In the six-season history of Dana White’s Contender Series, Episode 6 has graduated 22 fighters to the UFC roster, including Tracy Cortez, who competes on Saturday at Niche UFC against fellow DWCS alum Jasmine Jasudavicius, and ranked prospects Grant Dawson and Sodiq Yusuff, each of whom are slated to headline their first UFC events, with Dawson taking on Bobby Green and Yusuff facing off with Edson Barboza.
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Only once in those six previous seasons has every winner on the sixth episode garnered a contract, though the positive for this week’s collection of hopefuls is that it finally happened last season following three consecutive years with four of the five victors, with two of the three competitors passed over in those instances — Daniel Rodriguez and Joseph Holmes — ultimately finding their way to the Octagon in relatively quick fashion.
This week, all five victors impressed UFC President Dana White enough to garner contracts. Lightweight James Llontop, heavyweight Jhonata Diniz, featherweight Steven Nguyen, strawweight Julia Polastri, and bantamweight Jean Matsumoto all got the call to the UFC roster.
It was an incredible night of action inside the UFC APEX on Tuesday night.
Here’s a look at how things played out.
Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7 Week 6 Results
Jean Matsumoto defeats Kasey Tanner by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Jean Matsumoto turned in a technical, precise effort to open this week’s show, chopping down and picking apart fellow unbeaten bantamweight Kasey Tanner.
From the outset, the 13-0 Brazilian attacked the lead leg and used his superior speed and footwork to get the better of things with Tanner. While the Fight Ready representative was certainly game and hung in there, Matsumoto consistently dictated the terms of engagement and got the better of the exchanges.
The judges were called upon to render the official verdict, and all three saw it the same way, with Matsumoto coming out ahead and earning his 14th straight victory.
Julia Polastri defeats Patricia Alujas by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:05 of Round 2
Julia Polastri and Patricia Alujas watched the first fight get UFC President Dana White on his feet and into the cage at the conclusion to congratulate both athletes and wanted to do the same themselves.
From Jump Street, the returning Polastri and DWCS newcomer Alujas went shot-for-shot, with the former having a power advantage. Early in the second, Polastri scooped her Ecuadorian opponent into the air, depositing her on the canvas before softening her up and sinking in a rear-naked choke finish late in the frame.
An outstanding effort for the UFC APEX sophomore, who moved to 12-3 with the victory, giving herself a very good opportunity to earn a call to compete in the Octagon.
Steven Nguyen defeats AJ Cunningham by TKO (strikes) at 4:06 of Round 2
There must have been something in the air at the UFC APEX on Wednesday because Steven Nguyen and AJ Cunningham walked out and got after it during the middle fight of Tuesday’s card, keeping the trend of exciting action rolling.
After battling shot-for-shot for much of the first round, Nguyen dropped Cunningham with a straight right hand just before the bell, unloading a string of hammerfists in hopes of finishing the contest. Cunningham survived the onslaught and kept coming forward, but Nguyen remained a step ahead, showcasing greater speed and precision en route to collecting a standing TKO finish late in the second round.
Of the four previous fighters to make three appearances on the Contender Series, three earned victories and contracts, so now we’ll see if Nguyen can make it four.
Jhonata Diniz defeats Eduardo Neves by KO (right hand) at 3:15 of Round 1
Veteran kickboxer Jhonata Diniz scored a walk-off knockout win over Eduardo Neves in Tuesday’s penultimate contest to likely punch his ticket to the UFC.
The Brazilian heavyweights stood in with one another, happy to test the power of one another throughout the contest, believing they would be the one to land best. Neves looked more comfortable than his first appearance last year, but Diniz settled in and stung Neves with a knee in the clinch that started the finishing sequence, as he never quite recovered and ate a clean right hand down the pipe soon after that ended the fight on the spot.
Though he’s just 6-0 as a mixed martial artist and competing in MMA for a little more than a year, Diniz’ kickboxing experience and obvious power make him an intriguing potential addition to the heavyweight ranks.
James Llontop defeats Malik Lewis by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
After a frenetic first four fights, Tuesday’s finale felt like a fitting climax to the evening, as James Llontop out-worked and stopped returning lightweight Malik Lewis.
The two ran close to level for much of the opening round, each landing solid individual shots, but never truly claiming control of the action. Late in the frame, Llontop wobbled Lewis with a clean right hand, and the second round turned into one-way traffic after the Peruvian fighter stung the returning fighter to the body. While Lewis survived, Llontop came out and continued to dominate in the third, salting away the victory.
Two Peruvian fighters have already impressed and earned contracts this season, and Llontop could very well be the third after this one-sided win over a DWCS sophomore.
