Carlos
Vergara made the most of his moment in the spotlight.
The Fury Fighting Championship titleholder on Tuesday was one of
five competitors to earn an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract on
Week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he cut down
Bruno
Mesquita with a knee strike to the body in the first round of
their flyweight showcase at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Mesquita
(12-4-1) bowed out 41 seconds into Round 1, suffering his first
defeat in nearly four years.
Vergara (9-2-1) flew out of the gate and never looked back. He sat
down “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” Season 4 semifinalist with a
right hook, snatched a front headlock and connected with a few
knees to the head before he disengaged. As Vergara separated, he delivered a devastating
knee to the liver that shut down Mesquita and prompted referee
Herb
Dean to intervene.
In addition to Vergara, UFC President Dana
White elected to sign Josh
Quinlan, Chidi
Njokuani, Saimon
Oliveira and Chad
Anheliger.
The unbeaten Quinlan took care of Logan Urban
with punches in the first round of their welterweight showcase.
Urban (5-2) replaced Darian
Weeks on short notice and met his end 47 seconds into Round 1,
losing for the first time since Aug. 18, 2018.
Quinlan (6-0) countered a kick with a clubbing right hand behind
the ear. The impact set Urban on rubbery legs and left him in no
condition to defend against the ferocious barrage of punches that
followed. Quinlan backed the Revolution Fight and Fitness
export to the fence, fired punches with both hands and buried Urban
where he stood.
The 28-year-old Quinlan has finished all six of his opponents,
three of them inside one round.
Meanwhile, Njokuani put away Mario
Filipe de Sousa with a volley of elbow strikes in the third
round of their middleweight pairing. Sousa (12-2) succumbed to
blows 95 seconds into Round 3, his five-fight winning streak having
run its course.
Njokuani (20-7) withstood two low blows in the first round that
resulted in a point deduction for his Brazilian adversary. Sousa
never seemed to find his footing. Njokuani excelled in open space,
beat up the Caes do Ringue prospect in the clinch and flexed his
superiority on the ground. The former Tachi Palace Fights champion
drove Sousa to the canvas with a series of knees to the body early
in the third round, assumed a dominant position and activated his
ground-and-pound. Punches eventually gave way to elbows and forced
the stoppage.
The 32-year-old Njokuani has delivered 12 of his 20 career wins by
knockout or technical knockout.
Elsewhere, Astra Fight Team’s Oliveira eked out a split decision
over former Combate Americas champion Jose Alday
in a three-round bantamweight tilt. All three judges struck 29-28
scorecards, two of them ruling in Oliveira’s favor.
Two closely contested rounds gave way to a more decisive third.
There, Oliveira (18-3) rang the Entram Gym product’s bell with an
overhand right, backed him toward the fence and executed a
double-leg takedown. He then applied some ground-and-pound before
the two men re-engaged on the feet, where Alday (13-6-1) failed to
turn the tide in his favor despite cutting loose with both
hands.
Oliveira, 30, has won five fights in a row.
Finally, Anheliger outstruck the heavily favored Muin
Gafurov to a split decision in a three-round bantamweight
affair. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28, two of them
siding with Anheliger (11-5), a two-division Rise Fighting
Championship titleholder.
Gafurov (16-4) completed five takedowns and piled up more than five
minutes of control time, but the One
Championship alum failed to match his Canadian counterpart in
the standup exchanges. Anheliger rebounded from being mounted twice
in the first round and floored the Tajikistani standout with a
close-range knee strike late in the period, pairing the knockdown
with some significant ground-and-pound. He managed to stay upright
in Round 3, where Gafurov’s intensity waned with the onset of
fatigue. Anheliger unleashed leg kicks and jabs before mixing in
two- and three-punch combinations to the head.
The 34-year-old Anheliger, who has not lost since June 13, 2014,
now finds himself on a nine-fight winning streak.