UFC Vegas 57 results and highlights: Gamrot beats Tsarukyan, Rakhmonov chokes out Magny

Check out the full results and highlights from UFC Vegas 57, including a thrilling main event between Mateusz Gamrot and Arman Tsarukyan.

UFC Vegas 57 is in the books, and it was another very compelling card with another main event that will no doubt have many fans debating the scorecards. Former KSW champion Mateusz Gamrot took a five-round unanimous decision over Arman Tsarukyan in a terrific back-and-forth battle that featured high-level striking, wrestling, grappling, and everything else under the sun. It was a marvelous matchup of two extremely talented lightweights, but it’s Gamrot who came out on top by winning the last three rounds on all of the judges’ scorecards. Gamrot has since called out Justin Gaethje for his next matchup, which would certainly put him very much in the mix for a title shot if that’s the next opponent for him.

Main Event Recap

There was little time to exchange pleasantries and all the time to fight. Both men went for takedowns right away but displayed exemplary defense to avoid being put on their back. Tsarukyan worked his body kicks early and often. Tsarukyan timed a Gamrot kick to take the former KSW champion down, becoming the first man to get Gamrot on the mat. Scrambles aplenty ensued and Gamrot suddenly had the back. Tsarukyan escaped and broke free with neither man throwing a strike. When Gamrot caught a Tsarukyan kick he couldn’t take the Armenian down. What dexterity shown! Just a remarkably high-paced round with action on the feet and on the ground.

A clear theme in the stand-up was Tsarukyan predominantly kicking and Gamrot preferring to box. Tsarukyan landed a couple of thudding body kicks on Gamrot, but when he switched things up with a low single leg Gamrot sprawled and stuffed. Another failed takedown by Tsarukyan resulted in a whizzer and just generally a stalemate. A heavy body kick caused Gamrot to wince, but he did return fire with a straight right.

In the third round, Gamrot got clocked with a right hand on a punch that Tsarukyan sat down on. It occurred just as Gamrot was changing levels and his subsequent takedown attempt was unsuccessful. Gamrot did find success with his boxing, specifically the right hand. Gamrot took Tsarukyan down but it was only fleeting on the mat. However, Gamrot took Tsarukyan’s back while standing and had it for a prolonged period of time. Eventually Tsarukyan spun out and back to striking. Arman closed the round strongly with a spinning back kick to (where else?) the body and even some solid punches upstairs. The power difference was pretty notable.

Gamrot tagged Tsarukyan with multiple big punches to open up the fourth round — it’s the first time Tsarukyan has gone this far — and he cracked Tsarukyan with a right hand that stunned him. Tsarukyan raised that right hand with a spinning backfist knockdown. On the ground Gamrot recovered and controlled Tsarukyan for a few seconds and then when they stood back up. Tsarukyan dealt with swelling under his left eye. Gamrot absorbed a knee from Tsarukyan and responded with a takedown and he took the back. Tsarukyan was slowing down and Gamrot controlled him the remainder of the frame. He did well to avoid getting choked out when he had his back taken.

Despite Tsarukyan corner’s insistence to their fighter that Arman cease wrestling, Tsarukyan wrestled anyway. Gamrot stuffed the takedown and then took Tsarukyan down for a fifth time. Tsarukyan returned to his feet and then threw a bad spinning backfist but somehow managed to stop Gamrot’s next takedown. Gamrot was getting the better of Tsarukyan on the feet in this final round of an incredible fight. He got in one last takedown but was reversed in the closing seconds. What action!

Main Card Recap

In the co-main event, Shavkat Rakhmonov announced his arrival as a welterweight contender. The Kazakhstan native outclassed and submitted veteran Neil Magny by guillotine choke late in the second round to maintain his undefeated record and keep his 100% finish rate intact. Rakhmonov showcased his physical gifts and his skills on the ground, preventing Magny from getting back to his feet on both takedowns he completed. The first one was off a caught kick and to Magny’s credit, he did give Rakhmonov something to think about with upkicks, punches from the bottom, and leglock sweep attempts. In the next round Rakhmonov showed himself to be a step ahead of Magny throughout their grappling sequences, and as the seconds ticked away he pulled guillotine for the tap. Rakhmonov would later call for a fight with two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson. This guy is for real and he showed it against a proven high-level opponent in Magny.

Heavyweight Josh Parisian and Alan Baudot produced a masterpiece of a fight. Parisian was in deep trouble midway through the opening round after Baudot wobbled and dropped him with a right standing hammerfist. Baudot had the opportunity to finish the fight but not only did it not happen, the Frenchman ended the round getting beaten up after he was taken down by Parisian. Baudot spent his money early and was taken down twice more in round two, just slowly succumbing to an also tired but still fresher Parisian’s strikes. Once Josh got into full mount off the second takedown it was only a matter of time before the ref stopped it. It doesn’t get much more heavyweight than that.

Brazil’s Thiago Moises made short work of Christos Giagos. Moises scored the fight’s only takedown and eventually got the back, working on a standing rear-naked choke. Giagos fought the hands and it looked as if Moises would have to switch arms to get the choke in but that was not to be. Giagos tapped on what was effectively a one-armed standing RNC to send him to his second loss in a row, and put Moises back in the win column.

Umar Nurmagomedov, cousin of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, maintained his undefeated record with a thorough domination of Nate Maness. As you would expect, Umar’s wrestling and superb grappling abilities were far too much for Maness to handle. The only thing you can say for Maness is he’s the first opponent out of four in Umar’s UFC career to last the distance. Maness couldn’t get any offense going on the feet and even ate a flush push kick to the face. Umar completed a takedown per round, got into multiple dominant positions and never let Maness escape to his feet.

In the opening main card bout, Chris Curtis stuffed all 20 of BJJ star Rodolfo Vieira’s takedowns and turned this fight into what was essentially a kickboxing contest. Curtis consistently attacked the body with powerful punches and then attacked the nose of Vieira with straight shots. Vieira did get in some good strikes of his own but he wanted the fight on the mat and it just never materialized. There was some controversy over a low blow thrown by Vieira that was later ruled not to be one, and then another low blow by Vieira that wasn’t ruled one but should’ve been called low. Besides that, Curtis was in control and moves to 3-0 in the UFC.

Full results below:

Main Card

Mateusz Gamrot def. Arman Tsarukyan by unanimous decision (48-47×3)

Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Neil Magny by submission (guillotine) at 4:58 of Round 2

Josh Parisian def. Alan Baudot by TKO (strikes) at 3:04 of Round 2

Thiago Moises def. Christos Giagos by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:05 of Round 1

Umar Nurmagomedov def. Nate Maness by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)

Chris Curtis def Rodolfo Vieira by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Preliminary Card

Carlos Ulberg def. Tafon Nchukwi by TKO (punches) at 1:15 of Round 1

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke def. T.J. Brown by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Sergey Morozov def. Raulian Paiva by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Cody Durden def. JP Buys by TKO (punches) at 1:08 of Round 1

Mario Bautista def. Brian Kelleher by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:27 of Round 1

Vanessa Demopoulos def. Jinh Yu Frey by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)