Rivalries: Denis Goltsov

Denis Goltsov believes he has chased the elusive prize long enough.

“The Russian Bogatyr” will confront the unbeaten Jordan Heiderman when their 2023 Professional Fighters League heavyweight semifinal helps bolster PFL 8 this Friday inside The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The winner moves on to vie for a life-changing $1,000,000 payday in November. Goltsov enters the cage as a prohibitive favorite, having rattled off four straight victories, three of them finishes. The 33-year-old Russian last appeared at PFL 5, where he needed all of 18 seconds to punch out Yorgan De Castro on June 16.

As Goltsov makes final preparations for his forthcoming showdown with Heiderman, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

Zoumana Cisse

The 6-foot-5 Goltsov put away the Frenchman with an armbar and captured the vacant Tech-KREP Fighting Championship heavyweight title in the first round of their “Battle of Heroes” co-main event on Dec. 12, 2014 at Sibur Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia. Cisse conceded defeat 4:04 into Round 1. Goltsov deployed his crushing jab to great effect and mixed in a few knees up the middle from the outset. Cisse put forth a clinch-heavy approach in response but mounted little in the way of meaningful offense, resulting in multiple referee restarts. Goltsov executed a takedown with roughly 90 seconds remaining in the first round and set up in half guard before scrambling into full mount. From there, he isolated Cisse’s right arm and applied the necessary torque to prompt the tapout.

Salimgerey Rasulov

Goltsov outstruck and outmaneuvered the “Gubden Tank” to a unanimous decision and laid claim to the Absolute Championship Berkut heavyweight crown in the ACB 50 headliner on Dec. 18, 2016 at Sibur Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia. Scores were 49-46, 48-47 and 50-45. Goltsov called upon a persistent jab and often punctuated his combinations with thudding low kicks. Rasulov assumed top position after a failed spinning attack from his counterpart in the second round but failed to do much to exploit the opening—a common theme in the encounter. Goltsov’s confidence seemed to grow with each passing minute, but his pace slowed in Round 4 and left his lower extremities vulnerable to kicks. Nevertheless, he connected with a pair of head kicks across the final five minutes, re-established himself as the superior martial artist and managed to keep Rasulov at bay in the clinch.

Ali Isaev

The undefeated Olympian cut down the top-seeded Goltsov with third-round punches when their Professional Fighters League Season 2 heavyweight semifinal served as a PFL 9 showcase on Oct. 31, 2019 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Isaev drew the curtain 4:59 into Round 3. Neither man showed much initiative in the two-plus rounds preceding the stoppage. Isaev was effective with his grappling but seemed content to circle and retreat during most of the standup exchanges. In the waning moments of the third round, he floored Goltsov with an overhand right, trailed him to the canvas and unleashed punches from both hands in a crouched position until referee Herb Dean had seen enough. The defeat was the Russian’s first in more than two years.

Ante Delija

The Croatian leaned on timely takedowns and suffocating positional control, as he sprang an upset and walked away with a unanimous decision over Denis Goltsov when their Season 3 heavyweight semifinal buoyed PFL 8 on Aug. 19, 2021 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. All three judges scored it 29-28. Delija withstood being mounted midway through the first round, trapped the former Absolute Championship Berkut titleholder in the clinch and managed to set a pace for which he was better suited. Goltsov was dominant in the middle stanza, where he stung the Mirko Filipovic protege with jabs, sprawled out of an attempted takedown and drove his counterpart to a kneeling position along the base of the fence. Once there, he unleashed a series of right hands to the side of the Delija’s head. However, the Sambo Piter export’s inability to finish proved costly. Delija rebounded in Round 3, struck for a takedown inside the first 20 seconds and kept the Russian pinned to the canvas for much of the period.