The UTMA 20 main event comes out of a heated face-off at UTMA 19: Ignas Pauliukevičius against Naglis Kanišauskas, three rounds at 95 kg under kickboxing rules. It headlines UTMA 20, the 20th main tournament from UTMA, at Arena Vilnius on Saturday 24 October, starting at 19:00 local time. That’s also 19:00 in Riga, 17:00 BST and 12:00 ET. UTMA head Viktoras Gecas has called it “good versus evil”, and it’s the promotion’s third show in the Lithuanian capital.
Tale of the tape
| Ignas Pauliukevičius | Naglis Kanišauskas | |
|---|---|---|
| UTMA record | 7-1 (5 KO) | 4-1 (3 KO) |
| UTMA ranking | #1 at 95 kg, #4 pound-for-pound | First fight at 95 kg |
| Born | 2003 | Not published |
| Height | 193 cm | Not published |
| Gym | Fightersland | Bokso visata / Allstars Gym Sweden |
| Only UTMA loss | Sergej Maslobojev | Dominykas Dirkstys |
| Last fight | Won, Modestas Juodpusis (UTMA 19, after an extra round) | Won, Dovydas Girdzevičius (UTMA 19, TKO, 91 kg) |
Pauliukevičius: the number one at 95 kg
Pauliukevičius is only in his early twenties, and he already sits first in UTMA’s 95 kg rankings. He’s won seven of his eight UTMA fights, five of them by knockout, and the one man to beat him is Sergej Maslobojev, who took a decision at UTMA 18 in Kaunas in April. Before that he ended his UTMA 17 fight with Faruk Bulama eight seconds into the first round.
His last fight showed something new. Modestas Juodpusis was ahead early at UTMA 19, but Pauliukevičius knocked him down in the third round, forced an extra round and won it. Gecas says a win here would move him closer to a rematch with Maslobojev, and possibly the first UTMA 95 kg kickboxing title fight.
Kanišauskas: moving up again
Kanišauskas made his name lower down. He’s 4-1 in UTMA with three knockouts, and his one defeat came against Dominykas Dirkstys. Gecas says he “looked really good” at 86 kg. For UTMA 19 he moved up to 91 kg, the heaviest he’d ever fought in UTMA, and stopped Dovydas Girdzevičius.
Now he goes up again, to 95 kg, against the division’s number one. It’s a big jump in size, and UTMA is selling it as a grudge match as much as a sporting one. The two men argued at press conferences before they finally met face to face at UTMA 19.
How the styles match up
Pauliukevičius is 193 cm tall and has been fighting at 95 kg all along, and his knockout rate says he carries the power with him. Kanišauskas has finished three of his four wins, but all of them came lighter, and nobody yet knows how his power and his chin carry up to 95 kg. Gecas says the same: “It will be interesting to see what the transition to such a high weight category will look like.”
The risk for Pauliukevičius is his starts. Juodpusis won the early rounds against him in September, and in a three-round fight there’s no time to come back from 0-2. If Kanišauskas takes the first round, it gets interesting.
Our pick: Pauliukevičius by decision
We’ll take the bigger man who belongs at the weight. Pauliukevičius should be able to lean on Kanišauskas over three rounds, and his power should keep the smaller man honest. Kanišauskas has finished three of his four UTMA wins, so he’s dangerous for as long as it lasts, but Pauliukevičius on points is our call, with a late stoppage the next most likely result.
The rest of the UTMA 20 card
The co-main event is a 75 kg title eliminator. Former UTMA champion Raimondas Avlasevičius (4-1-1) meets Akram Belmeki (1-0), whom he beat in 2023. Avlasevičius lost his belt to Nikola Cvetkovič at UTMA 13 and stopped Sabri Ben Henia in the second round at UTMA 17. The winner gets the next shot at Cvetkovič, and Gecas says that title fight could happen as early as November.
The 81 kg eight-man tournament reaches the semi-finals. Tomas Banskis (5-0) faces Isa Göçmen (3-1), and Deividas Jemeljanovas (4-1) faces Rodrigo Mineiro (1-0). The winners meet at UTMA 21 for the 81 kg belt and a €50,000 prize.
Also on the main card:
- Vitas Karosas vs Cengiz Lale, 67 kg
- Raimondas Krilavičius vs Mantvydas Perednis, 75 kg: a rematch between two former UTMA champions in a new weight class
- Mantas Rimdeika vs Markas Molotokas, 95+ kg
- Tomas Pakutinskas vs Ion Grigore, 95+ kg: the last fight of Pakutinskas’ career, under kickboxing rules with small MMA gloves
The prelims include Edvinas Šalkovski vs Burak Ünal (95 kg) and Arnoldas Misiūnas vs Mindaugas Gedminas (81 kg). Matas Pultaražinskas vs Osvald Fedorovič (67 kg) and Aya Boutafala vs Alina Martyniuk (58 kg) are also on the prelims. The early prelims include Arūnas Gruodys vs Eimantas Zarėčnyj, a kickboxing championship final moved into the UTMA ring, and Ainas Baranauskas vs Armandas Maknys, two newly signed fighters. There are no Latvian fighters on this card.
Where to watch Pauliukevičius vs Kanišauskas UTMA LIVE Stream
UTMA 20 starts at 19:00 Vilnius time on Saturday 24 October. That’s 19:00 in Riga, 17:00 BST and 12:00 ET. UTMA hasn’t published separate start times for the prelims and early prelims.
How to watch: UTMA sells the pay-per-view broadcast on UTMA.lt. The early prelims are free on UTMA’s YouTube channel.
