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Zane Simon & Mookie Alexander are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, June 25th, UFC Vegas 57: ‘Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mateusz Gamrot’ Fight Night event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

Bloody Elbow fight expert, Zane Simon is here, joined by his co-hort, Mookie Alexander. We recorded for you on Saturday, June 25th, 2022, with a breakdown of the UFC Vegas 57: ‘Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot’ 12-bout Fight Night event, which took place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

June M. Williams

The guys have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event in the player above, or they can be caught on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel or any platform in our BE Presents Podcast Network.

For all the results, reactions and plethora of details about the main card, and plenty of tidbits about all the prelims, be sure to hit play on the show to hear what our fight experts have to say!

Overall, this 12-bout card saw six exciting first round finishes, three thrilling KO/TKO’s, three sweet submissions, and six hard-fought decisions; one split. Rounding things out, our fighters who were awarded for putting forth BONUS efforts included: FOTN: Mateusz Gamrot vs. Arman Tsarukyan. POTN: Thiago Moisés, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Josh Parisian.

Here’s a look at the UFC Vegas 57: ‘Tsarukyan vs Gamrot’ fight card with full results & updated fight records —

The main event was scheduled for five rounds, with the remaining bouts scheduled for three rounds. | Official UFC Scorecards

ESPN/ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. JUNE 25

12. Mateusz Gamrot (21-1) DEF. Arman Tsarukyan (18-3) — via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)

11. Shavkat Rakhmonov (16-0) DEF. Neil Magny (26-8) — via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:58 of round two

10. Josh Parisian (15-5) DEF. Alan Baudot (8-4) — via TKO (strikes) at 3:04 of round two

9. Thiago Moisés (16-6) DEF. Christos Giagos (19-10) — via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:05 of the first round

8. Umar Nurmagomedov (15-0) DEF. Nate Maness (14-2) — via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)

7. Chris Curtis (29-8) DEF. Rodolfo Vieira (8-2) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

ESPN2/ESPN+ PRELIMS

6. Carlos Ulberg (5-1) DEF. Tafon Nchukwi (6-3) — via TKO (strikes) at 1:15 of the first round

5. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke (37-10) DEF. TJ Brown (16-9) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

4. Sergey Morozov (18-5) DEF. Raulian Paiva (21-5) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

3. Cody Durden (13-4) DEF. JP Buys (9-5) — via TKO (strikes) at 1:08 of the first round

2. Mario Bautista (10-2) DEF. Brian Kelleher (24-14) — via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:27 of the first round

1. Vanessa Demopoulos (8-4) DEF. Jinh Yu Frey (11-7) — via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)

Be sure to follow Zane – @TheZaneSimon & Mookie – @MookieAlexander; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings.

If you enjoy our wide variety of shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music – For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels.

Join us again for another episode of ‘6th Round’ next week, on Saturday, July 2nd, for UFC 276: ADESANYA VS CANNONIER – UFC Middleweight Championship, PLUS: Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway 3 – UFC Featherweight Championship:

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Join us here at Bloody Elbow for live results and discussion as UFC Vegas 57: Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot goes down from the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The main event for this final card of June is a lightweight bout between top-15 contenders Arman Tsarukyan and former KSW champion Mateusz Gamrot. Both men lost their respective UFC debuts but have run the table since then. In the co-main, undefeated welterweight prospect Shavkat Rakhmanov battles longtime mainstay Neil Magny.

This will be an ESPN and ESPN+ show starting essentially at a PPV time. The six-fight preliminary card is scheduled to start at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT on ESPN2 and ESPN+. The six-fight main card then kicks off at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT on ESPN and ESPN+. Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 10 PM ET)

Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mateusz Gamrot

Neil Magny vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov

Josh Parisian vs. Alan Baudot

Thiago Moises vs. Christos Giagos

Nate Maness vs. Umar Nurmagomedov

Chris Curtis vs. Rodolfo Vieira

Preliminary Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 7 PM ET)

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)

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Sean O’Malley earns his latest call-out from the UFC roster.

