The UFC Vegas 86 tournament was largely decisive for Russian knockout artist Bogdan Guskov. The brutal fighter desperately needed a victory over his American opponent. And he did it in spectacular fashion, knocking out the Ripper in the first round.

“Less anxiety from not knowing”

Bogdan “Tsarevich” Guskov has not yet had time to loudly declare himself in the UFC. Before the UFC Vegas 86 tournament, the 30-year-old fighter had only one fight, in which he lost to the representative of Switzerland, Volkan Oezdemir. Then bureaucratic delays prevented normal preparations. The prince arrived in Paris shortly before the battle.

Bogdan was born in Uzbekistan and represents this country, but for the last ten years he has been living and training in Russia. Guskov had a great desire to compete for two countries at once, but the rules of the organization do not allow this. The prince chose Uzbekistan, explaining that he was born there, and it is now easier to obtain a visa with an Uzbek passport.

Guskov’s next opponent was the American Zach “Ripper” Pauga. After an unsuccessful debut, Bogdan made adjustments to his preparation. He left for the USA in advance to have time to adapt normally.

— I had a good camp in Moscow, came to Las Vegas in advance, trained here and looked at the arena. Now there is more understanding and less anxiety from ignorance,” the fighter said in an interview with the YouTube channel “MMA Bulletin”.

Bogdan Guskov and Zach Pauga / Photo: © Jeff Bottari / Contributor / UFC / Gettyimages.ru

Brutal knockout

Before the fight, Bogdan set an example for many fighters from Russia. He entered the “cage” with the flag of our country, which was adjacent to the flag of Uzbekistan on his shoulders. At the same time, no one in the organization stopped Guskov from this patriotic step.

The American started the fight a little more active. The Ripper used a wide arsenal of blows. Bogdan preferred to act carefully, but at the first opportunity he definitely hit it from the right. Bogdan’s signature blow shocked Zack. He pinned Guskov against the net, but not for long.

The fighters quickly moved to the center of the hexagon, where Bogdan again loaded with a crown right. One more blow and the American found himself on the floor. Guskov didn’t even need to finish off his defeated opponent.

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Bogdan celebrated the victory very emotionally, shouting loudly towards his opponent. At the announcement of the winner, Guskov also carried two flags.

With this striking knockout, Tsarevich seriously improved his affairs in the promotion. I want to believe that now he has a great future in the UFC.

Watch live broadcasts of UFC tournaments on the Match TV and Match! Fighter”, you can also follow the progress of the tournaments on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.