UFC Fight Night 212: ‘Grasso vs. Araujo’

UFC Fight Night 212: Card Breakdown

After a week off, the action returns to the UFC Apex for UFC Fight Night 212 (Vegas 62): ‘Grasso vs. Araujo’. The fight card currently features 12 fights and begins at 4 p.m ET on Saturday, October 15^th, 2022.

A women’s flyweight fight with high stakes is the main event, with #5^th ranked Grasso (-215) vs. #6^th ranked Araujo (+185) set to face off. Mexico’s Grasso enters the contest on a three-fight win streak after losing to the current champion Carla Esparza. Her most recent win was via rear naked choke submission over Joanne Wood. Grasso has gone to the judge’s scorecards in her previous four out of five fights.

Araujo has gone the distance in her last six fights, most recently a unanimous decision victory over Andrea Lee. However, the Brazilian Araujo faces a big step up in competition in Grasso; she struggled in a similar situation in a 2021 unanimous decision loss to top flyweight contender, Katlyn Chookagian.

In the co-main event, Jonathan Martinez (-205) squares off against newly inducted UFC Hall of Famer Cub Swanson (+175) at bantamweight. Martinez is on a three-fight win streak, all by decision. The main question for Swanson is the weight cut to bantamweight, a first for him. His last fight was a brutal first-round K.O. stoppage over the incredibly durable veteran, Darren Elkins, showing the 38-year-old Swanson has plenty left in the tank.

A fight being tabbed by some as the “people’s main event” is the men’s flyweight battle between #4^th ranked Askar Askarov (-245) vs. #5^th ranked Brandon Royval (+205). Askarov is coming off his first professional loss to Kai Kara-France, who Royval has already beaten back in September 2020 via guillotine choke in the 2nd round.