Adrian Yanez solidified his status as one of the most exciting prospects in MMA last weekend when he blasted through Tony Kelley to open the main card of UFC Austin. The win moved the bantamweight’s record to 12-3 and extended his winning streak to nine fights.

Yanez’s win over Kelley gained added attention after Yanez hit a stunned Kelley with double-birds. The gesture was a reaction to Kelley’s last appearance near an Octagon. While cornering his girlfriend Andrea Lee, a microphone caught Kelley saying that Lee’s opponent was a “dirty Brazilian” and that Brazilian fighters are cheaters.

The win earned Yanez plenty of fans and also scored him an interview with TMZ — an outlet that usually focuses on MMA’s top needle-movers.

With those gossip-mongers Yanez spoke about what he wants next. And the 28-year-old has a great idea for a fight that would garner plenty of attention (in addition to being a thrilling contest).

“It would definitely be Sean O’Malley. That’s the fight. That’s the fight,” Yanez said.

O’Malley, who recently broke into the bantamweight division’s official rankings, is currently booked to fight Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276 on July 2.

“For me, this is the way I picture it, it would be almost like a Hagler-Hearns type of deal, and I’m Hagler,” added Yanez.

Marvin Hagler vs. Tommy Hearns went down in 1985. The fight is famed for being one of the most exciting (and violent) bouts in the history of televised pro boxing. And that’s despite the bout lasting less than three rounds. Hagler won the bout by TKO.

The late Hagler is renowned for his knockout power, winning 52 of his 62 victories via stoppage. Yanez is currently building a name for himself as a power puncher in MMA. Ten of his sixteen wins, and all but one of his six UFC victories, have come via TKO or KO.

Yanez added that, should he not get to fight a war with O’Malley, he’d also like to face-off with former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

“A good secondary would be the idol turned the rival. Frankie Edgar. That’s a good second for me.”

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Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena is one of the matchups slated for the ABC portion of the card.

For the first time ever, a UFC pay-per-view preliminary card will have a primetime lead-in on ABC.

ESPN announced on Friday that there will be a two-hour preliminary card simulcast on both the main ESPN network and ABC (as well as streaming on ESPN+) for next Saturday’s UFC 276 card from Las Vegas, Nevada. Here are the four fights confirmed for that network TV timeslot (8-10 PM ET):

Jalin Turner vs. Brad Riddell

Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena

Ian Garry vs. Gabe Green

Donald Cerrone vs. Jim Miller

As a little factoid, UFC 276 will represent the first time that Robbie Lawler has been on a UFC preliminary card since his debut against Aaron Riley way back in 2002.

As part of the UFC’s big partnership with ESPN, a handful of cards will air on ABC. The first show broadcast on ABC was in January 2021, when Max Holloway defeated Calvin Kattar in Abu Dhabi. Later that year the network aired a Fight Night headlined by Kevin Holland and Marvin Vettori. This will be the first primetime slot the UFC has had on ABC, and it’s for what figures to be their biggest PPV of the year to date.

The UFC will also have a Fight Night card on ABC live from Long Island, New York on July 16th, with a special early start time of 2 PM ET/11 AM PT.

UFC 276 features middleweight champion Israel Adesanya versus Jared Cannonier in the main event, while men’s featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski takes on former champion Max Holloway in a much anticipated trilogy meeting.

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Johnny Eblen defeated Gegard Mousasi at Bellator 282. MMA Twitter reacted to the match.

In a surprising outcome, Johnny Eblen managed to dominate Gegard Mousasi for five rounds and score a clean unanimous decision at Bellator 282. On Twitter, pro fighters and pundits reacted to main event.

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Bontorin was without a win over his last four.

Rogerio Bontorin’s days in the UFC are over.

