Jacobe
Smith lived up to the blue-chip billing.
The undefeated Fortis MMA prospect was one of five hopefuls to ink
an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during
Week 8 of
Dana White’s Contender Series, as he put away Christien
Savoie with sustained ground-and-pound in the second round of
their welterweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas.
Smith (9-0, 1-0 DWCS) drew the curtain 2:55 into Round
2.
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Savoie (10-2-1, 0-1 DWCS) was simply out of his depth. A onetime
NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University, Smith
executed multiple takedowns, battered his overmatched counterpart
from various positions and hacked open multiple cuts, one of them
across the bridge of his nose. He powered the Savoie to the canvas
one final time early in the middle stanza, stayed busy and prompted
the stoppage with a sustained burst of elbows.
Light heavyweight Diyar
Nurgozhay, featherweight Alberto
Montes, middleweight Torrez
Finney and bantamweight David
Martinez are set to join Smith on the UFC roster in the days,
weeks and months ahead. An Eagle Fighting Championship titleholder,
Nurgozhay cut down Bartosz
Szewczyk with a head kick and follow-up punches in the second
round of their light heavyweight attraction.
Szewczyk (8-3-1, 0-1 DWCS) met his end 3:32 into Round
2. Nurgozhay (10-0, 1-0 DWCS) plodded forward with kicks to the leg
and body, occasional uppercuts and a steady diet of straight left
hands. He increased the volume and intensity of his shots in the
second round, let fly with body-head combinations and forced
Szewczyk onto his back foot. The head kick caught the Pole by
surprise and sent him crashing to the canvas, at which point
Nurgozhay uncorked a quick volley of punches for the finish.
The 27-year-old Nurgozhay has stopped eight of his first 10
opponents as a pro.
Meanwhile, Goat Shed Academy’s Montes disposed of Carlos
Calderon with an anaconda choke in the second round of their
action-packed featherweight feature.
Calderon (6-3, 0-1 DWCS) raised the white flag of surrender 2:38
into Round 2.
Montes (11-1, 1-0 DWCS) conceded multiple takedowns inside a
frenetic first round in which both men had their moments in wild
standup exchanges. The Venezuelan upped his activity in the middle
stanza, where he blasted Calderon with counter right hands and
methodically chipped away at his resolve. Montes sat back on a
Peruvian necktie and then transitioned to the anaconda choke,
tightening his squeeze until his Elevation Fight Team-trained
opponent capitulated.
It was the sixth submission win of Montes’ career.
Further down the card, Agoge Combatives’ Finney kept his perfect
professional record intact and took care of Abdelah
Er-Ramy with punches in the first round of their middleweight
encounter.
Er-Ramy (7-2, 0-1 DWCS) succumbed to blows 4:10 into Round
1.
Finney (10-0, 3-0 DWCS) secured a takedown inside the first 15
seconds and got down to business. He floated from mount to the
back, crowded the Moroccan-born Spaniard from top position, made a
serious pass at an arm-triangle choke and unsheathed his
ground-and-pound. Finney progressed to the back late in the first
period, flattened out the Rebel Pride Gym export and cut loose with
thudding punches until the job was done.
The setback was Er-Ramy’s first since 2019 and snapped his
six-fight winning streak.
Finally, Martinez called upon repeated leg kicks, stout
counterpunching and outstanding lateral movement in a unanimous
decision over the previously unbeaten Xavier
Franklin in their three-round bantamweight tilt. All three
cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Martinez (11-1, 1-0
DWCS).
Franklin (5-1, 0-1 DWCS) held his own in spurts—he staggered the
Bonebreakers MMA product with a right hand in the second round and
opened a small cut under his right eye with a sweeping left hook in
the third—but lacked the weaponry he needed to give his opponent
genuine pause. Martinez wrecked the Peak Fighting titleholder’s
base and took the sting out of his standup with a constant stream
of kicks to the lower leg. Franklin pressed forward as the bout
progressed but could not make any real headway in a compromised
state.
The 26-year-old Martinez has rattled off seven consecutive
victories.