This is the UFC Abu Dhabi live blog for Shara Magomedov vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk, the middleweight co-main event fight on Saturday evening.
“Shara Bullet” made his promotional debut this past October to some fanfare. The undefeated Dagestani fighter garnered hype for his impressive record and highlight-reel finishes on the regional circuit, but struggled to show that class in his debut against Bruno Silva, despite winning a unanimous decision. He did much better in his sophomore effort against Antonio Trocoli at UFC Saudi Arabia in June with a third-round stoppage, and now hopes to deliver a real highlight against an all-action fighter in Oleksiejczuk on Saturday.
Oleksiejczuk joined the UFC in 2017 and since then has been one of the more consistently exciting fighters in the sport. Originally a light heavyweight, Oleksiejczuk made a name as a “get or get got” kind of fighter, and when he dropped to middleweight he kept that same energy up, with six straight fights that didn’t see the scorecards. Unfortunately for Oleksiejczuk, he hasn’t been doing a lot of winning lately, going 1-3 in his past four, including a technical submission loss to Kevin Holland in June. Now Oleksiejczuk hopes to rebound against an unproven prospect.
Check out the UFC Abu Dhabi co-main event live blog below.
