Bo
Nickal lived up to the hype and then some, but it was not
enough to gain entry to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship—at least not yet.
The three-time NCAA wrestling champion submitted Zachary
Borrego with a first-round rear-naked choke to highlight
Week 3 of
Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas.
Nickal executed an immediate takedown, threatened with a standing
guillotine, transitioned seamlessly to the back and bit down on the
fight-ending choke. It took all of 62 seconds. Borrego (4-1)
never stood a chance. Even so, UFC President Dana
White stopped short of welcoming Nickal to the UFC and instead
offered him the opportunity to return later in Season 6, where the
American Top Team-trained blue-chip prospect could punch his
ticket to the promotion with a second win.
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Though they were largely overshadowed by Nickal, three other
hopefuls did earn contracts to the UFC: Erik Silva,
Clayton
Carpenter and Jamal
Pogues.
A Costa Rica-based Brazilian wielding savage ground-and-pound,
Silva dispatched
Legacy Fighting Alliance alum Anvar
Boynazarov with elbows and punches in the first round of their
featherweight affair. The unwitting victim of an all-out rout,
Boynazarov (3-1) checked out 1:32 into Round 1.
Silva (9-1) swooped in for a takedown inside the first 15 seconds,
pinned the muay Thai stylist to the canvas and hit the accelerator.
He dropped multiple elbows, forced Boynazarov to turtle to avoid
further punishment and cut loose with punches until referee Mike
Beltran had seen enough.
The 35-year-old Silva has won eight fights in a row, the last six
via first-round finish.
Meanwhile,
MMA Lab’s Carpenter kept his perfect professional record intact
with a hard-earned unanimous decision over Edgar
Chairez in a competitive three-round flyweight tilt. The
undefeated Carpenter (6-0) swept the scorecards with 29-28 marks
across the board.
Chairez (7-4) moved out to a quick start, rattled his counterpart
on multiple occasions with jarring left hands and did substantial
damage upstairs. Carpenter emerged for the second round with a
serious hematoma underneath his right eye but managed to wade
through the adversity. The John Crouch protégé switched gears, as
he turned to takedowns and ground-and-pound in the second and third
rounds. Carpenter climbed to full mount late in Round 2 and carried
his momentum for the remainder of the match. He struck for multiple
takedowns in the final period, worked from half guard and slashed
away with elbows, opening a small cut near Chairez’s right eye.
The setback snapped a two-fight winning streak for Chairez.
Elsewhere,
Syndicate MMA’s Pogues leaned on a potent jab and occasional
punching bursts in capturing a unanimous decision over Paulo
Renato Jr. in a three-round heavyweight scrap. All three judges
sided with Pogues (9-3): 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Renato Jr. (10-2) hammered the inside and outside of the
Californian’s lead leg with punishing kicks but did little else of
consequence. Pogues tested the waters with a few early head kicks
but turned more and more to his lightning-quick jab. He staggered
Renato Jr. twice in the third round, first with an overhand right
and later with a left hook, but never sniffed a stoppage and
settled for the decision.
The loss was the first for Renato Jr. since Dec. 13, 2014.
Finally, former Extreme Fighting Championship titleholder Karolina
Wojcik cruised to a unanimous decision over Sandra
Lavado in a three-round women’s strawweight pairing. All three
cageside judges scored it for Wojcik (10-2): 30-27, 30-27 and
30-27.
Lavado (10-3) was a non-factor. Wojcik successfully navigated the
significant height and reach disadvantages with which she was
presented, crashed into clinch range and piled up points and
control time. She struck for multiple takedowns across the final 10
minutes, passed guard and chipped away with ground-and-pound.
Wojcik threatened with a rear-naked choke in the third round, and
though the finish failed to materialize, her case had been
made.
The 27-year-old Wojcik has rattled off four consecutive victories.