UFC Belgrade prelims: seven finishes, Musayev stops Klein
Only one of the eight preliminary bouts reached the judges. Musayev chopped down Klein's lead leg, then finished him with hammer fists at 4:07 of round two.
The referee had barely stepped between him and Ludovit Klein when Tofiq Musayev turned toward the front row, found Dana White and, still breathing hard, asked for the thing he had flown to Serbia to get.
Give me top 15. Give me bonus. Let’s go!
The Azerbaijani is 36 and walked in at 24-6, including 2-1 inside the UFC. He closed the UFC Belgrade preliminary card by breaking down a favored Slovak in the second round, a TKO at 4:07.
That was the seventh finish of the night in eight completed bouts. Not a single scheduled prelim fell off the card, and the only one that reached the scorecards was the featherweight meeting of Borislav Nikolic and Mark Vologdin, settled by unanimous decision. Seven finishes in eight fights works out to roughly 87 percent of the prelims ending before the clock did.
How Musayev took Klein apart
The first round was trade work rather than fireworks. Musayev chopped at Klein’s lead leg with low kicks and followed with straight right hands, and by the closing minute the Slovak was visibly sparing that leg along the fence. Klein kicked back, but the leg exchange went one way.
Round two opened in the clinch. Musayev worked knees from double underhooks, Klein broke free and answered with a high kick and a side kick, and that was his best minute of the night. Then came the body shot, the right hook and the left hand, and Klein went down on his back. Hammer fists rained while he covered up, and the referee waved it off with about twenty seconds left in the round.
Musayev already had a reputation for closing shows. What was new was the tone of the request shouted over the fence at the UFC president, which sounded less like a wish and more like an opening bid.
How many prelim fights went to the cards?
One, and all three judges scored it the same way, 29-27 for the Nikolic bout. Everything else was settled inside the distance, and five fights did not survive the opening round. The full preliminary card, in running order:
- strawweight, Stephanie Luciano and Marina Spasic: submission by rear-naked choke at 3:30 of round one
- heavyweight, Jovan Leka and Alexander Poppeck: TKO by body kick at 2:22 of round one
- bantamweight, Nina Milosevic and Hailey Cowan: TKO by body shot at 3:41 of round one
- lightweight, Mateusz Rebecki and Kyle Prepolec: TKO by strikes at 4:41 of round one
- lightweight, Bogdan Grad and Dennis Buzukja: submission by head and arm choke at 4:33 of round two
- featherweight, Borislav Nikolic and Mark Vologdin: unanimous decision
- welterweight, Michael Oliveira and Oban Elliott: KO at 1:49 of round one
- lightweight, Tofiq Musayev and Ludovit Klein: TKO at 4:07 of round two
The Serbian fighters on that list get their own piece.
A debut that books its own next fight
The quickest job of the night belonged to Brazilian Michael Oliveira. On his first walk to the UFC cage he met Welshman Oban Elliott, who came out swinging right hands. Oliveira met him with a left that put him on the floor, added a right, then poured on ground strikes until the referee stepped in at 1:49.
That moved Oliveira to 10-0 as a professional. He is a former paratrooper who earned his contract last year on the Contender Series by knocking out Victor Valenzuela. An unbeaten newcomer who ends a fight in under two minutes does not usually wait long for a step up.
Rebecki saved his roster spot
Poland’s Mateusz Rebecki walked in on a three-fight losing streak, which in this promotion is normally the last stop before a release. Against Canadian Kyle Prepolec he sorted it out in the first round, taking him down and landing unanswered shots until the referee stopped it at 4:41.
Oliveira was fighting for a ranking. Rebecki was fighting for a contract, and wins like that are remembered less for what they looked like than for the fact that the man still has a job on Monday.
The rest of the night
Our preview had the first bell at 4 p.m. and Medic closing the card. With only one prelim lasting a full fifteen minutes, the main card started on a night that had run well ahead of the timing sheet.
Musayev has said what he wants. The answer arrives with the post-event bonus list and the next lightweight rankings update, and only then will anyone know whether the shout over the fence landed.
