Shamil Gaziev’s Walk-Off Finish Came in the First Round
Shamil Gaziev’s walk-off knockout of Thomas Petersen was one of the heavyweight highlights at the February 1, 2025 event in Riyadh. Gaziev won by knockout from punches at 3:12 of the first round.
The official octagon interview below was recorded after Gaziev defeated Petersen during the Riyadh fight card. It is a post-fight interview, not footage of the knockout itself; the promotion’s separate official highlight page is also available. The official result lists the method as KO/TKO, Round 1, 3:12.
The finish was significant in the context of Gaziev’s start to the year. He entered the bout after a unanimous-decision win over Don’Tale Mayes in August 2024. Before that, his first career loss came against Jairzinho Rozenstruik in March 2024, when the bout was stopped after the fourth round. The Petersen victory therefore served as a return to the win column and a quick reminder of Gaziev’s punching power in the heavyweight division. The available official records establish the result and timing; they do not support claims about what promoters or contenders thought of the performance afterward.
Petersen, known as “The Train,” had earned his place in the promotion through the 2023 Contender Series. He came into the Riyadh matchup with a record that included nine professional wins, and his fight with Gaziev was one of three heavyweight contests on the card. The result was a setback, but a single loss should not be turned into a sweeping claim about his ability or future. A sound report can state the result and the finish without inventing a reaction or predicting what either man will accomplish next.
Gaziev’s career has since included wins and losses: after defeating Petersen, he lost to Waldo Cortes-Acosta in November 2025 and to Brando Peričić in May 2026, then returned with a first-round knockout of Kennedy Nzechukwu in August 2026. The later results show why a single finish cannot by itself predict a fighter’s trajectory.
The official athlete profile lists ten first-round finishes by knockout or technical knockout, which puts the Petersen result within a broader pattern of early finishes in Gaziev’s record. That statistic gives useful context without changing the bout’s outcome or suggesting every contest follows the same script. For Petersen, the official profile records the stoppage at the same 3:12 mark. The two profiles and the fight record align on the essential facts, while the interview supplies post-fight context.
The durable takeaway from the Riyadh bout is precise and straightforward: Gaziev stopped Petersen with punches 3:12 into round one. The promotion’s official highlight page identifies the clip as Gaziev’s walk-off knockout of Petersen, while the official fight record confirms the round and time.
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Tags: MMA
