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UFC Vegas 87: Rozenstruik halts Gaziev’s momentum at UFC Apex

The heavyweight main event at UFC Vegas 87 did produce a finish, but it didn’t come in the manner many would have predicted.
Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Gaziev had produced 21 knockouts between them heading into UFC Vegas 87 at the UFC Apex. But in the end, the finish came not from a decisive punch, but from referee Marc Goddard, who intervened before the final round to prevent Gaziev from taking more unnecessary punishment.

Gaziev arguably started the fight the better of the pair, but from Round 2 onwards, Rozenstruik dominated. His heavy punches appeared to visibly trouble Gaziev, while his takedown defence proved stout enough to ensure the action stayed on the feet. Gaziev’s gas tank also appeared to run dry as the bout wore on, and he became more cumbersome in the exchanges as the bout headed into the main event rounds.

And, after three straight rounds of Gaziev on the receiving end, and with no turnaround on the horizon, Goddard told the Bahrain-based heavyweight and his team, through a translator, that he was waving off the fight before the fifth round.

It meant that Gaziev suffered the first defeat of his career, as Rozenstruik bounced back from his first-round submission to Jailton Almeida to claim the 14th victory of his career.

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Best of the rest

The light heavyweight co-main event saw two fighters at very different points in their careers, as undefeated Brazilian prospect Vitor Petrino claimed the unanimous decision victory to extend his perfect professional record, while Tyson Pedro laid down his UFC gloves and called time on his career inside the Octagon.

Rising flyweight contender Muhammad Mokaev outpointed former title challenger Alex Perez to continue his rise up the 125-pound division, then revealed his performance was delivered despite being physically ill earlier in the day.

Bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov justified his status as the biggest favourite on the card with a dominant decision against Bekzat Almakhan, while Australian flyweight Steve Erceg delivered a massive one-shot KO with a peach of a left-hook to finish Matt Schnell.

On the preliminary card, Loik Radzhabov and Ludovit Klein kicked off the event with stoppage wins, before Christian Leroy Duncan continued his impressive start to life in the UFC with a finish of his own, against Claudio Ribeiro.

Aiemann Zahabi then took the 0 from Javid Basharat after a close content went his way on all three scorecards, then debutant Vinicius Oliveira delivered one of the best knockouts you’ll see all year with a stunning flying-knee finish of Bernardo Sopaj.

UFC Vegas 87: Official results

MAIN CARD

  • Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Shamil Gaziev via TKO (referee stoppage) – Round 4, 5:00
  • Vitor Petrino def. Tyson Pedro via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
  • Muhammad Mokaev def. Alex Perez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Umar Nurmagomedov def. Bekzat Almakhan via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-26)
  • Steve Erceg def. Matt Schnell via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:26

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Eryk Anders def. Jamie Pickett via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Vinicius Oliveira def. Bernardo Sopaj via knockout (flying knee) – Round 3, 4:41
  • Aiemann Zahabi def. Javid Basharat via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Christian Leroy Duncan def. Claudio Ribeiro via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 2, 1:57
  • Ludovit Klein def. AJ Cunningham via TKO (punches and kicks) – Round 1 4:36
  • Loik Radzhabov def. Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 0:49

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A sports editor and MMA reporter with 25 years' experience in sports media, Simon has covered mixed martial arts since 2009 for a host of national and international outlets, including UFC, BBC Sport, MMA Junkie/USA Today, BT Sport and the Daily Mirror.

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