Not only have all 10 victorious fighters so far this season garnered contracts to compete in the UFC, but two of them already have a fight lined up.
Flyweight Kevin Borjas — who won the opening bout of the season — is slated to take on the man he was initially supposed to meet in Week 1, Joshua Van, at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in November. Van was called up to face Zhalgas Zhumagulov earlier this summer, delivering an impressive debut victory, and now he and Borjas will share the Octagon together in NYC.
Tuesday, it was announced that fellow Week 1 winner Payton Talbott also has his debut booked, as the undefeated bantamweight will take on Nick Aguirre in November.
This week, we saw just four fights and only three athletes awarded contracts, as Luis Pajuelo, Oban Elliott, and Zachary Reese all punched their ticket to the UFC, while strawweight Josephine Knutsson won, but failed to impress UFC President Dana White.
Here’s a look at what transpired.
Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7 Week 3 Fight Card
Luis Pajuelo defeats Robbie Ring by TKO (strikes) at 3:43 of Round 1
When they were in space and technical, Ring held his own, but once Pajuelo decided he wanted to turn this into a slobberknocker, the fight swung entirely in his favor. After hurting Ring and forcing the American to pull guard, the featherweight prospect unloaded on Ring, setting up the finish with a punishing knee to the midsection on the ground before hammering home a torrent of blows.
This was an absolutely punishing effort from “Corazon de Leon,” who pushes his winning streak to five and his record to 8-1 overall with the victory.
Josefine Knutsson defeats Isis Verbeek by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
The AllStars Training Center representative blasted Verbeek with a no-tell lead high kick in the first that likely would have knocked out many other competitors. While Verbeek stayed upright, Knutsson remained in control for the majority of the fight, getting the better of things in space, in the clinch, and on the ground. She couldn’t find a finish, but this was one-way traffic and a highly technical performance from the Swedish strawweight.
All three judges saw the fight in Knutsson’s favor, with “Thunder” moving to 6-0 with the win while handing Verbeek the second loss of her MMA career.
Oban Elliott (29-28, 29-28, 28-28) defeats Kaik Brito by Majority Decision
The first was close, with Elliott landing a smattering of good shots while controlling the grappling exchanges, but Brito was all over him in the second. It genuinely seemed like Elliott was one shot away from being finished, only for the Cage Warriors veteran to come out as the fresher man in the third and take the fight to Brito.
Two of the three judges saw the fight 29-28 in favor of Elliott with the other official scoring the bout a draw, resulting in a majority decision victory for the hard-nosed Shore Mixed Martial Arts representative.
Zachary Reese defeats Eli Aronov by Submission (armbar) at 1:14
Aronov was landing the more telling blows in the early exchanges and worked his way into top position after spilling Reese to the canvas. The Texan trapped the arm and extended, taking advantage of Aronov making a tactical mistake, drawing out the tap.
The 29-year-old is now 6-0 as a pro with six finish and on a nine-fight winning streak overall dating back to his amateur days. Reese trains with a handful of UFC competitors in Houston and could very well be joining them on the roster after this one.
