Gutierrez, a Factory X product, was now a veteran of the promotion, after joining the UFC back in 2018. American Top Team’s Basharat was a more recent addition to the roster, winning on DWCS in 2022 and making his big league debut the following year.

There was a bit of a feeling out process in Gutierrez vs. Bashrat, but just as the crowd started to get restless. Basharat landed an explosive takdedown. That left Gutierrez seated against the fence, with Basharat soon flattening his opponent out, pointing him away from the octagon wall. Basharat would ride out the round on top, though he wasn’t able to inflict much damage with the position.

Round two opened with another slow-paced chess match on the feet, with Gutierrez perhaps concerned about the takedown. Gutierrez would still attempt the odd spinning attack, but those were sailing wide. Basharat had better success with his hands, though by the final minute, he had not taken the fight back to the mat. A clinch against the fence went nowhere;  they broke and moved back to center.

Round three started out at a quick pace; when they clinched up, it was Gutierrez scoring a trip, briefly getting Basharat down. That didn’t last; he’d chop at Basharat’s day back on the feet, but the sudden surge in momentum had waned. Another ground sequence saw the pair go down, but this time it was Gutierrez in control after Basharat was too far up the back. They’d end up back on the feet for the final minute, Basharat still pressuring, moving forward.

While it was Gutierrez’s best round, it wasn’t enough to win the fight — that honor went to Farid Basharat. He’s now 5-0 under the UFC banner, knocking at the door of the top 15.

Official Result: Farid Basharat def. Chris Gutierrez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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The fight was originally booked at UFC 313 early last month, but had to be rescheduled after Castaneda pulled out due to illness.

After half a round of back and forth, Gutierrez went down off a slip more than anything, allowing Castaneda to get some time on top. The crowd didn’t love it, but Castaneda was able to get some time on top while Gutierrez attempted to tie things up. Castaneda would eventually moved back to his feed, and have to avoid an upkick situation; Gutierrez then scrambled up – and dropped Castaneda moments later! That straight right hand was the biggest blow of the round, leaving Castaneda in survival mode for the final seconds of the round.

Castaneda had recovered well enough between rounds to avoid a finish early in the second, but there was little doubt he’d been rocked. The pair traded single strikes and kicks in the opening 90 seconds of the frame, with Gutierrez mixing in a good number of feints. Castaneda’s corner suggested Gutierrez was tired, urging their fighter to attack first. He did land a heavy right hand, snapping Gutierrez’s head to the side. They’d battle back and forth on the feet til the bell then head to the third.

Round three came at a slower pace, with things still up in the air for most of it. Castaneda would secure the takedown with two minutes left in the round, working from the top while Gutierrez tried to throw up an arm bar. What he didn’t go was scramble out, however; Castaneda then moved to side control.

With the fight going the distance, it was Gutierrez securing his second straight win, earning the nod on two of three scorecards.

Official Result: Chris Gutierrez def. John Castaneda by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

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An illness suffered by John Castaneda, who had another fight cancelled on short notice two weeks ago when Douglas Silva de Anrade was not cleared to compete, is the culprit.

UFC officials announced the news Saturday afternoon. “Due to illness, John Castaneda has been removed from his featherweight bout with Chris Gutierrez,” a brief statement on the promotion’s website reads. “As a result, this bout has been cancelled from today’s card.”

The nature of Castaneda’s illness has not been disclosed. He stepped into the fight on short notice after Jean Matsumoto was pulled from a fight with Gutierrez to instead face Rob Font in Seattle.

Castaneda has not competed since a June 2024 loss to Daniel Marcos. As for Gutierrez, he’s been out since an August win over Quang Le.

UFC 313 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, March 8, 2025. With the cancellation of Chris Gutierrez vs. John Castaneda, the card now features the following match-ups:

• Alex Pereira (c) vs. Magomed Ankalaev – for the UFC light heavyweight championship
• Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
• Jalin Turner vs. Ignacio Bahamondes
• Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo
• King Green vs. Maurício Ruffy
• Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
• Joshua Van vs. Rei Tsuruya
• Brunno Ferreira vs. Armen Petrosyan
• Alex Morono vs. Carlos Leal
• Mairon Santos vs. Francis Marshall
• Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos vs. Osman Diaz

The post UFC 313 Loses Fight Hours Out From Event, Castaneda Ill appeared first on Cageside Press.

Castaneda (21-7) is stepping in to replace Jean Matsumoto at UFC 313, where he’ll take on Chris Gutierrez (21-6-2) at featherweight. Matsumoto was pulled from the fight to replace Dominick Cruz at UFC Seattle, leaving Gutierrez in need of a new opponent.

With the Seattle card the week before UFC Vegas 103, and Silva de Andrade pulled from the fight with Castaneda due to medical reasons, the timing simply worked out.

