called him an asshole. I got angry, I was emotional.”
So despite Magomedov’s complaints, it seems as though this is more of a case of mistranslation between parties as opposed to Bilko actually going back on a promise. Not just that, but it’s incredibly unusual to ask for a gentleman’s agreement to not perform a perfectly legal technique at a grappling tournament. If someone isn’t happy with the apparent risk of injury involved in heel hooks, there are plenty of grappling tournaments available that do not permit them.
Tensions can ride high at any combat sports competition and grappling tournaments are no exception, but it’s clear grounds for disqualification. This is far from the first time that a physical altercation has happened at an ADCC Open, and fights have broken out at BJJ tournaments on several occasions in the past. While there are a number of competitors who’ve gotten into fights at grappling events before, it also seems like this might be part of a pattern for Magomedov specifically.
Prior to this incident at the ADCC Southeast Asia Open, Magomedov also got into trouble for another physical altercation in his home city of Makhachkala, Russia. He was actually arrested on charges of assault, stemming from an incident where he witnessed a couple kissing on a subway escalator and decided to confront them. This exchange of words led to a fight, where Magomedov knocked the man unconscious and he explained afterward that it was directly because of the public display of affection:
“One has to understand the situation, in Makhachkala there are unwritten rules, a kind of moral code of our own. In Moscow it is acceptable, but with us it is not acceptable. I could not shut up”.
The footage of UFC middleweight Shabutdin ‘Shara Bullet’ Magomedov getting into a physical altercation at the ADCC Southeast Asia Open was uploaded to Twitter:
Shara Bullet got into a scuffle in Thailand at the ADCC Southeast Asia tournament
Shara Bullet was caught by a heel hook and then made a hand movement that looked like a tap. When Bilko let go of his leg, Shara jumped on him and kicked him. The victory was awarded to the Pole. pic.twitter.com/rD9NpgW1EZ
— Matysek (@Matysek88) May 29, 2023
