Gokhan Saricam Archives - Cageside Press

Gokhan Saricam Spoils Tanner Boser’s Homecoming With Brutal Finish

Shawn Bitter — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 23:22:53 +0000

Canadian heavyweight Tanner Boser returned to the UFC on Saturday at UFC Winnipeg, where he welcomed Bellator alum Gokhan Saricam to the promotion.

Boser was allowed to walk off a win over Aleksa Camur, then struggled to find fights on the regional scene. A victory over Vinicius Moreira in 2025 was enough to land in a second look, with his return marking “Bulldozer” Boser’s first UFC fight on Canadian soil.

The fight opened with a clubbing right hook from Saricam, immediately setting the tone. Boser answered with a sharp one-two, the right hand snapping Saricam’s head back. Saricam looked to close the distance and initiated a clinch, hunting a takedown, but Boser shrugged him off and sent him stumbling away. Undeterred, Saricam shot again off the jab, though Boser remained upright and composed.

They settled into a brief pocket exchange, planting their feet and trading. Saricam began to find success with hard calf kicks, gradually forcing Boser onto the back foot. With just under a minute remaining, Saricam landed a massive right hand that badly stunned Boser. Boser showed veteran awareness, tying up in the clinch to survive the round.

It was an entertaining opening frame, with Saricam clearly getting the better of the exchanges. He mixed his attacks well and proved to be the quicker, more impactful striker.

Round two saw Boser come out aggressively with a blitzing combination. The two traded leg kicks early, but Saricam once again found the bigger moments. In a heated exchange, he dropped Boser and followed up with ground-and-pound, though Boser managed to work his way back to his feet and clinch to recover.

Moments later, Saricam continued to build off his jab and leg kicks, while Boser tried to answer with bursts of offense. However, Saricam’s timing was dialed in—he caught Boser throwing a leg kick and blasted him with a straight right, sending him crashing to the canvas. This time, Saricam didn’t let him off the hook, swarming with follow-up shots to secure the finish.

Official Result: Gokhan Saricam def. Tanner Boser via R2 TKO, 0:43

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Tanner Boser Returns at UFC Winnipeg, “Ready to Rock and Roll” in Homecoming Fight

Eddie Law — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:58:49 +0000

After time away from the promotion, Tanner Boser is embracing both the moment and the opportunity that comes with his return. Set to face Gokhan Saricam at UFC Winnipeg on Saturday night, Boser admitted the reality of being back on the UFC stage took a moment to fully settle in but now, his focus is locked on delivering in front of a home crowd.

“Dude, it better have sunk in, I’m here ready to fight in a few days,” Boser told reporters on Wednesday.

“Yeah it’s sunk in. I got dialed in immediately. It probably took a day or two where it was still very surreal. Quite an incredulous feeling, but yeah it’s sunk in and I’m ready to rock and roll.”

Boser (22-10-1) was not sure he’d be back in the UFC after the promotion declined to give him a new deal following his victory over Aleksa Camur in 2023. He definitely wanted to return, but there was a time where he wasn’t sure it’d actually happen.

“It didn’t look good at the moment, but I never fully gave up hope on it or anything. I had a fight last year, went well, went my way, beat a UFC vet, so that kind of thing always helps,” he said.

“I was planning on fighting I just had several things that fell through. So I wasn’t active very much in the last three years, but I was planning to have fights that just didn’t quite happen. I’m just happy to be back.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Tanner Boser above. He faces Gokhan Saricam at UFC Winnipeg on Saturday night.

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Tanner Boser vs. Gokhan Saricam Signed for UFC Winnipeg, Per Promotion

Jay Anderson — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 16:52:11 +0000

The UFC is bringing back Canadian heavyweight Tanner Boser.

In a social media announcement on Monday, promotion officials confirmed that Boser (22-10-1) versus former Bellator MMA heavyweight Gokhan Saricam (11-2) has been signed for the upcoming UFC Winnipeg.

The Fight Night card takes place on April 18, 2026 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Signed might be the key word, after a bout between Canada’s Gavin Tucker and Doo-Ho Choi fell through when it was revealed not only that Tucker hadn’t signed his bout agreement, but had retired prior to the announcement being made.

Boser competed for the UFC from 2019 to 2023, posting a 5-5 record inside the octagon. It’s worth noting that among those losses was a fight against future interim heavyweight champ Ciryl Gane, in Boser’s second bout with the UFC, and one against former heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski, the current BKFC heavyweight champion.

The Canadian fighting out of Edmonton, Alberta dropped to light heavyweight towards the end of his UFC run and exited the promotion off a win over Aleksa Camur in August of 2023. After missing all of 2024, he returned to action last year, returning to heavyweight and stopping Vinicius Moreira at UAE Warriors 60.

Gokhan Saricam will make his promotional debut in the fight. The Turkish heavyweight is on a three fight win streak dating back to a win over Daniel James under the Bellator banner.

UFC Winnipeg is headlined by welterweights Gilbert Burns and Mike Malott, and currently features the following reported match-ups:

Gilbert Burns vs. Mike Malott
Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Karine Silva
Melissa Croden vs. Darya Zheleznyakova
John Castañeda vs. Mark Vologdin
Allan Nascimento vs. Mitch Raposo
Choi Dong-hun vs. André Lima
Robert Valentin vs. Julien Leblanc
Tanner Boser vs. Gökhan Saricam

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Daniel James vs. Gokhan Saricam Among Fights Announced for Bellator 297

Jay Anderson — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 17:22:42 +0000

Bellator MMA returns to Chicago in June, and a local hero is among the talent announced for the Bellator 297 card on Wednesday.

