Kristjan Tõniste beat former UFC fighter Rodrigo Vargas by unanimous decision in the Evecon RAJU 20 main event on Saturday 10 October at Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn. Evecon RAJU billed it as the first time an Estonian had faced a UFC veteran on home soil. Latvia’s Arturs Leisans lost by second-round TKO, and Samanta Dorči, whom RAJU lists as Latvian, lost on points in an amateur bout. The results below come from RAJU’s official results table, and we checked them against Sherdog.
Watch the replay: RAJU has posted all ten RAJU 20 fights for free on its official Evecon RAJU YouTube channel.
Tõniste vs Vargas: judo beats experience
Vargas, 41 and 16-7, came in with four UFC fights behind him, including a 2022 loss to Paddy Pimblett. Tõniste never let him settle. He shut down Vargas’s early takedown attempt and came out on top. In the last minute of round one he went hunting for an armbar, and early in round two a judo throw put him straight into mount. In round three he kept control and landed hard elbows from the top. All three judges had it 30-27, and RAJU gave Tõniste one of its €2,000 Performance of the Night bonuses.
Leisans and Dorči
Arturs Leisans, the “Latvian Punching Machine”, fought Poland’s Oskar Herczyk at a 79 kg catchweight, which RAJU’s results table attributes to Leisans. Herczyk kept him on the mat for much of round one, then chopped down his legs. Low kicks ended it at 0:52 of round two. It was Herczyk’s second straight leg-kick TKO at RAJU, after he beat Raigo Kutsar the same way at RAJU 19, and it earned him a Performance of the Night bonus too.
Leisans fought with the Sports Strike TV logo on his shorts. Sports Strike sponsors him, and we’ll be following where he goes next after a tough night in Tallinn.
In the amateur IMMAF bout, 22-year-old Samanta Dorči lost to Aisel Agajeva 30-27 on all three cards.
The rest of the card
Maikel Astur bounced back from the first loss of his career, stopping Lévy Carriel with punches in round two to earn the third Performance of the Night bonus. Robert-Alexandru Constantin outpointed Cristiano Cruz. Madis Mäeste, who had announced this as the last fight of his pro career, signed off with a first-round side choke. Allan Volosatõh’s win over Mattia Palushi was over after 44 seconds; RAJU’s results table lists it as a forfeit.
RAJU 20 full results
Results and times as published by RAJU, main event first.
| Bout (winner first) | Rules / weight | Result | Round / time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kristjan Tõniste def. Rodrigo Vargas | Pro MMA, 77.1 kg | UD (30-27 x3) | R3, 5:00 |
| Maikel Astur def. Lévy Carriel | Pro MMA, 77.1 kg | TKO (punches) | R2, 2:06 |
| Robert-Alexandru Constantin def. Cristiano Cruz | Pro MMA, 77.1 kg | UD (30-26, 30-27, 29-28) | R3, 5:00 |
| Madis Mäeste def. Yanis Simonite | Pro MMA, 65.8 kg | Submission (side choke) | R1, 3:56 |
| Oskar Herczyk def. Arturs Leisans 🇱🇻 | Pro MMA, 79.0 kg catchweight | TKO (low kicks) | R2, 0:52 |
| Allan Volosatõh def. Mattia Palushi | Pro MMA, 77.1 kg | Forfeit (per RAJU) | R1, 0:44 |
| German Mili def. Ayoub Ghraidia | Pro MMA, 82.0 kg catchweight | Submission (rear-naked choke) | R1, 2:24 |
| Sami Feddad def. Oleh Mirošnitšenko | Pro kickboxing (WAKO), 60 kg | UD (30-27, 30-28, 30-27) | R3, 3:00 |
| Aisel Agajeva def. Samanta Dorči | Amateur MMA (IMMAF), 56.7 kg | UD (30-27 x3) | R3, 3:00 |
| Kennet Künnarpuu def. Per Kjetil Tonnessen | Amateur MMA (IMMAF), 97+ kg | UD (30-27, 29-28 x2) | R3, 3:00 |
What’s next
RAJU’s next event is Evecon RAJU 21 on 10 April 2027, again at Tondiraba Ice Hall. No bouts have been announced yet for Tõniste, Astur or Herczyk.
