Danylo
Voievodkin laughed in the face of the oddsmakers.
The 6-foot-3, 263-pound Ukrainian—a prohibitive 8-to-1 underdog on
some books—was one of five hopefuls to nail down an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during
Week 7 of
Dana White’s Contender Series, as he turned away the heavily
favored Bailey
Schoenfelder with a rear-naked choke in the first round of
their heavyweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Schoenfelder (5-1, 0-1 DWCS) raised the white flag 73 seconds into
Round 1.
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Voievodkin walked the former University of Minnesota linebacker
backward and leveled him with a sweeping left hook. A
dazed-and-confused Schoenfelder was powerless to defend against the
follow-up attack. Voievodkin (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) wheeled to the back,
cinched the choke and elicited the tapout.
Featherweight Kevin
Vallejos, welterweight Daniel
Frunza, light heavyweight Kevin
Christian and women’s strawweight Alexia
Thainara are set to join Voievodkin in the UFC rotation in the
not-too-distant future. A Samurai Fight House titleholder, Vallejos put away the previously
unbeaten Cam Teague
with punches in the first round of their featherweight attraction.
The overmatched Teague (7-1, 0-1 DWCS) succumbed to blows 2:23 into
Round 1.
It was a one-sided beatdown. Vallejos (14-1, 1-1 DWCS) ripped clean
power punches to the head and body, as he methodically broke the
Port City Combat Sports representative’s resolve. He eventually
pinned Teague to the fence behind a left hook to the body and a
right hook upstairs, then uncorked a series of 20 unanswered shots
that forced his adversary into a defensive shell. One final left
hook to the head from Vallejos brought it to an emphatic close.
The 22-year-old Vallejos has won three fights in a row.
Meanwhile, the resilient Frunza took out Academy MMA standout Vadim
Kutsyi with punches in the second round of their welterweight
feature.
Kutsyi (16-2, 0-1 DWCS) met his end 3:30 into Round 2, suffering
his first setback in more than eight years.
Frunza (9-2, 1-0 DWCS) weathered a harrowing first round in which
both men were reeling at points. Kutsyi floored the Miami-based
Romanian with a right hook and battered him with standing-to-ground
punches, but all his work came at a cost. He emerged for the middle
stanza with labored movements—a clear sign his gas tank had run
dry. Frunza took advantage. He pressed forward with shots from both
hands, drove Kutsyi to the canvas with a body kick and uncorked a
sustained burst of unfettered punches to prompt the stoppage.
The 30-year-old Frunza has recorded five consecutive finishes since
his September 2021 submission defeat to Gary
Balletto Jr. under the CES MMA banner.
Elsewhere, Cosme
Junior Team’s Christian disposed of Francesco
Mazzeo with a triangle armbar in the second round of their
light heavyweight confrontation.
Christian (9-2, 1-0 DWCS) forced the surrender 4:17 into Round
2.
Mazzeo (4-1, 0-1 DWCS) executed a takedown in the first round,
applied his ground-and-pound and shed an attempted armbar from the
6-foot-7 Brazilian. However, he retreated to his corner bleeding
from an elbow-induced cut and visibly fatigued. Neither man did
much in the middle stanza—up until the finish. Mazzeo secured
another takedown but wandered into a triangle as exhaustion took
hold. Christian bit down, isolated the Italian’s left arm and
applied the necessary torque to produce the tapout.
Christian finds himself on a six-fight winning streak.
Finally, Ribas Family’s Thainara called upon multiple takedowns and
stinging leg kicks, as she laid claim to a unanimous decision over
reigning Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Rose
Conceicao in a three-round women’s strawweight tiff. All three
cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Thainara (11-1, 1-0
DWCS).
Conceicao (7-1, 0-1 DWCS) had issues with output throughout the
15-minute encounter. Thainara took bites out of her lower lead leg
with kicks, caught her off-guard with takedowns and fought fire
with fire whenever the two women exchanged punches. She kept her
foot on the accelerator for the duration and never once looked like
a fighter who was protecting a lead.
The 26-year-old Thainara has rattled off nine straight victories.