Revealing the news via press release, a full eight fights have been added to the event’s line-up, including a heavyweight match-up featuring Illinois native Daniel James (15-6-1) taking on Gokhan Saricam (8-2).

Daniel James will enter the fight off a big win against UFC veteran Marcelo Golm at Bellator 293 late last month. “The American Predator” has won five straight fights, including his first two under the Bellator banner. That has landed him the #4 spot in the promotion’s heavyweight division. Saricam sits ranked at #10.

That main card match-up in joined by seven newly announced preliminary bouts, including the debut of Pieter Buist (17-6), who will face Gadzhi Rabadanov (19-4-2) in a lightweight contest. Buist formerly competed for ONE Championship.

Ranked light heavyweights Alex Polizzi (10-2), sitting at #5 in the weight class, and #7-ranked Karl Moore (11-2) will also throw down.

The remaining newly announced Bellator 297 match-ups include Jaleel Willis (16-4) vs. Ramazan Kuramagomedov (10-0) and Roman Faraldo (8-1) vs. Bobby Nash (12-4), both at welterweight, #10-ranked lightweight Archie Colgan (7-0) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (20-8), Norbert Novenyi Jr. (6-0) vs. Kamil Oniszczuk (9-2) at middleweight, and #8-ranked Timur Khizriev (12-0) vs. Richie Smullen (10-2-1) at featherweight.

Bellator 297 is headlined by a light heavyweight championship bout as Vadim Nemkov puts his title on the line against Yoel Romero. In the co-main event, all eyes will be on Patricio Pitbull as he moves down a weight class, facing bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis in an attempt to win a championship in a third weight class.

Phil Davis vs. Corey Anderson will also face off in a main-card match-up. The event takes place June 16, 2023 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL.

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Gokhan Saricam vs. Oleg Popov Heavyweight Scrap Set for Bellator 291 in Dublin

Jay Anderson — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 20:19:28 +0000

Dublin, Ireland will host the Bellator MMA debut of Russian heavyweight prospect Oleg Popov.

Popov (15-1) will face off with Turkey’s Gokhan Saricam (8-1) as part of February’s Bellator 291 card. Promotion officials announced the match-up on Saturday. The bout joins several other significant match-ups at Bellator’s first European show of 2023, including the return of welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov.

With 11 of 15 wins coming via stoppage, Popov has been on the radar for some time. Riding a 13-fight win streak dating back to 2015, Popov most recently picked up a TKO win over former UFC title challenger Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

Welcoming the 30-year old Russian to the Bellator cage next year will be Gokhan Saricam, who will look to make it five wins in a row in the fight. Saricam’s only defeat came at the hands of fellow heavyweight standout Steve Mowry just over three years ago.

Bellator 291 takes place on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. A welterweight title unification bout between Yaroslav Amosov and interim champ Logan Storley headlines, while the following match-ups have been announced for the card:

Yaroslav Amosov (c) vs. Logan Storley (ic) – for the Bellator MMA welterweight championship / title unification bout
Pedro Carvalho vs. #5-Jeremy Kennedy
Sinead Kavanagh vs. Janay Harding
Gokhan Saricam vs. Oleg Popov
Oliver Enkamp vs. Luca Poclit
Karl Moore vs. Maciej Różański
Brian Moore vs. Luca Iovine
Daniele Scatizzi vs. Dmytrii Hrytsenko
Piotr Niedzielski vs. Richie Smullen
Charlie Ward vs. Mike Shipman
Norbert Novenyi Jr. vs. Andy Manzolo
Asaël Adjoudj vs. Calum Murrie
Elina Kallionidou vs. Jena Bishop

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Heavyweight Clash Added to Bellator 284 in South Dakota

Jay Anderson — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 16:39:02 +0000

The recently announced Bellator 284 continues to grow.

Heavyweights are the latest addition to the card, with promotion officials announcing Thursday that Said Sowma (8-3) will face Gokhan Saricam (7-1) at the event. Bellator 284 is set to take place on August 12, 2022 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Combined, the duo have 12 finishes among their 15 wins.

Sowma had a small but impressive win streak snapped in his last outing, which saw him lose a split decision against fellow prospect Davion Franklin. Prior to that setback, Sowma had picked up wins over UFC veteran Ronny Markes, and former Bellator MMA heavyweight champion Vitaly Minakov.

Turkey’s Saricam has won three straight fights, most recently notching a unanimous decision win against Kirill Sidelnikov. Overall, Saricam is 3-1 inside the Bellator cage.

August’s Bellator 284 will be headlined by welterweight action, as Neiman Gracie takes on fellow Brazilian standout Goiti Yamauchi. The event is expected to air on Showtime in the U.S., will more bouts announced in the coming weeks.

The following fights have been reported for the event thus far:

Neiman Gracie vs. Goiti Yamauchi
Valentin Moldavsky vs. Steve Mowry
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Bruna Ellen
Ilias Bulaid vs. Weber Almeida
DeAnna Bennett vs. Justine Kish
Said Sowma vs. Gokhan Saricam

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