Athletes
Michal Oleksiejczuk | Polish Nerd Looking to Keep Pushing Forward
Middleweight Veteran Discusses Recent Success, Busy Divisional Weekend In Baku
Most people don’t understand how difficult it is to make it to the UFC; how many individuals enter the sport with a desire to compete on its biggest stage but bow out at any of the myriad checkpoints along the challenging, fraught road that leads to the Octagon.
There have been 33 athletes from Poland who have crossed the threshold into the UFC cage, and just a dozen are on the active roster now, so the fact that Michal Oleksiejczuk and his younger brother Cezary both beat the odds is a testament to their talents and their drive.
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“Our way was very hard,” began the 31-year-old. “We started in a very small gym, don’t have a big opportunity, but our determination gives us power, and I believe that me and my brother would go to the UFC. This is our dream, this is the hard way, but me and my brother love this sport, and this is our passion.”
Cezary earned his first UFC victory last December but suffered a knee injury during the contest and has been sidelined since, with Michal noting he’s started doing light striking drills again and is targeting an early 2027 return to action.
But while the younger half of the tandem has been recovering and working his way back, his older brother has found a groove of late, posting three straight wins, and returns to action this weekend in Baku, Azerbaijan, facing off with Abus Magomedov in one of four crucial middleweight pairings on the card.
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The run of success coincides with Oleksiejczuk making the shift from training in Poland to preparing for his fights in São Paulo, Brazil, as part of the Fighting Nerds.
“After my fight with Caio Borralho, I think it was time to change teams, and I had a plan: I wanted to go to Sao Paulo because this gym has very similar striking style as me,” Oleksiejczuk said. “I like to move, I like striking, and I think this decision is the best decision in my life because now I have three (straight) wins, I have an opportunity for another win.
“I have plans,” he added. “I want to go to the top, and this gym, this group gives me a lot of positive energy; the whole team believes in my skills. I think this fight shows my new skill, and I’m very grateful for this team, for the work, and I am ready now.”
Michal Oleksiejczuk Fight Week Interview | UFC Baku
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Michal Oleksiejczuk Fight Week Interview | UFC Baku
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São Paolo is a far cry from Leczna, where he was born, or Barki, where he had previously trained, but for the 32-fight veteran, the proliferation of high-level training partners available in Brazil was too good to pass up.
“For me, the most important is good sparring partners at the top level,” Oleksiejcuk said. “In Fighting Nerds, it’s a lot of fighters who has great level. For me, I like hard sparring partners because after sparring with top fighters, my level goes up, and now I feel it.”
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The elevation of his game has been evident in his last three outings, where he followed back-to-back first-round stoppage wins over Sedriques Dumas and Gerald Meerschaert with a hard-fought unanimous decision win over French-Canadian battler Marc-Andre Barriault in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors back in February. That contest, much like his last setback against Shara Magomedov, showed a shift in the amount of tenacity and sticktoitiveness Oleksiejczuk now carries with him into battle, something that only comes from learning to trust yourself fully when things get dicey.
Armed with increased confidence and a three-fight winning streak, “Hussar” heads into the pivotal divisional weekend with designs on collecting a fourth consecutive victory and taking a big step forward in the shifting 185-pound ranks.
“This card is very good, and it’s a lot of tough names, and you are right: it’s a lot of good middleweight fighters, and I think everybody has a chance at the rankings after this event, but we will see,” Oleksiejczuk said. “I think that if I win this fight, I go to the (Top 15), but if I don’t go to the (Top 15), don’t worry — I have a lot of time.
“For me, it’s most important to make progress, have good health, and go up.
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“Abus is a tough guy; Dagestan guys are tough,” he continued. “I have respect for him. He’s a good grappler, good kickboxer, but I think this fight is a big opportunity for me because I am younger than him, I think I am more aggressive, my determination is higher than him.
“I think this fight will be in striking and I believe in this, but if this fight goes to the ground, no problem —I am a complete fighter.”
With the divisional ranks undergoing serious renovations over the last 12-18 months and seven other unranked competitors looking to use this weekend’s fight card in Baku as their personal launchpad to the Top 15, the competition for eyeballs and top spot on the list of middleweights coming away from Azerbaijan victorious is going to be intense.
But Oleksiejczuk has the most UFC experience of the bunch, owns the longest active winning streak within the group, and knows that, despite his desire to chase another Fight of the Night bonus or turn this into a brawl, that may not be the best way forward to victory this weekend.
“My style is aggressive,” he began with a smile. “I want to give fans an exciting fight, and I want this fight to be crazy, but I must keep discipline. I need to be smart, and I think that will be good.”
UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres took place live from National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 27, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!