MMA Fighting reports that the Brazilian flyweight was let go by the promotion after a bad weight cut by Bontorin hospitalized him and cancelled his UFC 275 matchup with Manel Kape. It’s the second time Bontorin has had issues making weight, having missed the bantamweight limit for a short notice fight against Matt Schnell.

Bontorin (16-4, 2 NCs) was signed through Dana White’s Contender Series Brazil and won his UFC debut by split decision over Magomed Bibulatov. A cuts stoppage TKO over Raulian Paiva soon followed, but that turned out to be his final win inside the Octagon. He dropped a unanimous decision to Ray Borg in early 2020, then suffered a dramatic KO defeat to Kai Kara-France. His win over Schnell was overturned after testing positive for the banned substance hydrochlorothiazide, although he did receive a reduced suspension after it was ruled he ingested a tainted supplement.

His final UFC bout was a split decision loss to Brandon Royval at UFC Vegas 46 in January, dropping his UFC record to 2-3, with the no contest vs. Schnell.

The plan for Bontorin is to go to bantamweight, which given how the Kape weight cut went seems like the wise move for the 30-year-old.

MMA Fighting also confirmed that women’s strawweight Gloria de Paula was not re-signed after her loss to Maria Oliveira last week, and men’s bantamweight Timur Valiev was surprisingly released from his contract after a defeat against Jack Shore back in March.

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The Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace is ready for an interim title fight if the UFC decides to book one. 

Should the UFC decide to create an interim title at strawweight, Mackenzie Dern is ‘definitely interested’ in fighting Zhang Weili for it.

Weili earned a championship opportunity against Carla Esparza with a second-round knockout of Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 275 earlier this month. ‘Magnum’ proposed the fight with ‘Cookie Monster’ happens at UFC 281 in October, but the reigning champion rejected said proposal as she is dealing with a dislocated thumb sustained before her title-winning effort against Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 this past May.

Esparza does not expect to be on the sidelines for long, though. She recently told Damon Martin of MMA Fighting that once she gets the results from two MRIs on her thumb and receives clearance to begin training again, she will be ready to defend by the end of the year. That said, interim titles have been created as champions are recovering from injuries, so one could be introduced here. If it is, Dern has begun planting seeds to be considered for that opportunity.

“If they do have an interim title, I would like to be in there,” Dern told Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie. “Fight Zhang Weili or whoever it will be. I’m definitely interested in that. I’m ready. I’m taking with Mick [Maynard]. I even sent a message to [UFC president] Dana [White]. I’m like, ‘Hey Dana, I’m ready for whoever it is, I’m ready.’ My manager Tim [Simpson] from Paradigm. They’ve been talking so, a lot of names have been thrown out: Yan Xiaonan, Rose, Zhang Weili has been talked about in the past, so I don’t know how serious they are about that. But definitely I’d be ready for any one of those girls.

“For me, I’ve been training since my last fight so I’m ready,” continued Dern. “It can be August, October — hopefully not too long. I want to fight pretty soon, keep the wins coming, keep my training on point. But yeah I think if I could get that interim title if that fight doesn’t happen would be a pleasure. It would be awesome.”

Because Weili was declared the No. 1 contender in the division, Dern knows she would automatically be one-half of a potential interim title fight. But if the UFC needs to find an opponent for her, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace is ready to test herself against the former champion.

Dern has expressed interest in Weili before, but the fight did not materialize.

“Zhang Weili continues to show she can throw crazy stuff at you and you need to be prepared,” said Dern. “I definitely would like to face her eventually. I think that would be a great fight. I don’t think she’s ever fought someone with my jiu-jitsu caliber, but yeah. Definitely would be a great fight. We’ll see what happens.”

Dern returned to the win column with a split decision over Tecia Torres at UFC 273 in April. The RVCA representative was previously on a four-fight win streak before dropping a unanimous decision to Marina Rodriguez last year.

