Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the UFC Apex later tonight (Sat., June 25, 2022) to stage UFC Vegas 57 featuring a Lightweight bout between Arman Tsarukyan taking on Mateusz Gamrot. In further action, Neil Magny takes on Shavkat Rakhmonov in a Welterweight offering.
What’s Hot:
While all of the attention in the Lightweight division is focusing on a potential Lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev, two rising contenders are out to put the spotlight on themselves by cracking the Top 10 after this weekend in Arman Tsarukyan and Mateusz Gamrot. Ranked No. 11 at the moment, Tsarukyan started his UFC career off on the wrong foot, losing to the aforementioned Islam Makhachev, though the fight was taken on short notice. Since then, however, he has gone on to win five in a row, good enough to earn him the No. 11 spot in the rankings, as well as his first headlining gig. Gamrot kicked off his UFC career in pretty much the same fashion, losing in his debut to Guram Kutateladze via split decision, his first and only loss of his UFC career. He has gone on to win three straight, including big wins over Jeremy Stephens and Carlos Diego Ferreira. Now, the No. 12-ranked 155-pound fighter on the planet hopes to secure his biggest win.
This is a really stellar matchup between two contenders who have already opened up many sets of eyes, establishing themselves as legit title contenders. While he isn’t quite being ducked like Makhachev, there aren’t too many people chomping at the bit to face Tsarukyan, who has a well-rounded toolbox to give the best of them trouble inside the cage, and the exact same can be said for Gamrot, who is one judge scoring it his way away from being perfect in his MMA career. Gamrot packs a solid punch but can easily twist you up like a pretzel if given the chance. And he also has great foot movement which makes him a hard target to hit. And his kicking game is up to par, as well, so in order to prove victorious his foes must be on on point in all facets of the fight game. And of course, his wrestling is so sneaky good that he can end the fight in any way he wants. Once he gets rolling, his opponents will struggle to say off their back. All he has to do is latch on to one leg and it’s game over since the traditional double leg isn’t needed for him to take you down. And the thing about Gamrot is that he always stays busy, rarely giving his opponents time to breath.
All told, this will be a chess match all night long that is likely to go the distance. The winner of this matchup can expect to crack the Top 10, get a high-ranked opponent next and move closer to facing the cream of the crop by 2023.
What’s Not:
There really isn’t much to complain about here. The undercard has a very healthy lineup of intriguing and crucial matchups in several divisions. As far as the main card is concerned, it is one of the more well-rounded ones we have had in a while, so all of the fights should deliver.
Original Card vs Actual Card:
No major shakeups affected this event, other than the injury we will discuss in the next segment.
Injuries:
Tim Elliott tore his ACL, forcing him to bow out of his fight against Amir Albazi in a Flyweight collision. As a result, Albazi was paired up with Francisco Figueiredo, though it will not happen until UFC 278 on Aug. 20.
New Blood:
No newcomers for this event.
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
Headlining the undercard of this event will be a Light Heavyweight collision between Tafon Nchukwi and Carlos Ulberg. Both men are fairly new into their UFC careers. Nchukwi is 2-2 so far in four tries and hopes to shake the cobwebs from his devastating flying knee knockout loss at the hand of Azamat Murzakanov. Ulberg, meanwhile, is 1-1 inside the Octagon, earning his first win with the promotion against Fabio Cherant at UFC 271.
TJ Brown will battle Shayilan Nuerdanbieke in the Featherweight division. Brown stumbled out of the gates by losing his first two UFC fights, but he has rebounded nicely since then, winning back-to-back fights against Kai Kamaka III and Charles Rosa. As for Nuerdanbieke, he also failed to impress in his UFC debut, losing to Joshua Culiabao before scoring a win over Sean Soriano.
After having his three-fight win streak snapped by Sean O’Malley via first-round knockout at UFC 269, Raulian Paiva is out to start another win streak when he battles Sergey Morozov, who is also in desperate need of a victory after only racking up a 1-2 mark inside the Octagon, including his most recent loss at the hands of Douglas Silva de Andrade via submission.
Brian Kelleher has been fighting for UFC for five years now, and right when we think he might break through to the next level he comes up short. And it isn’t for a lack of trying, “Boom” is exciting as all hell and brings it night in and night out. But in his latest big test, he came up short against Umar Nurmagomedov, which prevented him from earning a three-fight win streak, Now, the rapping fighter is out for blood when he battles Mario Bautista.
