You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut!
Three rookies stepped into the Octagon yesterday (Sat., May 16, 2026) at UFC Vegas 117 inside the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Collectively, the newcomers went 1-2, with one dominant performance stealing the show.
Now that the dust has settled, let’s grade their respective performances below:
Christian Edwards
After years of hype in Bellator because of his connection to Jon Jones, Christian Edwards finally got his UFC opportunity on just five days’ notice
against veteran Modestas Bukauskas.
Unfortunately, the fight itself was largely forgettable.
Outside of a chaotic second round in which Bukauskas badly hurt Edwards multiple times and left him stumbling around the cage, the matchup was extremely tentative. Edwards survived by constantly clinching and slowing the pace whenever Bukauskas found momentum, while Bukauskas seemed content to simply hold position rather than aggressively hunt the finish.
In the end, Edwards dropped a split decision.
To be fair, going the distance with a solid UFC veteran on short notice isn’t terrible. But it’s still hard to fully understand the signing.
Edwards was thoroughly exposed toward the end of his Bellator run, suffering shocking losses as massive betting favorites and even struggling on the regional scene afterward, losing to Luke Fernandez. At 3-5 in his last eight fights entering UFC Vegas 117, this never really felt like a prospect on the rise.
Still, Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight are thin divisions, and the UFC clearly sees some value in his athleticism and name recognition.
Throw him in there with Junior Tafa next and see what happens.
Final grade: C-
Tommy Gantt & Artur Miniev
Now this was impressive.
Season 9 Contender Series signee Tommy Gantt absolutely mauled short-notice replacement Artur Miniev in one of the more dominant rookie performances of the year.
From the opening seconds, Gantt closed distance, clinched up and immediately started rag-dolling Miniev around the cage with relentless takedowns and mat returns. Even when Miniev scrambled back to his feet, Gantt stayed attached to him like a backpack while ripping nasty knees from the clinch.
The second round was more of the same.
Gantt marched forward, forced another clinch exchange, mixed in a stiff jab and quickly dragged the fight back to the mat. Once there, he trapped Miniev’s wrist, unloaded heavy ground-and-pound and eventually secured back mount before forcing the referee stoppage.
It was a suffocating performance.
If opponents can’t stop Gantt’s pressure and chain wrestling, he is going to be an absolute nightmare at 155 pounds. What makes the showing even more impressive is that he was coming off the longest layoff of his career after previously competing at an absurd pace before earning his UFC contract.
Depending on the severity of Trey Ogden’s injury, rebooking that original matchup makes a ton of sense.
Final grade: A+
This was a brutal assignment for Miniev, who accepted the fight on less than five days’ notice against one of the strongest wrestlers in the division — and it showed immediately.
Preparing for someone like Gantt requires an entire camp focused around anti-wrestling and conditioning for constant grappling exchanges. Miniev simply didn’t have the time to make those adjustments.
Still, while the performance itself was rough, there were flashes of toughness and urgency every time he managed to create space. And stylistically, he still feels like someone who can become an entertaining action fighter in the UFC.
The Ukrainian prospect remains dangerous on the feet and still carries serious knockout power.
This was just a terrible stylistic draw under impossible circumstances.
A matchup against Charlie Campbell next would make a lot of sense.
Final grade: F
For complete UFC Vegas 117 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.
