That “Shara Bullet” has competed with an eye injury for years is no secret, and he’s found himself drawing inspiration from a former UFC champion to work through it.

Bullet—a.k.a. Shara Magomedov—opens this Saturday’s UFC 308 main card in Abu Dhabi with a middleweight duel against Armen Petrosyan. At Wednesday’s media day for the event, Magomedov was asked about what he’s learned from studying the career of former UFC champion and Hall of Fame inductee Michael Bisping, in regards to dealing with the injury he’s had since 2016.

Bisping suffered an eye injury after taking a head kick from Vitor Belfort in 2013 and competed with a handicap until his retirement four years later. The condition didn’t stop him from winning the UFC middleweight title, even though it eventually progressed to the point that Bisping now lives with a prosthetic right eye.

So is Magomedov concerned about opponents knowing about this potential limitation?

“I think it’s a little different because I have 19 fights in my career and every opponent has tried to take advantage of that and it didn’t go their way,” Magomedov said via a Russian translator.

“When it comes to Bisping, yes, he is a motivation because he’s somebody who has went down this path already. He’s laid down the path and he set an example for me, so it’s much easier to follow somebody’s path as opposed to wander around in the dark. I think the way he is a motivator for me and for other people is he said that everything is possible. The most important thing is not to let your hands down and keep on going forward and keep on chasing your dream and then it’s possible.”

Magomedov joined the UFC in 2023 with plenty of buzz, having competed in both MMA and kickboxing, and entered the octagon with an 11-0 record before defeating his first three opponents for the promotion. Following a decision win over Michal Oleksiejczuk this past August, Magomedov made a curious callout of Nick Diaz, a 41-year-old fan favorite currently scheduled to fight Vicente Luque at UFC 310.

He explained his reasoning behind the matchup suggestion and also addressed the possibility of fighting two-division fighter Kevin Holland.

“When it comes to Nick Diaz, that was kind of a shot in the air,” Magomedov said. “He’s not on a level, he’s not ready to compete for title fights and things like that, so he’s not where it needs to be.

“When it comes to Kevin Holland, I think I’ll get to him one day. I think that I will do whatever I have to do to get to his level and to fight him, and I think we’ll see who’s tougher. I think we’ll do a lot of damage for each other and whoever’s bones are stronger, he’s going to be the one standing last.”

If Magomedov is to continue his climb up the middleweight charts, he has to get past Petrosyan, a clever kickboxer that has proven to be a tough out in the division. Magomedov has trained with Petrosyan in the past so he knows him well, but that doesn’t mean he knows what to expect on fight night.

“To be honest, it’s not like I’m preparing some things inside my head that I’m going to come out with and I’m going to show and I’m going to do,” Magomedov said. “I don’t even know what’s going to happen. I think any spark that happens, any kind of flash that happens inside the octagon is very exciting. I don’t even know really what to expect from myself, so I think that’s the interesting part is that anything can happen on the night of.”