Light heavyweight action at UFC 260 on Saturday night saw a battle of European talents go down. Early on the preliminary card, Poland’s Michał Oleksiejczuk faced off with Lithuania’s Modestas Bukauskas, with both men looking to get back in the win column.
To start the fight, Bukauskas started with a spinning back kick. Oleksiejczuk fired back with hard punches. Bukauskas tried to take Oleksiejczuk down but was stuffed. Oleksiejczuk was constantly walking Bukauskas down, but Bukauskas landed a right hand and stunned Oleksiejczuk. Oleksiejczuk recovered and continued to walk down his opponent. Oleksiejczuk missed with an uppercut but landed a blow afterward. Bukauskas landed a nice counter right hand with a minute left. Bukauskas landed a spinning back kick to end the round. The judges didn’t not have an easy job in that round.
Both men came out in round two and threw heat— and again, there was constant pressure from Oleksiejczuk. A minute into the round and Oleksiejczuk landed a body shot. Oleksiejczuk landed about three overhand lefts. Bukauskas threw a front kick, but Oleksiejczuk blocked it. Oleksiejczuk landed a knee to the body off a clinch. Three straight right hands from Bukauskas followed and Oleksiejczuk ate them. Bukauskas tried a sneaky lead elbow, but Oleksiejczuk ate it as well. 15 seconds left, and Bukauskas threw a high kick. Ten seconds left, and Bukauskas charged Oleksiejczuk and threw punches and another kick.
They are unloading in the final seconds 🤯 #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/cKcm8nxnJN
— UFC (@ufc) March 28, 2021
A 1-2 combo from Oleksiejczuk opened up round three. Oleksiejczuk wasn’t breathing hard at all. Bukauskas landed a nice uppercut, and Oleksiejczuk landed a nice 1-2 right back. Oleksiejczuk landed a body shot with three minutes left. Oleksiejczuk grabbed Bukauskas, and put him against the fence with two and a half left. Bukauskas escaped, and later landed a solid hook, but Oleksiejczuk ate it. Bukauskas threw another spinning back kick but missed. Oleksiejczuk landed a left hook with about a minute to go, followed by a body shot. Bukauskas looked hurt, but Oleksiejczuk did not notice, or at least couldn’t capitalize on it. Bukauskas ended the fight with a high kick. It came down to the judges, who were split, in favor of Michal Oleksiejczuk.
Official Result: Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Modestas Bukauskas by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
