Advances in DNA testing might someday reveal Andreas
Gustafsson to be part brown bear.
The Vasteras Fight Club product was one of four hopefuls to secure
an Ultimate Fighting Championship during
Week 2 of
Dana White’s Contender Series, as he mauled Pat Pytlik
in close quarters and buried him with a volley of knee strikes to
the head in the second round of their welterweight showcase.
Pytlik (9-2, 0-1 DWS) bowed out to an accumulation of punishment
3:20 into Round 2.
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Gustafsson (11-2, 1-0 DWCS) crashed into the clinch, showed no
regard for his own well-being and systematically dismantled the
Canadian with merciless pressure and short-range strikes. Pytlik
managed to create some space with his dirty boxing but could not
keep the Swedish brute at bay. Gustafsson closed the distance in
the middle stanza, chipped away with elbows and ultimately broke
his opponent with three knees to the head.
Heavyweight Rizvan
Kuniev will join Gustafsson on the UFC roster, along with
bantamweights Cody Haddon
and Cortavious
Romious. An Eagle Fighting Championship titleholder, Kuniev cut down Tata
Fight Team’s Hugo Cunha
with a knee to the body and follow-up punches in the first round of
their heavyweight feature.
Cunha (8-2, 0-1 DWCS) succumbed to blows 4:59 into Round
1.
Kuniev (12-2-1, 2-0 DWCS) pestered the Brazilian with his jab, held
his own in the clinch and targeted all levels—the head, the body
and the legs—with close-range knee strikes. Late in the first
round, the Gorets Fight Club rep backed up Cunha with punches,
connected with a devastating knee to the midsection and drove him
to the canvas with follow-up shots. Unanswered punches prompted the
stoppage with just one second left on the clock.
It was the fourth first-round finish of Kuniev’s career.
Meanwhile, Pure Vida BJJ’s Romious leaned on fast-twitch striking
and opportunistic ground-and-pound, as he laid claim to a unanimous
decision over Michael
Imperato in a three-round bantamweight attraction. All three
members of the judiciary scored it the same: 30-27 for Romious
(9-2, 1-1 DWCS), who won for the fifth time in six outings.
Imperato (12-7, 0-1 DWCS) pulled guard on multiple occasions but
usually wound up in a disadvantageous position, eating punches and
elbows from the top. Romious floored him with a liver kick in the
first round, battered him with ground-and-pound late in the second
and even managed to make passes at a few triangles and armbars
before settling for the decision.
The 34-year-old Imperato has lost three of his last four
fights.
Further down the card, Haddon put away Billy Brand
with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their bantamweight
pairing.
Haddon (7-1, 1-0 DWCS) drew the curtain 3:09 into Round
1, extending his winning streak to five fights. All
five of those victories have resulted in finishes, three of them
inside one round.
The two 135-pound hopefuls traded at the start. Forced onto his
back foot, Brand called upon a crisp jab and occasional leg kicks.
Haddon pressed forward and unleashed a devastating left hook that
dropped the Team Alpha Male rep where he stood and left him
vulnerable to the sustained attack that followed. The former Hex
Fight Series champion pounced on Brand with punches, progressed to
the back and cinched the choke for the tapout.
The setback was Brand’s first since his ill-fated encounter with
Payton
Talbott on Feb. 12, 2022.
Finally, Agoge Combatives prospect Torrez
Finney kept his perfect professional record intact with a
unanimous decision over Cameron
Rowston in a three-round middleweight clash but failed to
procure a contract. A former two-way football player for the
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Finney (9-0, 2-0 DWCS)
swept the scorecards with 29-28 marks from all three cageside
judges.
Rowston (8-3, 0-1 DWCS) excelled in the standup exchanges but
failed to stay upright long enough to make those skills count.
Finney executed repeated takedowns—he completed 11 of them across
15 minutes—and remained unmoved by the City Kickboxing export’s
effective get-up game. Rowston threatened with submissions on
occasion and stayed competitive off his back, though the onetime
Shuriken Fight Series champion’s considerable efforts went for
naught.
The loss snapped Rowston’s five-fight winning streak.