Who is Christos Giagos, the short-notice opponent to Carlton Minus at UFC Vegas 17?

American lightweight Christos Giagos will be stepping in on short notice to face Carlton Minus in the preliminary card of UFC Vegas 17 this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Giagos will be replacing Rick Glenn, who was forced to pull out after testing positive for COVID-19.

This will be Giagos' first fight in 2020, having last competed back in August of 2019.

So, who is Christos Giagos?

Apart from having a very cool name, Giagos is also a pretty solid mixed martial artist with a 17-8 professional record. Of those 17 wins, 7 have come by knockout and three have come by submission. Some notable names on Giagos' professional record include fights against top welterweight contender Gilbert Burns and top-5 lightweight contender Charles Oliveira.

Outside of his career as a mixed martial artist, Giagos is still pretty much a gym-rat, as he teaches crossfit, kickboxing, and strength and conditioning.

Christos Giagos is in his second run with the UFC

25-fight veteran Christos Giagos is currently in his second run with the UFC, looking to do much better than his maiden stint inside the world-famous Octagon.

Giagos began his mixed martial arts career back in 2010, competing in smaller promotions such as RITC, Tachi Palace Fights, LOP and RFA. Christos Giagos went on to win 10 of his first 12 fights, with 9 wins coming by way of stoppage. This impressive run caught the attention of the UFC, and Giagos made his debut against Gilbert Burns in 2014. Burns would defeat Giagos by way of armbar submission in the first round.

Giagos bounced back and defeated Jorge de Oliveira by submission to earn his first UFC win, but would lose to Chris Wade in his next fight. After going 1-2 inside the Octagon, the UFC and Giagos parted ways.

After his time with the UFC, Giagos returned to familiar grounds such as the RFA and then made his debut with the Russia-based ACB promotion in 2017.

After winning 4 of his 6 bouts outside the UFC, Christos Giagos was given another chance inside the Octagon in 2018, and has made the most his second opportunity. After getting submitted by Charles Oliveria in his first fight back in the UFC, Giagos bounced back by recording back-to-back victories against Mizuto Hirota and Damir Hadzovic. In his most recent outing, Giagos lost to Drakkar Klose by unanimous decision.

Now, Christos Giagos has the chance to end the year on a high note with a win over Carlton Minus at UFC Vegas 17.