Gaziev “Deadshot” Envisioned the Early Knockout
Gadzhimusa Gaziev’s whole world changed when he received a phone call just five days before the historic Brave Combat Federation kicked off its first show at Khalifa Sports City in Bahrain. The Dagestani welterweight, who got the most impressive knockout of the night, was making some waves in Russia, but was still a little-known name in Mixed Martial Arts, from a land that routinely churns out killers in this sport.
Then came the call which would change his life. He was given an opportunity by Brave matchmaker Manolo Hernandez to fight, on extremely short notice, an undefeated Brazilian fighter who had thus far destroyed all his opponents quickly and brutally.
“The Organization called me on September 18th and asked am I ready to fight on September 23rd? Then they provided the name of my rival. I spent a short time thinking about it and I accepted the fight only after watching some of my rivals fights.”
The footage he would have seen was Thiago Vieira, an imposing man, pressing forward, throwing vicious leg kicks and body kicks, and finishing all his fights mostly with his hands, utilizing his long reach.
Still Gaziev saw something which made him believe the fight was a winnable fight even on such short notice. He seized the opportunity to make a big name for himself and land an upset in the inaugural Brave card, with many millions of eyes watching.
“I analyzed him carefully. Because of the lack of time, I decided to put more emphasis not on power but on accurate strikes and prepared myself mentally to finish by knockout. All during the five days leading up to the fight I imagined how to quickly finish him by knockout. As a result, it happened as I planned.”
On fight night, Gaziev delivered the shock of the card, as he emerged from the unknown, survived an early onslaught from the Brazilian Vieira and landed the telling punch which would change his career. A right hand, which when it connected, could be heard throughout the Khalifa Sports Center. Vieira dropped and was never allowed to recover. So the unknown Dagestani announced himself to the world, Ghadzhimusa “Deadshot” Gaziev. Now we know why he’s called “Deadshot”.
With Brave 2 ” Dynasty ” coming up, Gaziev claims to be more than ready to fight, but who will step up ?
