Shara Magomedov and Michal Olekszewkowski, UFC Abu Dhabi Credit: Youtube/UFC
Though it wasn’t the co-headline fight originally promised at UFC Abu Dhabi, the middleweight bout between Shara Magomedov (or simply Shara Bret) and Michal Oleksiejchuk was a promising one.
On the Abu Dhabi card, Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque was replaced with Magomedov vs. Oleksiejchuk after Diaz was unable to travel for the fight due to visa issues.
Shala Brett started the fight with kicks, but was cut off and briefly downed by Oleksiejchuk at the start of the bout. Oleksiejchuk tried his best to close the distance with Magomedov, but Magomedov’s sharp strikes were hurting Oleksiejchuk. A well-timed elbow from Magomedov cut Oleksiejchuk above his left eye. Every time Oleksiejchuk tried to pull the trigger, Magomedov’s sharp counterattacks hit him. Magomedov had a spectacular first round, landing over 30 kicks.
Olekscheidchuk quickly turned to get in Magomedov’s face and tried to engage in a striking contest of his own in the second round. A hard right punch from Magomedov briefly halted Olekscheidchuk’s attack and reopened a cut above his left eye from the first round. Magomedov displayed sharp striking for much of the second round. With about 30 seconds left in the round, Olekscheidchuk caught a kick from Magomedov, took him down and took his back, but nothing happened.
Magomedov focused on bodywork throughout the fight, and it became clear in the third round how much it was bothering Olekseychuk. Magomedov’s lead leg played a big role in this bout, with head kicks, body kicks, and leg kicks. Olekseychuk took Magomedov down with a single leg with a minute left in the round, but it was too late. Shara Magomedov had a strong fight in his third UFC bout on short notice.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Shara Magomedov defeats Michal Olekseychuk via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