Eurosport was first to report news of the switch. Castaneda later confirmed the pairing on his Instagram Story.

Gutierrez has been trading wins and losses his last four fights, and is coming off a victory over Quang Le last August. In 2022, the Factory X product was riding high off a win over former lightweight champ and Hall of Famer Frankie “The Answer” Edgar, a win that capped off an eight-fight unbeaten streak. He’s 2-2 since, coming up short against Pedro Munhoz and Song Yadong while beating Le and Alateng Heili.

John Castaneda saw a two-fight win streak snapped when he dropped a decision to Daniel Marcos last June.

UFC 313 is set for the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday, March 8, 2025. The full line-up now looks as follows:

• Alex Pereira (c) vs. Magomed Ankalaev – for the UFC light heavyweight championship
• Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
• Jalin Turner vs. Ignacio Bahamondes
• Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo
• King Green vs. Maurício Ruffy
• Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
• Joshua Van vs. Rei Tsuruya
• Brunno Ferreira vs. Armen Petrosyan
• Alex Morono vs. Carlos Leal
• Mairon Santos vs. Francis Marshall
• Chris Gutiérrez vs. John Castañeda
• Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos vs. Osman Diaz

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Serghei Spivac

Moldova’s Spivac redeemed himself twofold in UFC Vegas 95’s main event against Marcin Tybura, making up for his recent TKO loss to Cyril Gane and for his first fight against Tybura back in 2020, which Serghei lost by decision. This time he made it look easy, taking the Pole down and tapping him with an armbar after less than two minutes. Despite his recent loss, Spivac is 4-1 in his last five, so he should be in position for a higher-ranked opponent.

There are not many other available, highly ranked heavyweights coming off wins. Gane and Alexander Volkov won their last fights but have been scheduled to rematch each other, as well, in two months. With the title picture stagnant due to Tom Aspinall being forced to defend his interim belt the division feels a bit empty at the top of the rankings, since the erstwhile #1 contender has been a champion, not just a contender, for over a year now while Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones endlessly circle each other. That leaves just Jailton Almeida for Spivac.

A strong grappler, Almeida has flawed wrestling but is freakishly athletic and has the best top game in the UFC heavyweight division. With a 7-1 UFC record and his only loss coming against Curtis Blaydes – in a fight he was winning – Jailton needs maybe just one or two more wins to earn a title shot, as does Spivac. This matchup would also be a grappler’s delight, with interesting scrambles sure to ensue.

Spivac’s Next Fight: Jailton Almeida

Chepe Mariscal

With his impressive and dominant win over Damon Jackson, Chepe Mariscal got his fourth straight win. Staying perfect in the UFC matters a lot, but missing weight by 4.5 pounds is egregious, so perhaps Chepe will not be given a ranked opponent just yet. Hovering just outside the rankings at featherweight are fighters like Sodiq Yusuff, Nate Wood, and Nate Landwehr.

Any of those would be excellent fights; Yusuff was ranked at featherweight for years until his last two losses, and never puts on a bad show. Wood and Landwehr are also talented; Landwehr in particular is one of the most action-oriented fighters in the sport today. His brawl-or-die style matches up perfectly with Chepe’s own, and would create an excellent fight where the winner could compete against a ranked foe next.

Mariscal’s Next Fight: Nate Landwehr

Danny Barlow

Memphis’ young, new striker Danny Barlow also missed weight for his UFC Vegas 95 fight, but unlike Mariscal it was by less than a pound. Barlow earned a split decision win for his efforts against short-notice debutant Nikolay Veretennikov. He remains undefeated and moves to 2-0 in the UFC, but this prospect clearly wanted to win more dominantly. As a 29-year-old welterweight his time is now to make a run.

A good step up to test if Barlow is capable of bigger things would be Phil Rowe. ‘The Fresh Prince’ lost his last two fights after a three-bout winning streak put him on the verge of being ranked, so while it is a big step up for Barlow, its also a fight he is capable of winning and will be a new style for him to face. He may only be 9-0, but when a fighter has that zero in their record they are going to ascend quicker than others may.

Barlow’s Next Fight: Phil Rowe

Chris Gutierrez

‘El Guapo’ made it look easy, though not necessarily attractive to look at, when he beat the debuting Quang Le on Saturday. Using his infamous leg kicks, Gutierrez chewed up the former LFA fighter from the outside en route to a comfortable, if tepid, decision. With his last two losses coming to ranked fighters, and due to holding no wins against ranked bantamweights, Chris will have to do more to get back his top-15 spot.

He was originally scheduled to face Javid Basharat in the UFC Apex, so that fight can be rebooked with no hesitation. It would be an excellent addition to the pay-per-view in Abu Dhabi later this year, with Basharat being from the region and fans loving to see talented bantamweights in action.

