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Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts were awarded to three
competitors on
Week 1 of
Dana White’s Contender Series: Dustin
Jacoby, Uros Medic
and Jordan
Leavitt. A former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder, Jacoby
abused Ty
Flores for 10-plus minutes, then fought through serious fatigue
to hang on for a unanimous decision in a three-round light
heavyweight battle on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All
three cageside judges scored it for Jacoby (12-5): 30-26, 29-27 and
29-27.
Flores (7-3) withstood a horrendous amount of punishment. Jacoby
swarmed him with everything from flying knees, body kicks and power
punches to vertical clinch elbows and backfists. The Factory X
representative was close to a finish near the end of Round 2, where
Flores teetered on the end of a right hand, collapsed to the canvas
and ate an unhealthy helping of ground-and-pound. Somehow, he
survived to see a third round. There, the pace slowed to a crawl.
An exhausted Jacoby conceded a takedown but continued to outstrike
the Elevation Fight Team standout.
Unbeaten Medic Obliterates Gonzalez
Uros
Medic kept his perfect professional record intact, as he put
away Mikey
Gonzalez with punches in the first round of their lightweight
encounter. Medic (6-0) drew the curtain 2:12 into Round 1.
Gonzalez (7-2) expended too much energy through spinning attacks,
wheel and hook kicks his weapons of choice. Medic changed the
conversation with a straight left, doubled over the Californian
with a liver kick, unleashed standing-to-ground punches and freed
himself from an attempted heel hook. After they reset on the feet,
the Alaska-based Serb pushed Gonzalez back to the canvas with a
straight left-leg kick combination and forced the stoppage with an unanswered volley of
hammerfists and punches.
Medic has finished all six of his opponents, five of them inside
one round.
Kick-Centric Rivera Outpoints Rodriguez
Repeated kicks to the legs and body carried Luttrell-Yee MMA export
Jerome
Rivera to a unanimous decision over Luis
Ronaldo Rodriguez in a three-round flyweight tilt. All three
cageside judges scored it for Rivera (10-2): 29-28, 30-27 and
30-27.
Rodriguez (10-2) answered with multiple takedowns and a
surprisingly effective grappling game. He made a pass at an
inverted triangle armbar in the second round and assumed top
position again in the third. However, Rivera put his long arms and
legs to use behind a 6.5-inch reach advantage during their standup
exchanges and did enough to impress the judges.
Rivera, 25, has won three fights in a row.
Leavitt Choke Submits Flores
Undefeated
Syndicate MMA prospect Jordan
Leavitt submitted Jose Flores
with an arm-triangle choke in the first round of their lightweight
pairing. Flores (9-2) conceded defeat 4:15 into Round 1, his modest
two-fight winning streak at an end.
Leavitt (7-0) executed a single-leg takedown inside the first 30
seconds, slammed out of a kimura and set up shop in top position.
Short punches and elbows made life miserable for Flores, who
offered little in the way of meaningful resistance in his second
Contender Series appearance. Leavitt moved toward the back,
threatened with a rear-naked choke and caught the arm-triangle when
the Combate
Americas veteran turned to face him. The tapout followed soon
after. The 25-year-old Leavitt has secured five of his seven
victories by submission.