Mateusz Gamrot walked away from this weekend’s UFC card with his first-ever main event win with the promotion.
Gamrot pulled off a unanimous decision victory against Arman Tsarukyan, headlining a card Saturday from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
All three judges saw Gamrot take three of the five rounds after 25 minutes of action.
Tsarukyan had a hot start to the bout, taking the first and second rounds on all scorecards. He was the stronger fighter early, although it was undoubtedly a close battle from the start. The lightweights engaged in fast-paced scramble positions on the ground early and had back-and-forth exchanges on the feet.
Gamrot heated up later in the fight, making it a much closer fight than in the earlier frames. Gamrot had a more head-hunting style to his attack, while Tsarukyan had a wide variety of shots that connected to the body and legs as well.
Tsarukyan continued to show life late, and in many people’s eyes kept taking rounds. He landed a subtle knockdown in the fourth frame, briefly seating Gamrot with a spinning backfist.
Many disagreed with the decision to give Gamrot the win. On MMADecisions.com, 15 of the 22 media members included in a survey saw Tsarukyan as the winner of the bout.
Nonetheless, Gamrot, the former two-division KSW champion, has now picked up four consecutive wins in the UFC cage. His three prior wins all came via finish, including victories over veterans Diego Ferreira and Jeremy Stephens.
Tsarukyan entered this card on a strong five-fight run of wins. He scored a victory earlier this year, stopping Joel Alvarez with strikes.
Both fighters were appearing this weekend in their first-ever five-round UFC bout.
Rakhmonov Keeps Campaign Going With Submission Over Magny
Shavkat Rakhmonov made a statement in Saturday’s co-main event, hardly struggling against tough veteran Neil Magny on his way to a victory.
Rakhmonov pulled off a second-round submission win over Magny, tapping him out with a guillotine choke just before the round concluded.
Rakhmonov had complete control of the fight for nearly all of the two rounds that it took place in. He scored many takedowns in the battle, using these positions to keep Magny grounded.
Rakhmonov’s record is now a strong 16 wins and zero losses. He has earned four wins since joining the UFC in 2020, with all of them coming via finish in the first or second rounds.
Magny provided a tough step-up challenge for Rakhmonov this weekend. This is due to Magny’s experience at the top of UFC’s welterweight division, having faced some of the division’s top names in recent years.
Magny’s prior fight was a split decision win over Max Griffin.
Parisian Overcomes Early Struggles To Stop Baudot
Heavyweight Josh Parisian scored a finish win on Saturday’s main card, putting away Alan Baudot in the second round with punches.
Parisian put an end to the fight by taking Baudot down and landing ground and pound shots from full mount.
Parisian had to get past some early success from Baudot to win the fight. Parisian suffered a knockdown in the first round, and punches from Baudot caused visible damage to his face.
Parisian’s UFC record is now an even two wins and two losses. His previous showing saw him suffer a late finish loss against Don’Tale Mayes.
Baudot is now winless through four UFC appearances. He first joined the promotion in 2020 and has taken three losses and one no-contest since then.
Moises Taps Giagos Early To Bounce Back
Thiago Moises returned to the win column on Saturday night with an early submission victory against Christos Giagos.
Moises was able to catch Giagos with a rear naked choke while on the feet in the first round. He mounted the back of Giagos, allowing him to lock in the submission and earn a tap.
The fight snapped a two-fight losing streak that Moises took in 2021, including a main event loss against Islam Makhachev.
Giagos’ previous fight was a first-round finish loss against Arman Tsarukyan in 2021.
Nurmagomedov Dominates Maness To Remain Undefeated
Undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov had a dominant performance against bantamweight Nate Maness for a unanimous decision win on Saturday night.
Numerous minutes of ground control from Nurmagomedov along with successful moments on the feet allowed him to sweep the scorecards.
All official scorecards painted the picture of a one-sided win for Nurmagomedov. One of the three judges saw Nurmagomedov win with a score of 30 to 25.
Nurmagomedov has earned 15 wins in his flawless pro career, including three in the UFC cage. His previous bout was a first-round submission victory over Brian Kelleher.
Maness entered this weekend having not lost in any of his three prior UFC bouts.
Curtis Earns Another Win In Return
Chris Curtis’ successful UFC run continued on Saturday night, as he worked toward a unanimous decision victory against Rodolfo Vieira.
Curtis prevailed in a battle that was mostly on the feet in all three rounds.
Curtis’ striking allowed him to earn rounds on scorecards. His boxing, in particular, proved to be accurate throughout the fight. Jabs and cross punches from Curtis connected often and touched up the face of Vieira.
Curtis has now scored a trio of wins since joining the UFC roster in November 2021. Previous wins saw him finish Phil Hawes and Brendan Allen.
Vieira was coming off a submission victory against Dustin Stoltzfus from July 2021. That fight put him back into the win column after suffering his first pro loss earlier in the year.
The Rest of the Card
Carlos Ulberg picked up his first UFC finish win in the top prelim, beating Tafon Nchukwi in 75 seconds with strikes. After hurting Nchukwi with a hook to the head, he followed up with a combination of shots to earn a knockdown and end the bout.
Shayilan Nuerdanbieke scored his second UFC win on Saturday night, defeating TJ Brown via unanimous decision after three rounds.
Sergey Morozov walked away with a decision win after a fast-paced battle against bantamweight Raulian Paiva.
Cody Durden bounced back from a recent loss with a fast performance, shutting down JP Buys in just over a minute with strikes. After cracking Durden on the feet with right hands, ground and pound shots forced the bout to end. Buys is now winless through three UFC appearances.
Mario Bautista earned the quickest win of his UFC career thus far, catching veteran Brian Kelleher in the first round with a rear naked choke.
Former LFA Strawweight Champion Vanessa Demopoulos picked up a close victory to open the evening, beating Jinh Yu Frey in a split decision outcome. Nearly all media members on MMADecisions.com disagreed with the score and instead gave the fight to Frey.
Quick Results
Main Card (10:00PM EDT / 7:00PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 2)
Bout 12: Mateusz Gamrot def. Arman Tsarukyan via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Neil Magny via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 2, 4:58)
Bout 10: Josh Parisian def. Alan Baudot via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 3:04)
Bout 9: Thiago Moises def. Christos Giagos via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 3:05)
Bout 8: Umar Nurmagomedov def. Nate Maness via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 7: Chris Curtis def. Rodolfo Vieira via Decision, Unanimous
Preliminary Card (7:00PM EDT / 4:00PM PDT) (ESPN2 / TSN 2)
Bout 6: Carlos Ulberg def. Tafon Nchukwi via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:15)
Bout 5: Shayilan Nuerdanbieke def. TJ Brown via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 4: Sergey Morozov def. Raulian Paiva via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Cody Durden def. JP Buys via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:08)
Bout 2: Mario Bautista def. Brian Kelleher via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 2:27)
Bout 1: Vanessa Demopoulos def. Jinh Yu Frey via Decision, Split
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