Five more fighters joined the UFC roster after the latest episode of Contender Series.
On Tuesday night, Week 3 of Contender Series
went down at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, and it was a continuation of Week 2, where UFC CEO Dana White offered all five winners a contract. The same happened in Week 3 as four of the fighters scored first-round finishes, and the fifth scored an epic third-round comeback stoppage.In the main event, Ryan Gandra mowed down Trent Miller with devastating punches to advance
his winning streak to seven in a row. Gandra was a heavy favorite and showed why, unleashing a barrage of fast and powerful punches, and while Miller tried to battle threw, he couldn’t stand up to Gandra’s offense. Finally, a series of punches dropped Miller to the ground and caused referee Mark Smith to intervene, granting Gandra the win, which was enough for Dana White to award a contract for.
In the penultimate bout of the evening, Marcio Barbosa demolished Damon Wilson to score a first-round knockout. With 15 of his 16 career wins coming by first-round finish heading into the night, Barbosa was a massive betting favorite, and he delivered another one, overpowering Wilson with hooks to add another first-round stoppage to his list. Wilson showed off some solid durability recovering from getting faceplanted early in the round, but was simply outmatched and Barbosa was able to get the stoppage with less than a minute left in the opening frame, earning a UFC contract.
In the third bout of the evening, Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev made quick work of Alik Lorenz, extending his undefeated streak to 7 wins. Yakhyaev was the biggest favorite on the card and looked every bit of it, blitzing through Lorenz with fast, sharp punches that immediately hurt him, finishing the bout in just 30 seconds and making it an easy call for Dana White to award him a UFC contract.
In the second bout of the evening, Manoel Sosa authored an epic comeback over Cristian Perez, scoring a third-round TKO in the only bout that made it out of the first round on Tuesday night. Perez came out strong early, scoring takedowns and using his aggressive jiu-jitsu game to attack and control the action, taking a 2-0 lead into the final frame. But after 10 minutes, Perez was exhausted and Sosa turned up the pressure, defending takedowns and landing huge shots in the final round. Ultimately, Sosa was able to seriously hurt Perez, who simply didn’t have the energy to defend himself anymore, leading to an impressive stoppage victory for Sosa, and a UFC contract.
In the opening bout of the evening, Donte Johnson made quick work of Darion Abbey, stopping the massive heavyweight in just over a minute. Abbey looked enormous compared to Johnson, who was giving up six inches in height and a substantial weight disadvantage, but it didn’t matter. Johnson stunned Abbey early with a powerful combination, and then poured on the pressure to add another first-round stoppage to his resume, making it an easy decision for Dana White to award him a UFC contract.
Check out the full results from Week 3 of Contender Series below.
Main card
Ryan Gandra def. Trent Miller via TKO (punches) — 2:51, Round 1.
Marcio Barbosa def. Damon Wilson via TKO (punches) — 4:14, Round 1.
Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev def. Alik Lorenz via TKO (punches) — 0:30, Round 1.
Manoel Sosa def. Cristian Perez via TKO (punches) — 3:00, Round 3.
Donte Johnson def. Darion Abbey via TKO (punches) — 1:04, Round 1
