Shamil Gadzhiev and Don “Tail” Mays, UFC Abu Dhabi Credit: Youtube/UFC
Heavyweights Shamil Gadzhiev and Dontale Mayes faced off in a UFC Abu Dhabi preliminaries bout on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Gadzhiev, a fighter from the KHK team in neighboring Bahrain, received the full support of the UAE crowd for this bout. Although he had lost his first bout in an early main event appearance against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, he defeated his debutant with a ferocity rarely seen in a heavyweight. His opponent, Don “Tail” Mayes, had mixed results in his last four bouts and came into the bout with a 4-4 (1 NC) record at UFC. Gadzhiev was the heavy favorite on the betting lines and lived up to the expectations with a dominating performance.
Gadzhiev rained down some damage on Mayes with punches in the early minutes of the bout, but used his advantage to score a takedown. Shamir held Mayes in half guard for the remainder of the first round, inflicting some damage but not being able to launch any offense with his monster ground strikes.
Mays fought back at the start of the second round, landing some clean right punches early on, but Shamir clinched and landed some hard elbows on the break. After a headbutt, Gadzhiev landed an overhand right that signaled the end of Mays’ second-round victory. With about two minutes left, Gadzhiev clinched again and held his opponent in the clinch for the rest of the round.
Shamir landed a clean right punch that slightly rocked Don Theil early in the third round. After some careful striking, Gadzhiev again forced Mayes into half guard. Again his top pressure was dominant, but he only landed a smattering of ground-and-pound to his opponent’s face.
There was no doubt that Shamil Gadzhiev won the bout after what looked like an easy finish, with all three judges awarding him the victory in all three rounds.
Official result: Shamil Gadzhiev defeats Don “Thel” Mays by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