Gutierrez’s Next Fight: Javid Basharat

Yana Santos

Twelfth-ranked UFC women’s bantamweight Yana Santos, née Kunitskaya, won her first fight since returning from giving birth to a child with her husband, former UFC title challenger Thiago Santos, in April of 2022. Santos largely outclassed fourteenth-ranked opponent Chelsea Chandler, another fighter from UFC Vegas 95 who missed weight badly, even scoring a her first-ever UFC knockdown in the second round.

After three straight losses to ranked opponents, Santos had to win this to hold onto her ranking, and she did just that. Another fighter who is not in the best form of her career is Julia Avila. Thirteenth-ranked Avila won her first three UFC fights, including beating now-ranked fighter Pannie Kianzad, but has now lost two of her last three and clearly needs work on her wrestling. Yana Santos would be more than happy to oblige her by testing that particular skillset of Julia’s.

Santos’s Next Fight: Julia Avila

Toshiomi Kazama

Japan’s Toshiomi Kazama lost his first two UFC fights by knockout but impressed in his rebound against Charalampos Grigoriou on Saturday. Despite getting dropped after a strong first round, Kazama survived and choked out his opponent from his back with a triangle choke, a somewhat rare submission to see in the UFC nowadays.

However, Kazama is not totally in the clear, even after that; a 1-2 record in the stacked bantamweight division is not ideal. Toshiomi will need to win his next fight to make sure his job is safe. One fight which would be interesting is Kazama vs Ricky Turcios. Turcios is not a knockout artist, but he is chaotic and a good scrambler that would give Kazama a new style to deal with. Also, Ricky will not gas out quickly like Grigoriou.

Kazama’s Next Fight: Ricky Turcios

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 95 Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.

Le, from Vietnam, was replacing Javid Basarat in the fight, which had originally been scheduled for UFC Abu Dhabi.

Round one got underway and Gutierrez stared getting after the lead leg kick. Gutierrez was using a lot of feints to try and throw off the newcomer. It ended up costing him as Le caught one of those lazy kicks and got the takedown. Gutierrez quickly got right back up and landed a heavy leg kick. Le would come forward but Gutierrez was moving out of the way with his light footwork. The main focus of round one was those nasty leg kicks from Chris Gutierrez. They was keeping Le on the outside and having him rush in without any setup. The kicks started to add up and you could see the visible redness on the leg of Le to end the round.

In round two a heavy leg kick from Gutierrez landed to start the round. Le continued to struggle to find his range in the striking so he attempted to take the fight down. He had the back on Gutierrez standing and very sneakily Le jumped on the back. Le had the body triangle in as Gutierrez went down to the mat. Gutierrez was able to get out of that position but Le was able to stay in guard and ended the round there.

In the final round, it was likely even on the scorecards so it was anyone’s fight. Le had more confidence from that last round and was bringing more pressure early in round three. He was doing it but still had trouble finding his hands. He attempted a single leg but that time Gutierrez escaped. Gutierrez would stick to the leg kicks lifting the leg of Le as they were impactful. He had Le more stationary and that’s when Gutierrez started to let loose more. Le tried again for a takedown and got it with seconds left but it didn’t matter.

Official Result: Chris Gutiérrez def. Quang Le by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

The post UFC Vegas 95: Chris Gutierrez First to Defeat Quang Le appeared first on Cageside Press.

Quang “Bang” Le
Standing at five-foot-six
Fighting at 135 lbs (bantamweight)
32-years-old
Fighting out of Vietnam/US
Training out of ???
A pro record of 8-0
2 KO/TKOs, 3 Submissions

How Le will fare in the UFC:

Le was supposed to fight on the Contender Series on week six but instead is getting this UFC opportunity on short notice. Le is an LFA veteran but more so a vet of the fight game. He only has eight pro fights but also had eleven amateur bouts. Le did lose four amateur fights but all to good fighters. He is worthy of this call-up due to his last few fights but mostly his pro career altogether.

Le doesn’t get enough credit for the work he did on the regional scene and I think mostly it’s because he went to a few decisions. He is coming off two knockouts but before that, he went to three decisions. The reason for those decisions is that Le fought a lot of aggressive wrestlers so it was a lot of defense. Le does get taken but he gets right back up. A lot of credit goes to his cage wrestling because he can defend takedowns really well by fighting the wrist, digging underhooks, and having good balance. On the flip side, he’s an underrated wrestler himself and has a solid ground game. Nothing flashy but he’s complete in his submission attack and ground and pound.

Le is able to fight anywhere but he is a better striker. He comes out with his lead left leg forward and sets the tone with that side. His left head kick, jab, check left hook, and straight all from that side. I’m not saying he’s limited because he chops the lead leg and rips the body from his right side. His hands are clean, he’s accurate and has deceptive power. Le isn’t the fastest or the most athletic but he’s what you look for when scouting a fighter.

