Shamil Gamzatov

Shamil Gamzatov vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk

Round 1
At light heavyweight, Dagestan native Gamzatov’s (14-0, 1-0 UFC) undefeated record will be on the line when he takes on proud Polish brawler Oleksiejczuk (15-4, 1 NC; 3-2, 1 NC UFC). The only four decision wins for Gamzatov have come in his last four fights, while Oleksiejczuk has yet to lose on the scorecards, so something might have to give here. Drawing the assignment is referee Dan Movahedi, who will be ready in case he needs to intervene suddenly. The gloves are not touched, and Oleksiejczuk starts to put on the pressure and lands a quick left hand to the body. Gamzatov stays on the outside, winging a few punches, and Oleksiejczuk avoids them and is ready to fight off the inevitable takedown try. He stuffs the first attempt, breaks the clinch and dodges a nasty uppercut. Gamzatov sits down on a right hand, and another careens off Oleksiejczuk’s head. Oleksiejczuk winds up with a looping left hand that rings Gamzatov’s bell, and he does not chase the finish and instead continues to rip lefts to the body. Gamzatov is throwing punches and appears to be closing his eyes when doing so, and Oleksiejczuk is not giving him much space to breathe. Gamzatov cracks his opponent with a right hand, but Oleksiejczuk eats it like a bowl of bigos and marches Gamzatov down. The punches from Gamzatov do not appear to have nearly the emphasis of his opponent, and Oleksiejczuk walks through strikes to land some of his own. Gamzatov lets loose a body kick, and he counters Oleksiejczuk on the way in with a clean right hand. After the midpoint of the round, Gamzatov takes a deep breath as he is constantly having to backpedal. Oleksiejczuk walks straight into an uppercut, and he laughs it off and stuffs a takedown that follows. Oleksiejczuk lines up a big power punch, and he just dodges a huge right hand that comes at him. When Oleksiejczuk targets the body, Gamzatov nails his opponent with a big right hand.
The body shots pay dividends for the Polish fighter, but it is a lancing uppercut that splits the guard and makes Gamzatov’s legs crumble beneath him. Some might imagine a purple-shirted man appearing in the bottom corner of the screen to shout "Toasty" as the uppercut wrecks Gamzatov. A small swarm of punches is all Oleksiejczuk needs to finish the job, as the unbeaten fighter is turtled up and is now no longer undefeated when Movahedi calls a stop to the fight.
What a performance for “Lord,” who lorded over his opponent with constant pressure and brutal body work to hand the Russian the first loss of his career.

The Official Result
Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Shamil Gamzatov R1 3:31 via TKO (Punches)