In a time where things seem dire and down in the UFC’s heavyweight division, Brando Pericic used UFC Perth to prove he’s one to watch out for.
Pericic scored a gritty second-round knockout of Shamil Gaziev at UFC Perth.
Gaziev attempted to use his grappling on Pericic, but Pericic fought him off well. Both connected with strong shots, but Pericic’s punches rocked Gaziev on more than one ocassion during the first round.
Pericic continued his striking momentum in the second round, landing multiple times until a right hand dropped Gaziev for the win.
“The Balkan Bear” is now 7-1 as a pro and 3-0 in the UFC. He scored first-round finishes of Elisha Ellison and Louie Sutherland, respectively, in September and March.
Gaziev falls to 14-3 and is 3-3 in the UFC since earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. He entered this fight off a loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Qatar this past November.
Just three weeks after his most recent fight, and taking the fight on such short notice that he didn’t land in Qatar until an hour before weigh-ins, Waldo Cortes-Acosta has done something seemingly unreal.
Only three days after accepting the opportunity, “Salsa Boy” made quick work of Shamil Gaziev at UFC Qatar, scoring a knockout in less than 90 seconds.
The two were swinging almost right away, with Cortes-Acosta cracking Gaziev with his power. And then, over a minute into the fight, WCA landed a single right hand that put Gaziev out.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta Quickly KOs Shamil Gaziev On Short Notice At UFC Qatar
This was Cortes-Acosta’s first fight since UFC Vegas 110 three weeks ago. There, he appeared to be a first-round KO victim of Ante Delija — only for it to be an eye poke, and WCA came back to score the knockout of Delija seconds after the fight re-started.
WCA has now won eight of nine and pulls off this amazing turnaround to continue his bounce back from a loss to Serghei Pavlovich at UFC Shanghai.
Heavyweight knockouts are a delight to MMA fans, and Shamil Gaziev pulled off such a highlight by getting a first-round finish of Thomas Petersen during the UFC Saudi Arabia prelims.
Gaziev landed a right hand on the button three minutes into the bout, dropping Petersen. That was all that was needed, with the Bahraini behemoth walking off as the fight was called.
Shamil Gaziev Lands One-Punch KO To Put Away Thomas Petersen At UFC Saudi Arabia
Gaziev is now 3-1 in the Octagon since arriving by way pf Dana White’s Contender Series, with the sole loss coming against Jairzinho Rozenstruik early last year. He initially bounced back with a decision over Don’Tale Mayes before making it two wins on the bounce at Riyadh’s anb Arena.
Petersen, another DWCS alum, is now 1-2 in the UFC. His one victory in the Octagon came at the expense of Mohammed Usman in 2024.
The UFC has grown exponentially in the years since its inception way back in 1993. While the sport of MMA has come a long way since the days of groin strikes, headbutts and Tank Abbott, the demands placed on the global leader to satisfy an ever-growing audience in this social media-driven world has led to a swollen roster of contracted fighters.
The need to provide content to fulfil contractual obligations with TV networks has meant an increase in the overall number of events the UFC are pumping out these days. There are 53 shows scheduled to take place in 2024 alone, between pay-per-view events and ‘Fight Night’ cards, spread out over international locations such as Brazil, France, the United Kingdom, Abu Dhabi, Australia and of course, the United States.
With many of these events taking place in the relatively low-key surroundings of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, some of these cards have become less about putting fans in seats and more about ticking off fights on some fighters’ contracts. The biggest names are being kept for the pay-per-views and the rest are being wheeled out with the sole purpose of filling in the gaps.
This Saturday’s Fight Night event (set to be headlined by a strawweight rematch between Amanda Lemos and Virna Jandiroba) is another card loaded with fights lacking in jeopardy and unlikely to have any telling effect on the title picture in any of the UFC weight divisions.
With that in mind, let’s look at five of the more underwhelming main events the UFC have offered up so far in 2024.
Roman Dolidze vs. Nassourdine Imavov, UFC Fight Night, February 3 (UFC Apex)
The UFC’ had a somewhat slow start to 2024. January brought us an underwhelming Fight Night card followed by a PPV event in Canada that lacked star names outside of the main event between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. Coming into February, UFC fans were desperately in need of some high-stakes entertainment.
The Apex middleweight showdown between Dolidze and Imavov was not it. A main card entirely devoid of ranked fighters (outside of the main event) offered up one draw and four decisions, with only Randy Brown’s first-round knockout of Muslim Salikhov managing to give viewers something to get them out of their seats.
https://youtu.be/Z6OLxve-G2Q?si=qRqf4ZqaM6mSHNkG
Both main event fighters came into this event in stuttering form. Dolidze hadn’t been seen in competitive action since losing to Marvin Vettori eleven months earlier, while Imavov was coming off the back of a difficult 2023. A decision loss to Sean Strickland early in the year was followed by his summer bout with Chris Curtis being declared a “no contest” after an accidental clash of heads.
A majority decision victory for Nassourdine Imavov after twenty-five less-than-inspiring minutes followed. Both fighters picked up victories last month and seem to be rising through the ranks at 185lbs, but their clash at the Apex last February is not one that will live long in the memory of many UFC fans.
Jack Hermansson vs. Joe Pyfer, UFC Fight Night, February 10 (UFC Apex)
A week later, with UFC 298 on the horizon and the MMA news cycle being dominated by the build-up to Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria, fans were treated to another Apex event with a middleweight headliner. This time, admittedly, there was a little more intrigue surrounding the headline match-up as Joe Pyfer was coming off the back of an unbeaten start to his UFC career. “Bodybagz” had won all three of his fights inside the Octagon to that point, and finishes over Alen Amedovski, Gerald Meerschaert and Abdul Razak Alhassan had earmarked the 26-year-old as a fighter worth keeping an eye on.
