Shara Magomedov remains undefeated, batters Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC on ABC 7
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us today, August 3, 2024, for UFC on ABC 7, going down live from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Headlining the event is a bantamweight bout between no. 2 ranked Cory Sandhagen (17-4) and no. 10 ranked Umar Nurmagomedov (17-0).
Co-headlining the event was a middleweight clash between a pair of knockout artists in Shara Magomedov (14-0) and Michal Oleksiejczuk (19-9).
Nick Diaz was originally expected to take the co-main event slot today in his return against no. 13 ranked welterweight contender Vicente Luque, though VISA issues prevented the bout from happening. As a result, the UFC brass put this stellar match up together just two weeks ago.
Magomedov had gone 2-0 across two promotional bouts going into this evening’s co-main event, 11 of his 13 previous wins coming via knockout. Oleksiejczuk on the other hand, though had gone 7-6 to date inside the octagon, had picked up six knockout victories in that time (14 total) with five of those defeats coming via submission.
Continue reading to see how this middleweight affair went down:
Official Result: Shara Magomedov def. Michal Oleksiejczuk via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Magomedov got straight to work with his leg kicks and side kicks to the body once the bout began, Oleksiejczuk pressing the action and staying right in his face the entire five minutes. Oleksiejczuk landed a straight left that caught Magomedov off balance and dropped him, though Magomedov got right back to his feet.
Oleksiejczuk continued to land good punches while Magomedov continued utilizing his beautiful kicks and opened a cut on the Poland native’s forehead with a beautifully timed and placed elbow.
Magomedov started to let his hands go in the second, landing a heavy overhand that got Oleksiejczuk’s attention. Oleksiejczuk landed some good punches himself and caught a kick thrown by Magomedov, taking him down and partially taking his back along the fence in the final minute of the middle stretch.
Magomedov’s striking, as always, was so sharp today. He landed a pair of head kicks in the third and final round, first a side kick to the face, and then a round kick to the side of Oleksiejczuk’s head.
Oleksiejczuk attempted a number of takedowns in the third, eventually securing a single leg after running the pipe and ending the fight in top position while landing punches from the Russian’s guard though Magomedov continued landing nasty elbows from bottom.
Shara Magomedov is proving to be a real problem in the UFC’s middleweight division. His wrestling and grappling could still use some work, but it’s not often Oleksiejczuk chooses to wrestle, and it’s not often he loses a stand up fight. In fact he’s only ever lost a striking battle once previous across 29 MMA fights, to former professional kickboxer Dustin Jacoby.
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