Polish knockout artist Michal Oleksiejczuk faced off with American collegiate wrestler Cody Brundage for the main card opener at UFC Vegas 66.
Brundage bounced back from a UFC debut loss in 2021 to earn two first round stoppage victories in 2022. Meanwhile Oleksiejczuk had stopped UFC veteran Sam Alvey in his last fight, his first at middleweight after moving down from light heavyweight. That was his fourth first round knockout in the promotion out of five total wins and eight total fights. Michal has only lost to ranked or formerly ranked fighters in Ovince St. Preux, Jimmy Crute, and Dustin Jacoby.
It was interesting to see if the wrestling of Brundage would be able to drag Olekeisjczuk into deep waters, where he has shown cardio issues in the past, or if the knockout power of the Pole would win the day.
The bout opened with a takedown successfully landed from Brundage against the fence into top half guard. Oleksiejczuk got his back to the fence and tried to stand up but Brundage stayed heavy on top. Oleksiejczuk got to his feet but Cody maintained a rear body-lock and then pulled Michal down on top of him into a partial back take. Oleksiejczuk tried to explode and escape but Brundage kept his grip tight. However Oleksiejczuk was able to spin into Cody when Cody took his back and ended up on top in full guard. The Pole rained down punches and elbows with his patented power. With two minutes left in the round Cody began to look seriously hurt and turned to his side. Oleksiejczuk refused to stop raining down the ground and pound, forcing Mark Smith to step in.
Official Result: Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Cody Brundage by TKO (ground and pound) Round 1, 3:16
