Kicking off the early preliminary card at UFC 272 was a light heavyweight match-up between Dustin Jacoby and Michal Oleksiejczuk.
Both fighters entered the Las Vegas card on Saturday off solid win streaks, but Jacoby’s second run in the UFC had been particularly impressive: after washing out of the promotion after a two-fight stint that ended in 2012, he’d returned via Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020 and posted a 4-0-1 record through five fights.
As the first fight of the night got underway, both fighters took the center of the octagon after a touch of gloves. Oleksiejczuk fired off a jab first, and Jacoby missed a high kick. Jacoby landed a 1-2, and a few seconds later, Oleksiejczuk landed a stiff right hand.
Just over a minute in, Jacoby accidentally poked Oleksiejczuk in the eye, and the action was stopped. As they got back underway, Oleksiejczuk landed a hard left hand. Jacoby attempted two high kicks, and Oleksiejczuk caught the second one and landed a takedown. Three minutes into the fight, both men exchanged combos, with Oleksiejczuk being more effective. Oleksiejczuk’s left hand kept connecting. With roughly 90 seconds left in the round, Jacoby attempted a takedown, but Oleksiejczuk defended. Less than 30 seconds left, and Oleksiejczuk landed a body punch to Jacoby’s liver. Oleksiejczuk landed a good left hand to end round one.
Round two started with Oleksiejczuk walking Jacoby down. Jacoby landed a combo and then landed another hook that wobbled Oleksiejczuk. Jacoby pounded on Oleksiejczuk and landed several shots, and eventually dropped Oleksiejczuk. Oleksiejczuk got back up to his feet, and Jacoby went for a takedown, which Oleksiejczuk defended. Jacoby landed another takedown, but Oleksiejczuk got back to his feet again. Oleksiejczuk landed a left hand which made Jacoby clinch. Just shy of two minutes left in the round, and Oleksiejczuk landed another straight left that backed Jacoby up. Less than a minute to go in round two, and Oleksiejczuk stung Jacoby with another left, but he waved it off. The round ended with Jacoby clinching Oleksiejczuk against the fence.
It was close heading to the third. Oleksiejczuk landed a left hand to start round three. Oleksiejczuk walked Jacoby down and Jacoby landed a jab. With just over three minutes left in the fight, Jacoby poked Oleksiejczuk in the eye again to halt the action. The action started shortly after, and Jacoby came out hard, landing a few combos. Less than two minutes and Jacoby clinched up with Oleksiejczuk and put him against the fence. With 50 seconds left, Jacoby grabbed a leg but nothing came of it. The fight ended with Oleksiejczuk being held against the fence and Jacoby landing an elbow.
On the scorecards, it was Jacoby getting the win, with 29-28 scores from all three judges.
𝙒𝙞𝙧𝙚-𝙩𝙤-𝙬𝙞𝙧𝙚!@TheHanyakDJ extends his unbeaten streak to 8️⃣!
[ #UFC272 | Early Prelims Live on @ESPNPlus & @UFCFightPass ] pic.twitter.com/845nlNVvtz
— UFC (@ufc) March 5, 2022
With the win, Jacoby improves to 5-0-1 in his second UFC stint, and is unbeaten in eight straight fights overall.
Official Result: Dustin Jacoby def. Michal Oleksiejczuk by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
