By The Numbers: Denis Goltsov

Denis Goltsov has already compiled one of the more impressive résumés in the Professional Fighters League heavyweight division. On Friday, he renews his quest to pick up the missing piece: a season title and $1 million prize.

“The Russian Bogatyr” faces Matheus Scheffel on Friday at PFL 8 in Cardiff, Wales, in one of two heavyweight semifinals on the card. It will be Goltsov’s third semifinal appearance in as many seasons since joining PFL in 2019. In that year, Goltsov navigated his regular-season slate undefeated, then edged out Satoshi Ishii in his quarterfinal before coming up short against eventual tournament winner Ali Isaev in their semifinal. When the league returned in 2021 from its COVID-19 gap year, Goltsov blew through the regular season with two knockouts, but was turned aside once again in the semis, this time by Ante Delija.

This season, Goltsov honed his past performances to an even keener edge, and he enters the 2022 playoffs as the top seed in the heavyweight bracket. Another chance at the grand prize awaits, as well as a further assault on PFL’s record books—and perhaps a shot at revenge against Delija, who takes on Renan Ferreira in Friday’s other semifinal. As Goltsov prepares to try and make his third time the charm, here is a look at some of the numbers that have brought him to the precipice:

32: Years of age for Goltsov, who was born on June 10, 1990 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

1: World combat sambo title for Goltsov. He won the 2016 World Sambo Championships in the heavyweight (over 220 pound) division when he made it to the final, only to have defending champ Kirill Sidelnikov withdraw due to injury.

23: Wins by finish in 29 total career wins. His 13 KO/TKOs and 10 submissions add up to a 79% finishing rate.

10: Promotions under whose banners Goltsov has done work. They are: M-1, Pro FC, League S-70, Global Fight Club, Lion’s Fights, Union of Veterans of Sport, Tech-Krep Fighting Championship, Russian Cagefighting Championship, Absolute Championship Berkut (now Absolute Championship Akhmat), and PFL.

14: Consecutive wins by Goltsov after his loss to Akhmed Sultanov on June 21, 2012, a five-year streak that saw “The Russian Bogatyr” finish 11 of his foes and pick up heavyweight titles in two of Russia’s top promotions, ACB and Tech-Krep FC. That scorching run of success came to an end on Aug. 19, 2017, when he dropped the ACB title to Mukhomad Vakhaev via fourth-round TKO.

7: Victories in PFL, the most of any heavyweight in the promotion’s history.

4: PFL wins by knockout or technical knockout, good enough for first place in PFL heavyweight history, tied with Bruno Cappelozza.

3: Countries in which Goltsov has competed. His 36-fight career has thus far taken place entirely in Russia, Ukraine and the United States. When he touches down in the United Kingdom this week, it will be just the fourth stamp on his MMA passport.

.595: Cumulative winning percentage between the seven men—Ibragim Ibragimov, Dmitry Poberezhets, Alexander Volkov, Sultanov, Vakhaev, Isaev and Delija—who have defeated Goltsov. They sport a collective record of 119-34-2.