Opening up the event is women’s Strawweight fight between former stripper-turned fighter Vanessa Demopoulos and Jinh Yu Frey. Demopoulos is coming off a huge win over Silvana Gomez Juarez, but has failed to gain much momentum so far, alternating wins and losses throughout her UFC career. As for Frey, she bounced back nicely after two straight losses to kick off her UFC career by defeating Gloria de Paula and Ashley Yoder in back-to-back outings.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
In three fights with UFC Alan Baudot has not been able to get to the winner’s podium. He was knocked out by Tom Aspinall in his debut, and then stopped via strikes by Alan Nascimento in his follow up bout, though that fight was eventually overturned to a No Contest (NC) after Nascimento failed a post-fight drug test. In his third and most recent fight, Baudot lost to Parker Porter via unanimous decision. If he comes up short against Josh Parisian, it could be the end of his UFC run.
Interest Level: 5/10
This is a very good “Fight Night” card with several intriguing bouts on the main card. We’ve already discussed the main event, but let’s take a look at the rest of the action. In the co-main event, Neil Magny will attempt to hand Shavkat Rakhmnov his first-ever defeat. At 15-0, Rakhmanov has caught the attention of the entire Welterweight division, winning his first two fights inside the Octagon with great stoppages, a submission win over Michael Prazeres, and then a first-round knockout win over Carlston Harris.
Prior to getting into UFC, Rakhmanov had 13 straight stoppage victories. In short, the man likes to get in and out as quickly and entertaining as possible. He has shown to have the chops of being a future contender, but now has one of the biggest tests ahead of him in Magny, who is on a two-fight win streak and 5-1 in his last six fights. Magny has the tools to end Rakhmanov’s great run, and is not ready to be a gatekeeper in the division.
In the Lightweight division, Christos Giagos battles Thiago Moises. Giagos is looking to bounce back after he was stopped by event headliner, Arman Tsarukyan, in the very first round. Prior to the loss, Giagos had won two straight. Moises, meanwhile, needs a win just a bit more after suffering losses in his previous two fights, losing to Islam Makhachev and Joe Alvarez.
Umar Nurmagomedov looks to keep his undefeated (14-0, 2-0 UFC) streak going as he battles Nate Manness in an highly-interesting Bantamweight fight. Mannes is on a four-fight win streak and is 3-0 inside the Octagon, and is now looking to secure the biggest win of his combat career. It won’t be easy because Nurmagomedov comes from Khabib’s school of wrestling, which means he will be on his back a lot in this fight. Still, if he can somehow pull off an upset, it sets him up for bigger things down the road.
In the Middleweight division, Chris Curtis hopes to extend his impressive win streak to eight when he battles Rodolfo Vieira. Curtis has been on an absolute tear since making his UFC debut, winning his first two fights via technical knockout over Brendan Allen and Phil Hawes, two formidable foes. As for Vieira, he is 3-1 so far in his young UFC career and is coming off a submission win over Dustin Stoltzfus. Seven of Vieira’s wins have come by way of submission, so it’s no secret as to why his nickname is “The Black Belt Hunter.”
Enjoy the fights!
Full UFC Vegas 57 Fight Card:
UFC Vegas 57 Main Event On ESPN/ESPN+:
155 lbs.: Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mateusz Gamrot
UFC Vegas 57 Main Card On ESPN/ESPN+:
170 lbs.: Neil Magny vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
265 lbs.: Alan Baudot vs. Josh Parisian
155 lbs.: Christos Giagos vs. Thiago Moises
135 lbs.: Nate Maness vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
185 lbs.: Chris Curtis vs. Rodolfo Vieira
UFC Vegas 57 Prelims Card On ESPN2/ESPN+:
205 lbs.: Tafon Nchukwi vs. Carlos Ulberg
145 lbs.: TJ Brown vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke
135 lbs.: Sergey Morozov vs. Raulian Paiva
125 lbs.: JP Buys vs. Cody Durden
135 lbs.: Mario Bautista vs. Brian Kelleher
115 lbs.: Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Jinh Yu Frey
*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 57 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (on ESPN/ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 57: “Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.