Despite enduring six gunshot wounds, including a bullet that grazed his head, Shahbulat Shamhalaev remains fixated on a return to mixed martial arts.
According to government-owned Russian new agency, Tass.ru, Shamhalaev expressed an interest in fighting again just a few months removed from the near-fatal shooting in Makhachkala, Dagestan.
While the Bellator veteran is determined to return to the professional competition, his brother, Shahmurad, revealed that Shahbulat has not fully recovered from his wounds and may even require more surgery if he is at risk for brain damage.
“Shahbulat is all right, Shamhalaev’s brother said. “It is a question about the operation, as in the temporal region was an open head injury, which means possible danger to the brain. The surgeon decided to observe the situation for three months, and then we will see what he thinks about his return to MMA.”
According to reports, Shamhalaev was shot in a fashionable restaurant in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Two assailants fired over 13 shots at Shamhalaev, who had walked into the restaurant armed with a pistol and a hunting rifle. The dispute between the fighter and the assailants, who were later identified as the bodyguards of a Dagestani politician, began the previous day.
For those interested in the details behind the bizarre incident, BloodyElbow looked at the fallout of the Shamhalaev shooting and why Dagestani athletes have become easy targets for criminals.
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