Ahead of UFC Baku, Shara Bullet is framing the middleweight division as a fight game in constant motion, saying the weight class now feels like “Mortal Kombat” because of the level of talent and the tests waiting in front of him. His point lands because the division includes a champion in Sean Strickland, recent title-level names like Khamzat Chimaev, Dricus Du Plessis, and Israel Adesanya plus rising contenders spread across several styles.
Shara Bullet makes “Mortal Kombat” comparison ahead of UFC Baku return
Shara Bullet is set to face Michel Pereira on June 27 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in a middleweight bout attached to the UFC Fight Night card headlined by Rafael Fiziev vs. Ignacio Torres.
In comments from Red Corner MMA, Magomedov said: “The middleweight division is looking exciting at the moment, there’s a lot of world-class fighters now. I think we’re in for some solid ‘Mortal Kombat’ competition, and in every fight I will have to go out to prove to everybody and myself that I’m a fighter of champion’s caliber.”
Sean Strickland, the champion, remains a central figure at the top of the class, while Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus Du Plessis sit in the front row of the title picture and Nassourdine Imavov has pushed himself into the same conversation. Behind them, the rankings and recent records show a mix of pressure wrestlers, counter strikers, clinch grinders and finish threats, with names such as Brendan Allen, Caio Borralho, Anthony Hernandez, Joe Pyfer, Reinier de Ridder, Adesanya, Jared Cannonier, Gregory Rodrigues, Christian Leroy Duncan, Roman Dolidze and Bo Nickal all part of the current chase.
For Shara Bullet, that makes Pereira a useful test and a risky one. Pereira has long been one of the division’s least predictable matchups because of his pace, movement and willingness to turn fights chaotic, while Magomedov enters as a striker whose own style can turn a clean exchange into a highlight in a second. It is the type of fight that can lift a man into the rankings conversation fast, especially on a card tied to the UFC’s first stop in Baku.
If Magomedov beats Pereira in Baku, the quote will age well because it will look like the first public marker of his push into the serious part of the title race. If he loses, the line still explains the division accurately: at middleweight, the next opponent is rarely simple, and the climb tends to feel like a survival game.
