Talisson
Teixeira handled his business and inspired immediate
intrigue.
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The Team Mineiro prospect was one of four hopefuls to sign an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during
Week 6 of
Dana White’s Contender Series, as he cut down Arthur
Lopes with punches in the first round of their heavyweight
showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The monstrous
6-foot-7 Teixeira (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) slammed the door 1:57 into Round
1.
Lopes (6-2, 0-1 DWCS) closed the distance behind wild hooks from
both hands but failed to connect with anything at full force.
Teixeira stayed composed under duress, rolled with punches and set
up a surgical strike. He backed up Lopes with a knee, then sent him
crashing to the canvas with a laser-guided right cross. Teixeira
followed with a standing-to-ground hammerfist before referee Gary
Copeland could arrive on the scene.
The 24-year-old Teixeira has finished all seven of his opponents
inside one round.
Bantamweight Elijah
Smith, middleweight Ateba
Abega Gautier and lightweight Ahmad
Sohail Hassanzada are set to join Teixeira on the UFC roster in
the weeks and months ahead.
Team Victory’s Smith battled through fatigue-induced adversity and
proved he could walk through the fires that await him at the
sport’s highest level, as he took a unanimous decision from
Aaron
Tau in a three-round donnybrook at 135 pounds. Smith (7-1, 1-0
DWCS) swept the scorecards with matching 29-28 marks from the
cageside judiciary.
Tau (8-1, 0-1 DWCS) made it difficult for him. The City Kickboxing
product moved forward fearlessly despite getting picked apart for
the better part of two rounds. Tau piled up points with clean
combinations, backed them up with takedowns and nearly finished it
with an anaconda choke in the middle stanza. Tau found another gear
in Round 3, forced the Colorado Springs native onto his back foot
and let fly with power punches from both hands. Smith returned fire
whenever his gas tank allowed and managed to hold off a late rally
from the Kiwi.
Just 22 years of age, Smith finds himself on a five-fight winning
streak.
Manchester Top Team’s Gautier disposed of Pancrase champion
Yura
Naito with punches in the second round of their middleweight
feature. Gautier (6-1, 1-0 DWCS) drew the curtain 4:00 into Round 2
and extended his winning streak to five fights, all of them
finishes.
Naito (6-1, 0-1 DWCS) spent a significant chunk of the first period
in top position after securing a takedown. He applied his
ground-and-pound but failed to exact much damage. Gautier shored up
his takedown defense in the middle stanza, trapped the Japanese
wrestler on the feet and dropped him with a brutal two-punch
combination. He pounced with elbows, punches and hammerfists, all
while Naito’s left eye swelled shut. Gautier eventually postured in
full guard and cut loose with unanswered hammerfists and punches to
prompt the stoppage.
Team Alpha Male’s Ahmad
Sohail Hassanzada put Dylan
Mantello to sleep with a rear-naked choke in the third round of
their lightweight attraction. Mantello (8-4, 0-2 DWCS) lost
consciousness 2:41 into Round 3, suffering his second defeat in
three outings.
Hassanzada (11-3, 1-1 DWCS) withstood a knockdown—Mantello floored
him with a counter right hand—in the second round and ultimately
wore down the Serra-Longo Fight Team representative with pace and
persistence. He took down Mantello inside the first 90 seconds of
the third round, jumped to the back and secured his position with a
body triangle. Mild ground-and-pound followed before Hassanzada
snuck his arms into place, tightened his squeeze and waited for his
opponent to go limp.
The 27-year-old Hassanzada has rattled off three straight
victories.
Forge Fight Team’s Benjamin
Bennett rode repeated takedowns and considerable control time
to a contentious split decision over Joey Hart in
a three-round welterweight encounter. All three cageside scored it
29-28, two of them siding with Bennett (7-1, 1-0 DWCS), who left
the venue without a contract in hand.
Hart (6-2, 0-1 DWCS) employed an effective get-up game, doing his
part to counteract being taken down. On the feet, he maximized his
six-inch reach advantage with a punishing jab, kicks to the lower
lead leg and stepping knees. It was not enough. Bennett threw
caution to the wind in the third round, where he engaged the Start
BJJ standout in standup exchanges, beckoned him forward and doubled
up on his jab and left hooks. His aggression and efforts in the
grappling department curried favor on two of the three scorecards
and sent him to the winner’s circle.
The setback snapped a four-fight winning streak for Hart.