The tournament quarterfinals will take place on September 26 at the Kaunas “Žalgiris” arena – the main fight of the UTMA 19 tournament evening will be the duel between Sergejus Maslobojevas and Dominykas Dirksčius.
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The UTMA organization has officially announced all eight fighters who will start the matches in the tournament quarterfinals at the UTMA 19 tournament, as well as announced the list of the first fights and the tournament bracket.
“We chose the octagon format because we have a lot of fighters in the 81 kg category. It definitely won’t end at the octagon. We want as many fights as possible to take place during this tournament, for fighters to be ranked and to continue to determine who are the best in this category.
We want to encourage young people and other fighters to understand that prizes of this size, like 50,000 euros in this tournament, are possible. We will continue to do and develop this in the future. It’s very nice to see all these motivated people, I myself can’t wait to see this tournament, who will be the champion and who will be number one in the 81 kg category ranking,” commented UTMA head Viktoras Gecas on the tournament format.
The 81 kg octagon fights will start at the UTMA 19 tournament from the quarterfinal matches. The semifinals will take place at UTMA 20 on October 24 at “Arena Vilnius,” and the grand tournament final will be held at UTMA 21 – November 28 at the Kaunas “Žalgiris” arena.
On the right side of the tournament bracket, in the quarterfinal, Oskaras Buinickas (0-2-2, UTMA) will face Rodrigo Mineiro (0-0, UTMA), who is debuting in the organization.
O. Buinickas debuted in the organization at the UTMA RISING 1 tournament, but from the very first fight began to show improvement, a responsible attitude towards sport and the organization’s success, and thus earned a place in the octagon.
R. Mineiro joined the UTMA organization in May by signing a long-term contract. Rodrigo Mineiro is already well known to Lithuanian combat sports fans and has appeared multiple times in fights in the country’s largest arenas, as well as having fought in the Baltic capitals. However, during his career, Rodrigo became famous not only for fights in the ring but also for his character and the show he creates outside the ring – “Mineiro” can become unpredictable before and during the fight at any time.
“Although Buinickas has appeared three times in UTMA and has no wins yet, he has definitely proven that he deserves to fight with the main UTMA fighters. We think this is one of the more interesting matchups. Mineiro comes from another organization and will now be with us; this will be his first test in UTMA. It will be a very interesting and unpredictable quarterfinal, both fighters have nothing to lose and will fiercely strive for a place in the semifinals,” commented V. Gecas on this fight.
The second fight on the right side of the tournament bracket will be between Deividas Jemeljanovas (3-1, 1 KO, UTMA) and Arnoldas Misiūnas (3-3-2, UTMA).
D. Jemeljanovas debuted back in 2024 when he first stepped into the organization’s ring at the UTMA 9 tournament. In his debut fight, having defeated Rytis Vaitkevičius, D. Jemeljanovas continued his journey at the UTMA Rising 1 tournament by knocking out Evaldas Beleišis. The only loss of his career in the organization came at the UTMA 13 tournament when he had to acknowledge the superiority of Isos Gocmenas in the third round. However, before the important step and contract signing, D. Jemeljanovas had already returned to the winning path when he managed to defeat Raimondas Aukštikalnis in a tough fight at the UTMA 18 tournament.
A. Misiūnas debuted in the organization at the UTMA 3 tournament. The fighter highlighted the abundance of series with various fighters in the organization – he fought Dovydas Rimkus three times, Dominykas Dirksčius twice, and O. Buinickas twice.
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“Misiūnas continues to show a warrior’s character, accepting any fight offered by UTMA. He will come against, probably one can say, the favorite of this fight – Jemeljanovas. In my eyes, he is one of the most serious contenders to win the entire tournament,” said V. Gecas.
Meanwhile, on the left side of the tournament bracket, Tomas Banskis (4-0, 3 KOs, UTMA) will face Savvas Kagkelidis (0-0, UTMA), who will finally debut in the organization.
Having recently joined the “Number One Fight Club” in Palanga, T. Banskis is already well known to UTMA fans. T. Banskis debuted in the UTMA organization back in 2024 at the UTMA 7 tournament, when he defeated Nedas Mikalauskas by technical knockout in just 92 seconds. In total, during his first three career fights in the UTMA organization, he did not exceed the first round, and only in the last fight at the UTMA 18 tournament against Edvinas Šimončius did T. Banskis need all three rounds.
S. Kagkelidis introduced himself to UTMA fans before the UTMA 16 tournament, where he was supposed to fight D. Dirksčius but did not appear in the fight due to illness just before the tournament. The Greek fighter has a considerable professional fight and victory record and has won several WAKO tournament gold medals.
“Banskis faces a very interesting fight against a Greek who has not yet debuted in UTMA, who did not come to the fight against Dirksčius due to illness, although he was already in Lithuania. It will be very interesting to see how he looks; this is his real category. He has been a highly recognized fighter in several organizations; it will be interesting to see experience versus youth and one of the biggest prospects in the UTMA organization, Tomas Banskis,” commented V. Gecas.
Finally, in the second fight on the left side of the tournament bracket, Isa Gocmenas (1-1, 1 KO, UTMA) will face Ričardas Kulis (1-0, 1 KO, UTMA).
I. Gocmenas debuted in the UTMA organization in 2025 at the UTMA “Rising #1” tournament, where he had to acknowledge Naglis Kanišauskas’s superiority in the second round. However, at that time, the Turkish fighter entered the ring in the 84 kg weight category fight. When I. Gocmenas fought in the 81 kg weight category, all combat sports enthusiasts could see a next-level talent – the Turk knocked out D. Jemeljanovas in the third round at the UTMA 13 tournament last September and made a serious claim and challenge to the entire weight category.
We saw R. Kulis in the UTMA ring only once, but it was impressive – at the UTMA 16 tournament, the “Sparta” club representative defeated Mindaugas Narauskas by technical knockout in the second round.
“This is a quarterfinal that needs no comments. UTMA fans know both these fighters well; I think this fight will be one of the biggest in the quarterfinals – the styles and abilities of both fighters will probably make this fight explosive,” said V. Gecas.
We remind you that the tournament quarterfinals will take place on September 26 at the Kaunas “Žalgiris” arena – the main fight of the UTMA 19 tournament evening will be the duel between Sergejus Maslobojevas and Dominykas Dirksčius.
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