Jack Hermansson looked like he was being positioned as the man to give up his place in the rankings to Pyfer. The Swede was returning from a year-long absence due to injury and had lost three of his previous five bouts at 185lbs. Against the odds, however, Hermansson derailed the Pyfer hype train and, after a strong opening two rounds from Pyfer, “The Joker” picked off his opponent from range over the remainder of the fight and walked away with a 48-47 scorecard from each of the three judges.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev, UFC Fight Night, March 2 (UFC Apex)
UFC 298 and the Fight Night that was held in Mexico City a week later gave fans a reminder of how good the atmosphere can be when big crowds and exciting fights are paired together. Ilia Topuria’s title victory in Anaheim, California followed by Brandon Royval’s win over Brandon Moreno the following week meant February had its’ fair share of entertainment inside the Octagon.
Fans were brought back down to earth with a bang on March 2nd however, as perennial heavyweight gatekeeper Jairzinho Rozenstruik was paired with Shamil Gaziev. Although Gaziev came into this event unbeaten at 12-0, the Bahraini fighter had only made one appearance inside the Octagon so far and many fans seemed perplexed at his positioning in the headline slot of a UFC event so soon.
Image: Jairzinho Rozenstruik IG
The gulf in class was evident as Gaziev was utterly dominated by “Bigi Boy” from the off. After four one-sided rounds, a bruised and battered Gaziev was deemed unfit to continue following an inspection by referee Marc Goddard. Not only did Gaziev pick up the first loss of his professional career, his positioning in the main event slot so soon after signing with the UFC drew plenty of criticism from fans and fighters alike.
Tai Tuivasa vs. Marcin Tybura, UFC Fight Night, March 16 (UFC Apex)
Just two weeks later, in the wake of UFC 299, the “new normal” resumed in the UFC Apex as heavyweights Marcin Tybura and Tai Tuivasa collided in the main event of an event that featured such names as Ange Loosa, Isaac Dulgarian and Brian Battle on the main card.
https://youtu.be/AAzOlhvQaNs?si=t5np0uJB0GkpTjjY
Tybura’s first-round submission victory would be his eighth win in ten fights helping the Polish fighter break into the top ten of the UFC’s heavyweight rankings. His opponent however was riding a three-fight losing streak coming into this bout and with the Australian taking significant damage in his defeats to Cyril Gane, Alexander Volkov and Sergei Pavlovich, the discussion among the MMA community in the wake of this defeat centred around whether or not “Bam Bam” should retire.
As it would turn out, Tybura made quick work of Tuivasa and the fight didn’t even see two minutes of action. Another underwhelming main event into the books, then.
Derrick Lewis vs. Rodrigo Nascimento, UFC Fight Night, May 11 (St. Louis)
April brought fight fans one of the most memorable fight cards in the history of the sport. UFC 300 was packed from top to bottom with current or former champions, and the knockouts delivered by Alex Pereira and Max Holloway during the main card will go down in history as two of the most exciting finishes inside the Octagon.
Lewis knocked out Nascimento in the main event but the fight failed to cause a ripple in the heavyweight rankings. “The Black Beast” had lost four of his previous six fights and is unlikely to enter the heavyweight title discussion anytime soon, while Nascimento had won three consecutive split-decision victories over unranked opponents prior to facing Lewis.
https://youtu.be/v5V07FuNqMw?si=CRsNMTozbW_T7h2r
It seems in the modern world of the UFC, for every title fight or number-one contender match-up fans are granted, they are doomed to sit through multiple filler events behind closed doors at the UFC Apex.
MMA News has you covered with this week’s UFC matchmaking bulletin, featuring all the additions to the upcoming cards.
With UFC events being held most weekends, Mick Maynard and Sean Shelby have their matchmaking work cut out if they’re to fill them, meaning new bouts are confirmed each and every week.
In recent days, a couple of notable fights were made official by the UFC or confirmed by reputable sources. For more information on those matchups, check out the links below:
And for more detailed information on one newly booked fight that may have flown under your radar between July 1 and July 7, scroll down and check out this week’s UFC Matchmaking Bulletin spotlighted fight.
Shamil Gaziev vs. Don’Tale Mayes – UFC Abu Dhabi (August 3)
After failing to capitalize on the main event spotlight earlier this year, Shamil Gaziev will look to get back on track at the UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi on August 3.
Gaziev (12-1) received a shot at the heavyweight rankings and a maiden headliner in just his second UFC fight, being matched against Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the main event of UFC Vegas 87 this past March. The then-undefeated Bahraini was unable to continue into the fifth round, granting “Bigi Boy” the victory by way of TKO.
To avoid the first losing skid of his career, Gaziev must get the better of Don’Tale Mayes (11-6) in the Middle East next month. “Lord Kong” has exchanged wins and losses since a win over Josh Parisian in 2021, falling short against Augusto Sakai and Rodrigo Nascimento but defeating Andrei Arlovski and Caio Machado.
This heavyweight fight was first reported by Vestnik MMA.
👊 По нашей информации бой Шамиля Газиева (UFC 1-1) и Дон'Тэйла Майеса (UFC 4-4-1NC) находится в разработке и может состояться 3 августа на #UFCAbuDhabi. Это будет первый бой Шамиля после первого поражения в карьере. pic.twitter.com/12oshrIHxp