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Shavkat Rakhmonov gets the first big test of his UFC career vs. Neil Magny

Neil Magny has been designated a welterweight gatekeeper for a long while. That tag first got put on the 34-year-old somewhere between December 2016 and December 2017, when he faced three former UFC title holders Johny Hendricks, Rafael dos Anjos and Carlos Condit in succession. Magny won two of those three contests — Hendricks and Condit — and is 8-3 since those victories.

On Saturday, Magny’s assignment is to see if Shavkat Rakhmonov deserves the hype he’s accumulated in three UFC fights. The bout serves as the co-main event of UFC Vegas 57.

First, I want to clear up any confusion on the term “gatekeeper.” For some, that word has negative connotations. It shouldn’t. Not everyone gets a shot to be a champion, especially in a sport where politics, fighting style and fan popularity play an oversized role in which fighters get the opportunity to fight for a title. Being a gatekeeper doesn’t mean a fighter is bad or even average — quite the opposite. The tag conveys an ability to compete at a high level, just not the very highest level. A fighter can have a long and productive career as a gatekeeper. Magny, who is the No. 10 fighter in the official UFC welterweight rankings, has been with the UFC since February 2013. The 27-year-old Rakhmonov didn’t make his professional MMA debut until October 2014. In 34 professional fights, Magny has lost two in a row once and outside of those back-to-back losses, he’s never tasted defeat twice in the same year.

This fight is the first big test of Rakhmonov’s UFC career.

Rakhmonov made his UFC debut in October 2020. He had celebrated his 26th birthday the day before the fight. He faced Alex Oliveira in that matchup. Rakhmonov, a former M-1 welterweight champ, was 12-0 and -130 favorite over “Cowboy” Oliveira.

The fight went well for Rakhmonov. He stood toe-to-toe with Oliveira in the striking department, but what stood out about his UFC debut was his fight IQ and situational awareness.

Rakhmonov and Oliveira were engaged in a lengthy battle in the clinch against the fence when Oliveira decided the time was right for him to drop levels and go for a double leg takedown. The time was not right. The space Oliveira created when changing his position allowed Rakhmonov to snake his arms into position for a guillotine choke and once he was sure he had the technique locked up, he dropped into guard and got the tap. It was an impressive finish for the young fighter.

Rakhmonov’s next matchup was a June 26 scrap with another veteran Brazilian, Michel Prazeres. The fight was another strong performance from Rakhmonov. As UFC commentator Paul Felder said, “He’s got weapons everywhere,” in admiring Rakhmonov’s striking, ground and pound and submission skills. The second round finish from Rakhmonov marked the first stoppage setback of Prazeres’ 30-fight pro career.

For his third UFC outing, the UFC booked Rakhmonov opposite Carlston Harris. Harris was on a run of five stoppage wins before he stepped in as a +205 underdog against Rakhmonov, who was the -255 favorite.

Rakhmonov was composed throughout this fight. He never overextended himself or put himself in a bad position and when he found an opening to end the fight, he capitalized. Following the knockout win, Felder, said of Rakhmonov, “You’re looking at a contender, right there.”

Rakhmonov’s most recent win moved his record to 15-0. He earned each of those victories via a finish and all but one of those stoppages have come before the start of the third stanza.

Magny appreciates the skills of his opponent, but with a record of 26-8 and nearly 10 years under the UFC banner, the Brooklyn-born fighter is by no means in awe of his much-hyped opponent.

“Literally every last one of us in the UFC was undefeated at one point or another, then you went out there and faced an absolute beast and was like, ‘Oh damn, there’s different levels to this,’” Magny said during media day for UFC Vegas 57. “I look at Shavkat and I think the exact same thing. The guy is talented. He is 15-0. … But at the same time, he hasn’t fought a seasoned vet like me yet. He hasn’t fought the guys that I’ve fought yet. So I’m going to go out there and show him that there’s some levels to this game. That’s my goal.”

As for Rakhmonov, he told the NY Post he believes he will be the UFC champ in 2023 or 2024. This matchup will reveal if that is a realistic goal or wishful thinking for the No. 15 ranked UFC welterweight.

