Shara Bullet still plans to share the cage with Israel Adesanya.

The middleweight contender—a.k.a. Shara Magomedov—meets Michael Page in the UFC Saudi Arabia co-main event Saturday, when he puts his 15-0 record on the line. While the Page matchup pairs Magomedov up with a popular veteran, it was Adesanya that “Shara Bullet” originally had in his sights after an incredible knockout of Armen Petrosyan at UFC 308 this past October.

Adesanya headlines UFC Saudi Arabia opposite Nassourdine Imavov and should both he and Magomedov be victorious, Magomedov expects the UFC to book them to fight next.

“I think it just depends on how well I perform on Saturday and if the crowd wants it and if Adesanya sees it, there’s going to be no other choice but for the UFC to give us this fight because we’re both exciting fighters and there would be no reason to try and keep all this excitement away from the fans,” Magomedov told MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck via a Russian translator. “Because that’s what they’re going to want to see.”

Magomedov joined the UFC in 2023 with plenty of hype behind him and his performances have improved with every outing, capped off by his double spinning backfist KO of Petrosyan. He’s aware that he needs another impressive outing if he’s to lock down a fight with Adesanya, a two-time UFC middleweight champion, but isn’t making any firm prediction as to how their matchup plays out.

“You know, it’s on the Almighty who gives it to us,” Magomedov said. “I count on Almighty for everything and whichever way he guides me, that’s the way it’s going to go.

“I’m unpredictable inside the cage, the fights are unpredictable, I can’t really tell you what’s going to happen and ruin the surprise. Everybody’s waiting for it, everybody wants to see the fight, and I think we’ll see what happens inside on Saturday.”

There’s also one other obstacle to consider. Even if Magomedov scores a memorable win over Page, he has to wait and see if Adesanya can top Imavov in Saturday’s main event. Imavov has won three straight fights to rise to No. 7 at 185 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings and he’s looking to make his case for a title shot if he defeats “The Last Stylebender.”

Magomedov will be cheering on Imavov and should he emerge victorious, it’s unclear what that would mean for Magomedov’s hopes of fighting Adesanya.

“I don’t like to do predictions for fights, when it comes to me I’m going to root for Nassourdine because he’s my countryman,” Magomedov said. “He’s one of us and I’d love to root for him, for him to win. So I don’t know who’s going to win, but my bet is on Nassourdine.”