How he matches up with Gutierrez:

Gutierrez is the toughest match-up to date for Quang Le by far. Gutierrez is a kickboxer who, although he can be more point-orientated, he’s a master at his craft. Le isn’t going to match Gutierrez with kickboxing and Gutierrez is going to be much faster. Gutierrez has a tendency to throw low volume and that makes it to where Le can win off having the bigger moments. I do lean toward Gutierrez because of his speed and distance control. I think Le is live as I only value Gutierrez as a -140 favorite. Gutierrez by decision is the pick.

The post Welcome to the UFC: Quang Le appeared first on Cageside Press.

“A lot going on through my mind, but I’m ready,” Le told reporters on Wednesday.

“I couldn’t believe that they called right away. I turned all my medical in, an hour later they called, and I’m like oh wow let’s take it.”

Le (8-0) steps in for the injured Javid Basharat against Gutierrez.

“Whoever, I don’t care, I’m ready. I was so excited,” he said.

As unexpected as the call up was Le was ready to go for this Saturday. His plans were already set the difference now is that he skipped the Contender Series and hopped right into a UFC debut.

“My goal is like get in Contender September and then fight first debut in December. Now I can fight my debut August and have another fight in December,” he said.

The whole idea of the Contender Series is to have one fight to show you belong with the best, and winners usually come away with multiple fight contracts. Le skipped Contender Series, but he still got his contract.

“Yeah they signed me multiple fights,” he said.

“I think like four fights total.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Quang Le above. He takes on Chris Gutierrez at UFC Vegas 95

The post Quang Le Happy To Get Short Notice Call appeared first on Cageside Press.

Gutierrez had been looking to bounce back against Javid Basharat, but after a delay and a change of opponents, he’s got a very different fight on his hand. He’ll be taking on the undefeated newcomer Quang Le this Saturday at UFC Vegas 95.

“It was a really long camp getting ready for a certain type of fighter, and then for that to be flipped completely 180, some things had to change, but not too much,” Gutierrez (20-5-2) told media outlets during this week’s UFC Vegas 95 media day. “I have to do my job still, and stick to the game plan, and the new wrinkles that I’ve been working on.”

Gutierrez admits there was like “a two day period” after Basharat dropped out where nothing was said regarding a replacement, and he wasn’t sure he had a fight. But with his manager in Abu Dhabi for the card there, it all came down to communication issues. During those two days, however, Gutierrez was taken aback by training while the fight was a question mark. “That was also the other part that was weird, like ‘man, I’ve still got to go through all this hell, and I don’t even know if it’s [the fight] for certain.”

With the fight pushed back and the opponent changed, Gutierrez is just happy to have a fight. “I was excited he stepped up, and at this point it doesn’t matter who it is.”

As to where things stand for Gutierrez, he later noted that “I’m still one of the top-ranked fighters in this division. My last fight didn’t go according to plan, but that’s okay. I took on the number seven-ranked guy when no one would answer the phone call, and I had just fought previous [before] that, so I was going into that fight camp already hurt. My name carries some weight to it, and I’m going to show that improvement on Saturday.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 95 media day appearance by Chris Gutierrez above.

The post Chris Gutierrez Looking to Show Improvements at UFC Vegas 95 appeared first on Cageside Press.

News of the bout was first reported by Marcel Dorff (via his various social media accounts) of Eurosport. Gutierrez later confirmed the booking via his Instagram Story.

Both men suffered unanimous decision losses in their last outings. And will be looking to get back in the win column on August 3.

Chris Gutierrez (20-5-2) took on Song Yadong in the next-to-last, main event of 2023. The fight was ‘El Guapo’s first main event in 12 fights with the promotion, dating back to 2018. Gutierrez went on an 8-fight win streak between 2019-2022 and since, has gone 1-2.

Javid Basharat (14-1) fought Aiemann Zahabi in March, losing the first bout of his career. A product of the 2021 season of the Contender Series, Basharat won three in a row to start his career with the UFC. All unanimous decision wins against solid competition in the likes of: Trevin Jones, Tony Gravely and Mateus Mendonca. ‘The Snow Leopard’ is 3-1, 1 NC in the UFC.

UFC Abu Dhabi now features 11 bouts including some fan favorite fighters. The strong lineup as it’s been announced so far:

• Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
• Vicente Luque vs. Nick Diaz
• Marlon Vera vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
• Mackenzie Dern vs. Lupita Godinez
• Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Chiesa
• Abdu-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Guram Kutateladze
• Javid Basharat vs. Chris Gutierrez
• Alonzo Menifield vs. Azamat Murzakanov
• Victoria Dudakova vs. Sam Hughes
• Azat Maksum vs. CJ Vergara
• Jai Herbert vs. Rolando Bedoya

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