Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 255 live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. J.P. Buys,
Gloria de
Paula, Tucker Lutz
and Victoria
Leonardo punched their tickets to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship during the
Season 4 finale of Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday at
the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The season concludes with 37 new UFC
recruits, some of whom have already touched down inside the
Octagon. Buys (9-2) joined his wife Cheyanne on the UFC roster with his
controversial technical submission of Jacob Silva
in the first round of their flyweight showcase. With Silva stuck in
a guillotine choke near the base of the fence, referee Marc Goddard
intervened 4:54 into Round 1 despite the fact that there was
neither a tapout nor concrete proof that the former Fury Fighting
Championship titleholder had lost consciousness. Nevertheless, the stoppage was called, with
Silva (6-4) immediately leaping to his feet to protest.
The controversy overshadowed a stellar performance from Buys, who
executed an early takedown and ran circles around his counterpart
on the mat. The South African moved from one dominant position to
the next, applied his ground-and-pound and threatened with multiple
submissions before the anticlimactic finish.
Buys, 24, will ride a five-fight winning streak into his UFC
debut.
Maximov Neutralizes Hefty Cota
Nick
Diaz Academy standout Nick
Maximov moved up in weight, leaned on his superior all-around
skills, overcame a 54½-pound deficit and took a unanimous decision
from Oscar Cota
in a three-round heavyweight scrap. Maximov (6-0), who typically
competes in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions,
carried all three scorecards: 30-26, 30-26 and 29-28.
Cota (11-3) spent much of the 15-minute bout on his back. He used
an effective sprawl to cut off Maximov’s advances in the first
round but had no such luck in the second and third. The Californian
moved into half guard at will, maintained an advantageous position
and applied his ground-and-pound, doing enough to corral Cota on
the canvas and keep referee Jason Herzog from forcing a
restart.
The 22-year-old Maximov had never before fought beyond the second
round.
De Paula Routs Unbeaten Macias
A damaging clinch game, crushing ground-and-pound and crisp
combinations at range spurred
Chute Boxe’s Gloria de Paula to a unanimous decision in their
three-round women’s strawweight tilt. De Paula (5-2) swept the
scorecards with 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27 marks from the judges.
Macias (4-1) executed a beautiful throw inside the first minute of
the first round, but the Factory
X-trained judoka was otherwise ineffective. De Paula assaulted
her with knees to the body and elbows upstairs, all while she
became more and more resistant to her takedown attempts. The
Brazilian found another gear in Round 3, where she invited Macias
into the clinch before slamming repeated knees into her body and
pairing them with elbows to the head.
De Paula, 25, has won four of her last five fights.
Lutz Controls Blackledge, Settles for Decision
A multi-pronged offensive attack carried Tucker Lutz to a unanimous
decision over
Syndicate MMA export Sherrard
Blackledge in a grueling three-round lightweight encounter. All
three cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Lutz
(11-1).
Blackledge (5-1) failed to establish himself in any phase of the
fight. Lutz chipped away with heavy leg kicks and mixed in a few
knees to the head, but he separated himself in the clinch and
ground exchanges. He climbed to full mount in the first round,
threatened with a guillotine choke in the second and continued to
bleed Blackledge’s gas tank dry in the third. There, he struck for
a pair of takedowns, only to see the action stall on the
canvas.
Operating out of the Baltimore-based
Ground Control outfit, Lutz has rattled off 11 consecutive
victories.
Leonardo Buries Undefeated Hackett
Invicta Fighting Championships veteran Victoria Leonardo
disposed of the previously unbeaten Chelsea
Hackett with punches in the second round of their women’s
flyweight pairing. Leonardo (8-2) brought it to a close 4:41 into
Round 2, as she posted her sixth win in seven appearances.
Deep-water experience was the difference. Hackett, 21, excelled in
the standup exchanges, where the muay Thai stylist scored with leg
kicks, front kicks to the face and counter right hands. Leonardo
answered with takedowns, positional control and ground-and-pound
late in the first round, setting the table for what was to come.
Hackett (3-1-1) stunned the Louisianan with a sharp right in the
middle stanza but failed to maintain a comfortable distance.
Leonardo delivered another takedown with roughly 90 seconds to go
in Round 2, progressed to full mount and sealed the deal with a
steady burst of powerful punches and hammerfists.
The knockout was the first of Leonardo’s 10-fight career.
