A Tachi Palace Fights veteran, Tommy Vargas is an experienced West Coast fighter who holds a win over UFC competitor Reuben Duran.

Vargas was introduced to wrestling at the age of five. He excelled in the sport throughout high school, earning All-American honours three times in Greco-Roman, once in freestyle, and taking State Championships his senior year. After high school Vargas attended Division I school Northwestern University, where he battled through a variety of injuries and illness. His tumultuous stay lasted three years, during which time Vargas compiled a mediocre record of 21-31. After forgoing his senior year of eligibility, Vargas transferred to Cal-Sate Bakersfield where his fortunes took a turn for the better. There he would complete his final year of eligibility, eventually taking second place at the Pac-10 Championships and qualifying for the NCAA Division I tourney. That wrestling background has laid the foundation for his approach in mixed martial arts, as Vargas makes a conscious effort to try and take his opponent down any chance he gets. A single and power double are his primary means of attaining top position where he’s proven to be a strong control grappler. Vargas is quite content with working from inside his opponents guard and chipping away with short elbows strikes and punches. Rarely will he look to pass, a tendency that strong guard players could take advantage of at the elite levels. A definite top position ground fighter, Vargas is not comfortable off his back. Although he demonstrates patience from the bottom, he also offers little offensively and can easily be controlled. Vargas will gladly give up positional opportunities in order to take a chance at rolling away or gaining the standup, and is potentially very susceptible against fighters who can take him down. Although his wrestling base is solid, Vargas is quite one dimensional in his approach and will need to work towards expanding his grappling arsenal.

Vargas’ standup was largely ignored through the first couple of years in his career where he relied heavily on his wrestling background. Roughly seven fights in, he began paying more attention to his striking and showed promise as a result. Vargas’ displays good hand speed and demonstrates power in both his leg kicks and punching. His boxing has improved, and as he’s become more accustomed to the standup game Vargas has begun using his striking intelligently to set up takedown attempts. As a grappler, Vargas will still need to shore up his footwork, defense, and technical skills. He can be caught flat footed, is not immune to being hit, and his punches can get loopy at times.