Andrey Pulyaev’s first win in the UFC didn’t need the judges.
Pulyaev (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC), like his opponent and fellow Dana White’s Contender Series vet Nick Klein, stumbled in his UFC debut. However, at UFC on ESPN 71, Pulyaev returned to the win column with an impressive TKO stoppage of Klein (6-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at 1:31 of Round 2 in the middleweight preliminary bout.
It wasn’t smooth sailing to start for Pulyaev. In fact, Klein won the opening round on all three judges’ cards behind an aggressive grappling approach. After the break between rounds, Pulyaev found space to let his strikes fly, and put together a finishing sequence started with a hard kick to the body.
Check out video of the finish below (via X):
The 27-year-old Pulyaev dropped a unanimous decision against Christian Leroy Duncan in his March debut, which snapped a five-fight winning streak that included his DWCS win over Liam Anderson last August.
