Kennedy Nzechukwu is 8-6-1 through 15 UFC bouts and has spent the past two years at heavyweight after starting his run at light heavyweight. Shamil Gaziev is 3-3 in six UFC fights and has been stopped in each of his last two, by Waldo Cortes Acosta and Brando Pericic. Both men have first-round knockouts on their recent sheets and both have been finished.
The read
This is close to even and the model is barely separating them. Nzechukwu's path is the pressure that produced first-round finishes of Chris Barnett and Lukasz Brzeski, and Gaziev has now been stopped inside two rounds twice running. Gaziev's path is his own power, which took out Thomas Petersen in a round.
What decides it
- Both men carry one-shot finishing power
- Gaziev stopped in each of his last two
- Nzechukwu's two first-round heavyweight KOs the model's positive read
- Close read, near coin-flip