Thursday night at Tuff-N-Uff 144 at the Observatory North Park in San Diego, California, was a thrilling start to Tuff-N-Uff’s expansion outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. In our first fight of the night, local Vegas prospect Montrell Glover (1-0) survived multiple late third-round chokes against San Diego local Doedk Rodriguez (1-1), earning his first amateur win in his MMA debut by split decision. The successful debuts continued with Nate Ray (1-0) beating Ronald Giorgio (1-5) in the first round by rear-naked choke. In a buzzer-beater submission, Jordan Moore (2-0) defeated Kameron White (2-2) with one second left in the first round. In our penultimate amateur fight, Vegas local Hadxian King (3-1) latched onto the back of Armando Baca (1-3) in the first round, earning a win by rear-naked choke. Our middleweight championship title fight headlined Vegas prospect Darryl Walker (2-0) and Huntington Beach fighter Dalton Hambrock (3-0). Hambrock’s wrestling skills dominated the entirety of the first round, but it wasn’t enough to win the amateur middleweight title against Walker, who won by TKO late in round one. Walker, white and silver belt wrapped around his waist, exclaimed, “I’m not stopping, so you’re going to see the best. The best to ever do it.”
The first match on our main card featured a left-hand one-shot knockout win by Sevak Khachatrian (2-0) versus San Diego local Angel Oliveras (1-3) in the first round, continuing the night’s first-round win streak. The catchweight fighter in his victory interview eagerly stated, “Anybody in this division, I’m ready to fight them.”
Tuff-N-Uff veteran and Las Vegas local Desmond Manabat (4-7) faced off against promising young prospect Santiago Luna (6-0), with the featherweight bout highlighting each of the fighters’ fighting styles. Luna, a 20-year-old fighter with an incredible 71” reach, knocked out Manabat with a right-hand shot, increasing his record to 6-0 with all being finishers. “I think
everyone believes what I believe. I believe I’m one of the toughest bantamweights in the world, and I’m ready to prove it. I’m ready to go into the UFC, so Dana White, Hunter, Sean, I’m right here. Give me the call,” said Luna in his post-fight interview.
World-class grappler and world champion Renato Canuto (1-0) made his professional MMA debut Thursday night versus Corey Stewart (0-4), a fighter with extensive wrestling experience. In the first round, Canuto produced knees and punches to Stewart’s torso, ignoring his jiu-jitsu experience to prove his place as an MMA fighter. Canuto, earning a TKO first-round win in his debut, stated, “I’m always ready. I’m hoping to be back here as soon as possible.”
The third catchweight fight of the main card featured a nail-biting end to the first round, with Said Magomed Abdulgaziev (7-10) narrowly surviving a late-round choke by Trent Miller (8-2). Miller’s choking skills persisted to the third round, with both fighters exhausted from the past two rounds. A referee’s stoppage earned Miller a TKO win versus Abdulgaziev, with Miller asking for a shot in the UFC in his victorious post-fight interview. Prospect David Mgoyan (7-0) took on Luciano Ramos (9-14) in our main card’s featherweight bout, drawing blood with elbows and earning him a TKO win in the first round. “Please, give me one chance to fight in the UFC,” shouted Mgoyan after his victory.
Our co-main event of the night showcased a strawweight bout between UFC veteran Ashley Yoder (9-10) and judo Olympian Natalie Kuziutina (8-1). Kuziutina’s judo skills dominated the first round, but Yoder’s poise and power kept her in the fight into the second round. Despite Yoder latching onto Kuziutina for thirteen minutes, Kuziutina beat Yoder in a surprise split decision win.
Tuff-N-Uff 144’s main event and lightweight championship fight between aggressive fighter Cesar Abad (8-2) and all-around fighter Amarsanaa Tsogookhuu (11-3) lived up to the
anticipation. Despite Abad’s powerful striking skills, Tsogookuu came into the first and only round with dominating kicks and body shots. Ultimately, Tsogookuu earned the lightweight title with incredible ground-and-pound skills late into the first round. With a TKO win and gold belt resting on his waist, Tsogookuu exclaimed, “Dana White, Sean Shelby, give me my contract. I want to get after it and I want to get this!”
Tuff-N-Uff looks forward to welcoming fans back to the Sahara Theater at Sahara Las Vegas on Sunday, June 29th, for Tuff-N-Uff 145. Diego Brandão aims to defend his featherweight title against challenger Canaan Kawaihae in our main event alongside a handful of standout fights! In our co-main event, Jamie Siraj faces off against Marlon Gonzales in an exciting featherweight contest. Come join us for this early Sunday fight at the Sahara Theater – grab your tickets now at LiveNation.com! For fans not able to attend, watch our main card exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS and our preliminary card on the Tuff-N-Uff YouTube channel.