Having challenged each other during press conferences and finally having their first face-to-face encounter at the UTMA 19 tournament, the fighters will settle all matters in the UTMA 20 ring – Ignas Pauliukevičius (7-1, 5 KO, UTMA) and Naglis Kanišauskas (4-1, 3 KO, UTMA) will face off at the tournament taking place on October 24 at the Vilnius Arena.
This will be a fight in the under 95 kg weight category, scheduled for three rounds.
“The most intriguing part will be that probably everyone understands this fight can be called ‘good versus evil’. Although this metaphor isn’t entirely accurate for those who know Ignas personally, it probably fits according to public opinion. We saw what happened in the arena, we saw what happened during the face-off, we saw that the men do not like each other. This fight is probably similar to the meeting between Edvinas Šalkovskis and Ignas Pauliukevičius, when they were even put in a cage; there is a similar emotion in this fight as well,” commented UTMA head Viktoras Gecas on the upcoming fight.
Tickets for the UTMA 20 tournament, which will take place on October 24 at the Vilnius Arena, are distributed by bilietai.lt, and you can purchase the PPV broadcast on UTMA.lt.
I. Pauliukevičius has repeatedly proven that he is one of the most dangerous strikers in the UTMA organization – Ignas has 7 victories on his record, 5 of which he achieved by knockout, and he has suffered only one defeat, which was handed to him by Sergejus Maslobojevas himself.
Currently, I. Pauliukevičius holds the number one spot in the UTMA 95 kg weight category rankings and is ranked 4th on the UTMA P4P list.
However, intrigue for the upcoming meeting in Vilnius is added by the fact that I. Pauliukevičius’s last fight was certainly not easy – losing the first rounds in the UTMA 19 tournament fight against M. Juodpusis, I. Pauliukevičius managed to score a knockdown in the third round and forced an overtime, where, also after a very tough fight, he secured the victory.
N. Kanišauskas has 4 victories in the UTMA organization, 3 of which he achieved by knockout, and one defeat, which he suffered against Dominykas Dirkstys.
In his last fight, N. Kanišauskas already fought in the under 91 kg weight category and stopped Dovydas Girdzevičius by technical knockout in the UTMA 19 ring.
This was already the heaviest weight category for N. Kanišauskas in his UTMA career, and at the UTMA 20 tournament, he will break this record by moving up to the under 95 kg weight category.
“It will be interesting to see what the transition to such a high weight category will look like, because Naglis looked really good in the 86 kg weight category, and now he is climbing higher and higher. If I. Pauliukevičius achieves victory in this fight, it will bring him closer to a rematch with S. Maslobojevas and perhaps a fight for the UTMA 95 kg kickboxing championship belt, which would be the first such fight in history. For Naglis, this would probably be another consolidation in a different category and a guarantee for several more fights ahead – not only in the 95 kg weight category but also in lower weight categories, if Naglis wants that,” stated V. Gecas.
Tickets for this tournament are distributed by bilietai.lt, and you can purchase the PPV broadcast on UTMA.lt.
