The UFC has five new fighters.
On Tuesday night, Week 2 of Contender Series went down at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, and it was a full 180 from Week 1, where UFC CEO Dana White only offered two contracts after a night of disappointing fights. Instead, on Tuesday, White offered all five winners a contract, and even noted that the loser of the main event would be on the short-list of phone calls to make should someone fall out of an upcoming bout.
In the main event of the evening, Jose Delano put on a masterclass
of a performance, dominating Manuel Exposito for 15 minutes en route to a big unanimous decision win. Hailed as possibly the most “UFC-ready” fighter on this season of Contender Series by matchmaker Sean Shelby, Delano showcased why expectations were so high for him, tuning Exposito up with a diverse and dangerous striking game. Exposito proved durable, so Delano was unable to get the finish, but still impressed Dana White enough to earn a contract.
In the co-main event of the evening, Cam Rowston finally got a Contender Series win, stopping Brandon Holmes in the first round. Rowston was scheduled to compete on Contender Series in 2023 but was forced out of the bout. He got another crack in 2024, losing to Torrez Finney by decision. But 2025 was finally the year for the City Kickboxing fighter who lit Holmes up with sharp punches, scoring an early stoppage and a UFC contract.
In the third bout of the evening, Louis Lee Scott finished Kaushik Saikumar in a very fun scrap. The undefeated Englishman came out aggressively but was immediately put on the defensive by the aggressive grappling attack of Saikumar. Scott was able to survive multiple leg lock attempts and slowly take over the momentum with his own grappling and striking game. In the third round, Scott took over, overwhelming Saikumar and getting the stoppage. Scott actually missed weight for this bout, coming in a half-pound over, and while Dana White took him to task over it, he nonetheless offered him a contract.
In the second bout of the evening, former NFL player Josh Hokit broke down Guilherme Uriel with a focused wrestling attack en route to a second-round stoppage. Early on in the bout, Uriel showed decent takedown defense, but he was unable to keep Hokit and his relentless wrestling attack at bay. At the end of the first round, Hokit finally got top position and hammered in shots, which seemed to take the fight out of Uriel. When the second round started, Hokit bulldozed him down and finished Uriel in short order.
In the opening bout of the evening, Ramiro Jimenez remained undefeated, running through Tommy Cuozzi in just under three minutes. Jimenez was a massive favorite heading in and proved why, chewing Cuozzi up with body shots before hurting him with big punches up top. Once he smelled blood, Jimenez poured it on and earned the stoppage win and a contract from Dana White.
Check out the full results below.
Main Card
Jose Delano def. Manuel Exposito via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Cam Rowston def. Brandon Holmes via TKO (punches and elbows) — 2:58, Round 1
Louis Lee Scott def. Kaushik Saikumar via TKO (punches) — 2:21, Round 3.
Josh Hokit def. Guilherme Uriel via TKO (punches) — 1:06, Round 2
Ramiro Jimenez def. Tommy Cuozzi via TKO (punches) — 2:53, Round 1.