Magny has been a problem for a long time in the 170-pound division. He’s not great at any one thing, but he is the definition of a well-rounded mixed martial artist who won’t shy away from competing in any situation. He’ll bring a level of confidence, character, composure and high-level skills into this fight that Rakhmonov has yet to face in the UFC. Further, he is by far the biggest opponent Rakhmonov has faced, as Magny has a height and reach advantage over his foe.

Win or lose, Rakhmonov will benefit from this fight because Magny is the type of adversary who can expose small — or large — inefficiencies in an opponent. This fight wil give Rakhmonov and his team an excellent idea of where he stands in the division and what he needs to work on to take his game to the next level.

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Cerrone is returning to the Octagon for a rematch against Miller next weekend. 

Donald Cerrone has his next fight set.

Brett Okamoto of ESPN reported on Thursday that ‘Cowboy’ would be stepping in on days’ notice for a rematch with Jim Miller at UFC 276 on July 2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Miller was expected to share the Octagon with Bobby ‘King’ Green, but the latter was forced to withdraw for undisclosed reasons.

Though both men usually compete at lightweight, Cerrone vs. Miller 2 will be contested at welterweight.

One of the more active fighters on the UFC roster, Cerrone has yet to compete in 2022. The 39-year-old was scheduled to fight Joe Lauzon at UFC 274, but fell ill on the day of the event and withdrew. Cerrone vs. Lauzon was then rescheduled for UFC Austin; however, that was also canceled after ‘J-Lau’ suffered a bizarre knee injury following official weigh-ins.

Cerrone has not recorded a win since his unanimous decision over Al Iaquinta at UFC on ESPN+ 9 over three years ago. The BMF Ranch product went 0-5-1 in his next six appearances that included technical knockout losses to Tony Ferguson, Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor.

Miller recently snapped a two-fight losing streak with knockouts of Erick Gonzalez and Nikolas Motta at UFC Vegas 40 and UFC Vegas 48, respectively. Tied with Cerrone (and UFC heavyweight Andrei Arlovski) for most wins in promotional history, the 38-year-old now has an opportunity to not only add another win to his resume, but also avenge a loss. Cerrone finished Miller via second-round knockout at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Miller in their first fight nearly eight years ago.

UFC 276 is headlined by two championship fights. UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defends his title against No. 2 ranked contender Jared Cannonier, while UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski completes a trilogy with Max Holloway.

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Yan vs. Figueiredo, anyone?

Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan is ready to return to the Octagon, but he says no one in the upper echelon of the division wants to fight him.

Hoping to return after his split decision loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 273 this past April, Yan recently sent out an open challenge to the rest of the division on social media. When no one responded, ‘No Mercy’ took matters into his own hands and proposed a fight against current UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.

“No one at 135 wants it…Figgy?,” wrote Yan on Twitter.

Figueiredo has been on the sidelines recovering from injuries to both of his hands. Though expected to fight again near the end of the year, the UFC decided to create an interim championship that Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France are vying for at UFC 277 in July.

Unhappy with that decision, ‘Deus da Guerra’ threatened to leave flyweight and join bantamweight unless he received a pay increase.

“I don’t rule out this option. It’s up to the UFC,” Figueiredo told Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting. “If we have a chat and they can increase my earnings inside the organization, then I’ll stay in the division. But, if nothing happens, I’ll be forced to move up. I’ll stay in the flyweight [division] if they increase my purse.

“I already wanted [to move up] but still wanted to fight three more fights in the division,” continued Figueiredo. “With this decision [to create an interim title], they’ve made my decision to go up sooner 95 percent more likely.”

Should he join bantamweight, Figueiredo has set his sights on an immediate championship opportunity against the aforementioned Sterling. However, the UFC has reportedly tapped T.J. Dillashaw as the next challenger for Sterling in his second defense, so the Brazilian would have to wait for that to happen. Perhaps a fight with Yan could hold him over until then.

Figueiredo has yet to respond to Yan.

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