Brando Pericic kept his knockout streak alive but it didn’t come easy after engaging in an absolute slugfest with Shamil Gaziev at UFC Perth on Saturday.
Well known for first round finishes, Pericic looked like he might add another to his resume but Gaziev just refused to go away despite absorbing some serious punishment. Every time it looked like Gaziev was done, he somehow found a way to throw a flurry of shots and he’d put Pericic on his heels.
Finally with time ticking away in the second round, Pericic really started unloading and after stunning Gaziev, he rushed forward with another combination that ended with a huge right hook that sent the Russian falling flat on the ground as the referee rushed in to stop the contest. The end came at 3:44 in the second round.
“I said it once, I said it again, I’m going to knock out every c*nt in this division,” Pericic shouted after his win. “I’ll fight anybody. The UFC is going to Serbia, ‘The Balkan Bear’ has to be on that one!.”
Pericic showed off his signature aggression and he stunned Gaziev with many of his shots including a punch that opened a cut in the early exchanges. But somehow, Gazief just kept absorbing the shots and the coming back with some of his own as he stunned Pericic as well.
The back-and-forth battle continued and it appeared that Gaziev might just have an iron chin that couldn’t be cracked but Pericic was obviously determined to prove otherwise.
That’s when he unloaded a succession of punches that ended with Gaziev crashing to the canvas in a heap with the fight being stopped in the second round.
While far from a technical masterpiece, Pericic scored his third win in the UFC with all three coming by knockout as he proves he’s one of the most exciting heavyweights on the entire roster.
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