Shara Magomedov seemed to underperform in his fight with Michael ‘Venom’ Page at UFC Fight Night 250 in Riyadh this past weekend and he revealed afterwards that he was dealing with health issues that hampered his ability to compete.
Now Magomedov has gone into more detail about his ailments, revealing that ongoing intestinal issues meant he was barely able to fight at all.
“I’ve never felt this sick in the cage,” Magomedov told Red Corner MMA. “My legs were gone, my arms felt weak, and I’ve got a lot of health issues I don’t want to reveal. It was a whole bunch of problems that affected my performance. My mind was there, but my body was off.
“I’ve got dysbacteriosis and parasitosis in my intestine, and I’ve got problems with my bile flow. I hoped to fix this issue, at least before the fight, but it’s still there.
“That’s why I could not keep the proper pace. I was feeling sick after throwing just a few punches, so I needed a break. After every couple of punches, just moving on my feet for a minute, I was even afraid that I could throw up in the fight. When I was going back to my corner after the first round, I felt like I was about to throw up. All of that bile stuck up here didn’t let me work. It’s still there even now. My legs were gone.”
The 30-year-old Magomedov had won his first four fights in the UFC leading into the fight with Page, and his defeat on Saturday was the first of his 16-fight career.
Meanwhile, ‘Venom’ went 2-1 in the UFC after his victory, and he’s since responded to the news of Magomedov’s ailments heading into the fight.
“If I was to give any advice moving forward, if you accept the fight knowing that you have had anything prior to the fight, then the result is the result,” Page told Ariel Helwani. “If you win, you can say what you want.
“If you lose, you know, just keep it to yourself. It just looks – maybe later down the line you can say you had a few issues. But directly afterward, he could be completely factual, but it just comes across wrong. It comes across as an excuse. That would be my only advice for him.”
