A couple of weeks ago, UFC fans rejoiced at the return on Dana White’s Contender Series. However, the first week was really rough in terms of the fights. White was blunt in his post-fight interview and implored upcoming fighters to really go for it when they appear on the show.
Last week, White handed out contracts to all five winners. Tonight, the action was fast and furious with seemingly every fighter going out there looking for a first round finish. In the end, all five winners tonight also earned UFC contracts.
UFC Contract Winners
Heavyweight: Donte Johnson (6-0) – The evening started out in the heavyweight division and the first fight didn’t last long. Johnson chopped down Darion Abbey and stopped him just over a minute into the first round. Johnson is naturally a light heavyweight, but he jumped at this opportunity on The Contender Series. He took a chance and now he’s in the UFC.
Lightweight: Manoel Sousa (13-1) – Sousa had the toughest fight out of all the winners tonight. He took on Cristian Perez and through two rounds, Perez was winning the fight. He was able to land takedowns and control position. However, Sousa was making him work and by the end of the second, Perez looked gassed. Sousa poured it on in the third round earning the TKO win and he earned himself a contract.
Light Heavyweight: Abdulrakhman Yakhyaev (7-0) – The biggest favorite on the card fought like it tonight. Yakhyaev ran right through Alik Lorenz stopping him in just 30 seconds. Of course, White said that he cannot wait to see him inside the octagon.
Featherweight: Marcio Barbosa (17-2) – Barbosa entered the octagon tonight with 15 of his 16 wins coming by first round finish. He continued that trend tonight scoring a first round finish over Damon Wilson earning himself a UFC contract from Dana White.
Middleweight: Ryan Gandra (8-1) – In the final fight of the evening, we saw a middleweight matchup between Gandra and Trent Miller. Miller was tough but this was all about Gandra. From the opening bell, Gandra was going for the kill using great feints and landing big shots. He kept Miller guessing and just after the halfway point of the first round, he got the finish and earned himself a contract.
