Two Former CW Champs Return At UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier

Another weekend brings another UFC Fight Night live from the Apex in Las Vegas but this weekends instalment has some added interest for UK MMA fans. Headlined by a middleweight match-up between Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier, two former Cage Warriors champions feature on the card with one continuing his return to the promotion and the other looking to make his initial impact in the octagon.

Opening the card, Modestas Bukauskas makes the walk for the second time during his second stint in the UFC. After his initial run in the promotion ended in one of the most devastating injuries ever seen in the octagon, ‘The Baltic Gladiator’ returned to the promotion where he made his name after a lengthy recovery process. Becoming a two-time light heavyweight champion in the yellow gloves, main man Moddy B secured his UFC return by way of a late notice replacement opponent.

Grabbing hold of his opportunity at a moments notice, Bukauskas flew to Perth to take on one of Australia’s home crowd heroes, Tyson Pedro. Securing his biggest and best win to date, Modestas proved that he belongs at the highest level, securing a unanimous decision win. On the 17th, he will face The Ultimate Fighter season 30 finalist Zac Pauga. Arriving in the UFC as a heavyweight, Pauga has now moved down to his more natural weight class and also has experience competing in Cage Warriors.

Much further up the card, one of the most talked about exports from CW looks to erase his unfortunate UFC debut by kicking off his run in the promotion. Undefeated middleweight Christian Leroy Duncan had his surging upwards momentum halted to some degree at UFC 286 in March. Making his debut in London earlier this year, CLD was unable to prove what all the fuss is about after his opponent suffered an injury just two minutes into their fight.

Whilst he still got his hand raised, the disappointment on his face told the entire story. Competing in Las Vegas for the first time, CLD will look to make a statement by taking on a tough test in Armen Petrosyan. Earning his spot on the roster with a Contender Series win, Armenia’s Petrosyan has gone 2-1 in the octagon, dropping a unanimous decision loss to Caio Borralho with wins over Gregory Rodrigues and AJ Dobson.

For UK fans, the prelim card is set to kick off at midnight on June 17th with the main card getting underway at 3AM in the early hours of Sunday, live on BT Sport.

How do you see the two Cage Warriors alumni getting on? Let us know in the comments below.

You can also check out our interview with Modestas Bukauskas ahead of his fight right here: