The 10th and final week of this season’s
Dana White’s Contender Series took place Tuesday night and saw
four fighters receive
Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts.
In the main event, Nick Klein
(5-1) wasted no time upsetting huge favorite Heraldo
Souza (9-1-1) as he got a takedown in the early seconds of the
fight, and in a total of 37 seconds, Klein closed the show with a
first-round, rear-naked choke victory.
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Jonathan
Micallef, Yadier Del
Valle and Luis Gurule
joined Klein as winners who were awarded contracts. Two of the
winners, Gurule and Klein, both came in on short-notice to secure
wins.
The co-main event would have a tough act to follow after Del Valle
and Monteiro, but it was quite the follow-up in itself with
undefeated flyweights Nick
Piccininni and Gurule taking center stage. Both fighters had
their moments in the first round, with Gurule finding his momentum
in the later stages of the period.
It was very much a wrestler versus striker matchup that was
extremely close heading into the third round. An entertaining third
frame with moments for both would leave it in the hands of the
judges, and it would be Gurule who got the split-decision
victory.
Gurule is now 10-0 in his professional career.
A featherweight contest between Del Valle (7-0) and Antonio
Monteiro (17-4-1, 1 NC) was one of the most exciting matchups
not just of the night, but the season. After a first round that saw
Del Valle in control and Monteiro throwing only one significant
strike, the two would come out on fire in the second.
Del Valle compiled 91 significant strikes in the first two rounds.
Herb
Dean would warn Monteiro to defend himself and keep fighting,
which he would as he found his own momentum in the second
stanza.
The third round would be similar to the second, with the high pace
of action, but it would be Monteiro who came out strong in the
final period. After controlling most of the frame, Monteiro
attempted a guillotine and after he let it go, Del Valle would land
big elbows to cut open his opponent. After a 15-minute war, Del
Valle would be awarded the decision.
The lone women’s clash was a matchup between Julieta
Martinez (7-0) and Leslie
Hernandez (4-1) in the strawweight division. It was a very
entertaining back-and-forth despite a slow start for Martinez, who
turned the tide following a rough initial five minutes, and would
put on quite the turnaround performance securing several takedowns
in the final two stanzas.
Martinez would slow down Hernandez as the women would fight the
entire three rounds, and the judges scored it in favor of Martinez
by way of split decision.
Despite her victory, Martinez was not awarded with a contract, but
Dana White said the UFC would keep her training at its Performance
Institute in Mexico.
Mohamed
Ado (5-0) did not show enough on “Dana White Looking For A
Fight,” had his second opportunity to impress the UFC’s head honcho
as he faced Micallef (6-1). Coming into the night, Micallef was the
biggest betting favorite of the event (-180), and after a few
reversals between the two of them, Micallef made quick work of Ado
with a Round 1 triangle-choke victory.