Maycee “The Future” Barber (5-0) flashes her potential in the main event, dominating Jamie Colleen en route to a third-round TKO. Busting up the former KOTC champ with some nasty elbows to end it, the 20-year-old has finished four of her five victories. #DWTNCS pic.twitter.com/wtBTIXbEwf
— Tanuki Usman (@Hamderlei) July 18, 2018
Maycee Barber looks like the real deal.
Barber netted an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, as she systematically dismantled Jamie Colleen and put away the former King of the Cage champion with elbows in the third round of their women’s strawweight affair on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. Colleen (4-2) succumbed to blows 4:15 into Round 3 after being thoroughly outclassed at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas.
Barber (5-0) employed a multi-pronged approach — she kicked effectively at all levels with both legs — but did some of her best work in the clinch, where she battered her opponent with standing elbows, forearm strikes and knees to the body at close range. The 20-year-old Matt Pena understudy integrated takedowns in the second and third rounds, giving Colleen another weapon about which to worry. Late in Round 3, Barber delivered a trip takedown, assumed a dominant posture in top position and started driving elbows into Colleen’s face. One of the strikes tore open a cut across the bridge of the nose and led referee Herb Dean to intervene.
A protégé of the notorious Edmond Tarverdyan (and managed by Ronda Rousey), Edmen Shahbazyan (7-0) melts Antonio Jones to kick off this week’s episode. The 20-year-old “Golden Boy” has won all of his bouts by first-round TKO. #DWTNCS pic.twitter.com/JMHSkjHcfI
— Tanuki Usman (@Hamderlei) July 18, 2018
UFC contracts were also awarded two Glendale Fighting Club prospect Edmen Shahbazyan and Revolution Dojo standout Domingo Pilarte.
Shahbazyan kept his perfect professional record intact and did so in style, as he cut down Antonio Jones with punches in the first round of their middleweight clash. Jones (6-1) met his end 40 seconds into Round 1.
The hyper-aggressive Shahbazyan (7-0) fired punches upstairs, snatched the Thai clinch and uncorked a volley of close-quarters knee strikes. He then reset, let go with a series of right uppercuts and floored Jones with a short straight left. Shahbazyan swarmed with punches on his turtled counterpart, prompting Dean to call for the stoppage.
Shahbazyan, 20, has stopped all seven of his opponents inside one round.
Following a firecracker first round in which he was dropped twice, Domingo Pilarte (8-1) chokes out Vince Morales with a comeback RNC! A colossal bantamweight standing 6’0″ tall, “Son of Fire” has finished six of his eight victories. #DWTNCS pic.twitter.com/e5yi7jK339
— Tanuki Usman (@Hamderlei) July 18, 2018
Meanwhile, Pilarte put Vince Morales to sleep with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their back-and-forth bantamweight battle. Morales (7-2) lost consciousness 1:52 into Round 2, closing the book on his five-fight winning streak.
Pilarte (8-1) fired leg kicks and kept the Tony Fryklund disciple on the end of his punches for much of the first round. However, Morales seized momentum late in the frame, as he buckled his counterpart with a two-punch combination and later opened a nasty gash under Pilarte’s right eye that had him ducking for cover against the fence. Pilarte survived the follow-up attack but painted part of the canvas red in the process.
Perhaps sensing the severity of his cut, Pilarte executed a trip takedown in the second round, advanced to the back and caught the choke. Morales struggled to free himself for several tense moments, only to go limp in the clutches of his bloody opponent.
Elsewhere, two-time NAIA All-American wrestler Austin Vanderford submitted Team Alpha Male export Angelo Trevino with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their pairing at 170 pounds. Trevino (7-3) conceded defeat 2:42 into Round 2, his four-fight winning streak having run its course.
Vanderford (4-0) withstood considerable difficulty. Trevino dropped him with a snapping right hook in the first round, dropped punches for a potential finish and denied a desperate takedown attempt before climbing to full mount. Vanderford refused to wilt. He responded in the middle stanza, where he had Trevino diving on a takedown after a crisp two-punch combination. Vanderford moved to mount, transitioned to the back and cinched the choke for the tapout.
In other action, Forge MMA representative Chibwikem Onyenegecha eked out a split decision — 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 — over Anthony Adams in a three-round middleweight confrontation. Onyenegecha pushed his record to 5-0, with Adams falling to 2-1.
Paige VanZant’s fiancé, Austin Vanderford (5-0), wins his engagement with Angelo Trevino. The former NAIA wrestling champion toughed out a first-round knockdown, only to drop the Alpha Male prospect himself en route to a second-round RNC. #DWTNCS pic.twitter.com/dBHmTBoEE0
— Tanuki Usman (@Hamderlei) July 18, 2018