Andrey Pulyaev

Pulyaev survived several minutes with Ruziboev before the veteran locked on the neck crank and forced the technical submission late in the first round.

Key moments

• The technical submission came at 3:58 of round one.
• It was his third loss in four UFC-affiliated appearances counting DWCS and UFC proper.
• The result followed the UFC 324 decision loss to Ateba Abega Gautier.

Ateba Abega Gautier made Pulyaev work a full three rounds at UFC 324 and left with a unanimous decision, a result that showed Pulyaev could hang at range but still came up short against higher-tier opposition.

Key moments

• Pulyaev lost by unanimous decision rather than being finished.
• It was his second UFC defeat in three appearances after the CLD loss and Nick Klein win.
• The loss set the stage for a high-variance stylistic matchup with Ruziboev five months later.

Christian Leroy Duncan outpointed Pulyaev over three rounds in Pulyaev's UFC debut, forcing him to defend more than attack and exposing how sharp the jump from regional middleweights to UFC depth can be. It was not a blowout, but it was a clear reminder that his contract-winning DWCS performance was only the start of the adjustment.

Key moments

• Pulyaev lost a unanimous decision in his UFC debut.
• The fight went the full 15 minutes.
• He answered it with the second-round finish of Nick Klein in the next outing.

Pulyaev flattened Welldon Silva de Oliveira in just 1:17 to open 2024 with another fast finish under the Shlemenko banner.

Key moments

• The knockout came 77 seconds into the opening round.
• Pulyaev won by punches rather than a kick or submission.
• It was his fourth stoppage win in five victories since the 2022 loss to Zhakyp Tuganbaev.
• The result set up the final regional push before his DWCS appearance later that year.

Pulyaev showed he could still find a finish late by tapping Nikita Kondratov with an armbar in round three at RCC Intro 29.

Key moments

• The armbar finish came at 3:49 of round three.
• Pulyaev needed nearly a full 14 minutes before finding the submission.
• It followed the first-round elbow stoppage of Khuseyn Merzoev from July 2023.

Pulyaev bounced back from the Daniyalbekov loss by cutting through Khuseyn Merzoev with elbows for a first-round TKO at SFC 8.

Key moments

• The stoppage came at 2:21 of round one.
• Pulyaev finished the fight with elbows rather than straight punches or a kick.
• It was his first appearance after the March 2023 defeat to Anvarbek Daniyalbekov.

Pulyaev added another early finish in April 2023 by forcing Pavel Mustafin to submit to a triangle choke in the first round.

Key moments

• The technical submission came 2:20 into the opening round.
• The finish followed just six weeks after his first-round TKO of Aslan Asukhanov.
• It briefly pushed his regional surge forward before the setback against Daniyalbekov.

Daniyalbekov stopped Pulyaev with punches late in the first round at Storm on the Neva, handing him a sharp interruption in an otherwise fast-starting 2023 campaign.

Key moments

• The TKO came at 4:09 of round one.
• Pulyaev was stopped by strikes rather than submitted or outpointed.
• It was his first loss after consecutive SFC wins over Alexandr Kurshinskiy and Aslan Asukhanov.
• He answered by winning his next three regional bouts, two by finish.

Pulyaev opened 2023 by stopping Aslan Asukhanov with punches before the three-minute mark of round one at SFC 6. It was exactly the kind of clean regional finish that helped establish his reputation as a front-running finisher.

Key moments

• The finish landed at 2:51 of the first round.
• Pulyaev scored back-to-back stoppage wins after the 10-second body-kick knockout in September 2022.
• The victory came less than two months after the decision loss to Zhakyp Tuganbaev.
• It began a busy 2023 stretch that would include five fights before his 2024 DWCS call.

That result mattered because it tested whether Pulyaev could still impose himself once the quick-finish script was denied.

Key moments

• The bout lasted all 15 minutes and went unanimously against Pulyaev.
• The loss broke up his first two-win burst after turning pro in 2022.
• Pulyaev responded by winning four of his next five, all but one by stoppage.

It was the kind of finish that immediately reinforced his tall-frame striking threat on the Russian regional circuit.

Key moments

• The knockout came just 10 seconds into round two.
• Pulyaev ended the fight with a body kick rather than punches.
• The win followed the 19-second TKO of Stanislav Shaboltas from June 2022.
• It gave him consecutive rapid finishes before the December test against Tuganbaev.