Preview: UFC on ABC 7 Prelims

Heavyweights

Shamil Gaziev (12-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Don’Tale Mayes (11-6, 3-4 UFC)

ODDS: Gaziev (-238), Mayes (+195)

It was worth a shot for the UFC to try and rush Gaziev into a big spot, but having now suffered his first career loss, the Russian gets an interesting bounce-back opportunity. Gaziev was already 30 years old when he started his professional career, but he made up for lost time, rushing his way up the regional ranks and earning a UFC contract within three years. Gaziev looked sharp in all aspects as a knockout threat who could also maul or outgrapple his opponents on the mat as needed, but his career also followed a familiar through-line for heavyweight prospects. Gaziev was an absolute terror but only for about six minutes, as he tended to flag badly once his bouts went a significant length of time. That held true in his UFC debut against Martin Buday, as Gaziev scored the finish just as the fight was about to cross that six-minute mark. With Gaziev knocking out a quite historically durable heavyweight, the call was made to immediately hotshot him into a main event against Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The fight figured to go one of two ways, with Gaziev either scoring a quick finish or falling victim to Rozenstruik’s patient counterstriking, and it went the latter route in about the dullest way possible. Rozenstruik slowly took over the fight until Gaziev was too exhausted to continue. Even so, the UFC’s heavyweight ranks are thin enough that Gaziev still has the time to make a run up the ladder, and Mayes should be a solid next test, if only through sheer durability. Mayes is on the shortlist of most frustrating fighters on the UFC roster, as he’s both massive and athletic but has yet to mold those tools into something particularly dominant. Mayes has done well to overcome the cardio issues that dogged him earlier in his career, but his approach leverages his physical gifts into about the least interesting style possible, focusing on keeping his opponents at bay and outpointing them in a slow-paced kickboxing match. The interesting wrinkle here is that while Mayes has been historically durable, he has also managed to make it nine fights into his UFC career without facing someone with the usual heavyweight one-punch knockout power that Gaziev possesses. As a result, there’s a surprisingly decent shot that the Russian can close the show in short order, and even if he fails to do so, Mayes’ output is so anemic that it also wouldn’t be a shock if Gaziev can outpace the American in a grind even while fighting through complete exhaustion. He might have to hang on for dear life to get this over the finish line, but the pick is Gaziev via decision.

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