The
Ultimate Fighting Championship grew its ranks by three during
Week 9 of
Dana White’s Contender Series, as the promotion signed Natan Levy,
Nikolas
Motta and Luana
Pinheiro to contracts on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas.
A
Syndicate MMA prospect, Levy kept his perfect professional
record intact and did so in spectacular fashion, as he choked
Shaheen
Santana unconscious with an arm-triangle in the third round of
their catchweight confrontation at 160 pounds. Santana (6-1) lost
his grip on reality 55 seconds into Round 3.
Levy (6-0) was superior in all phases. He did some damage on the
feet but buttered his bread in the extended ground exchanges with
Santana. Levy successfully navigated the MMA Masters rep’s active
guard and progressed to dominant positions in all three rounds. He
struck for a takedown inside the first minute of the final stanza,
shifted to half guard, cinched the arm-triangle and squeezed the remaining
fight out of Santana.
The 29-year-old Levy has delivered three of his six career
victories by submission.
A onetime
Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder, Motta leaned on
violent punching volleys and outstruck Joseph
Lowry to a unanimous decision in a three-round lightweight
scrap. Motta (12-3) swept the scorecards with 30-27 marks from all
three judges.
Lowry (9-2) could not match the Ricardo
Almeida-trained Brazilian’s firepower. Motta cracked him with
repeated left hooks, leaving him with significant damage to his
nose. Lowry countered effectively in spurts but found himself
outmatched in the majority of their standup exchanges. Motta turned
up the heat late in Round 3 and appeared to have referee Mark Smith
considering a stoppage. However, Lowry’s considerable resilience
allowed him to survive to the final bell.
Motta will ride a three-fight winning streak into his next
assignment.
Meanwhile,
Nova Uniao’s Pinheiro put away former King of
the Cage champion Stephanie
Frausto with punches in the first round of their women’s
strawweight pairing. Frausto (8-7) succumbed to blows 2:48 into
Round 1, her run of three straight victories at an end.
Pinheiro (8-1) circled on the perimeter, probed for weaknesses and
set her heavy hands free. Hooks from both hands connected and
dropped Frausto where she stood, the
Invicta Fighting Championships alum coming to rest in the fetal
position. Pinheiro then pounced with follow-up punches on her
defenseless counterpart, prompting the stoppage.
The 26-year-old Pinheiro has won six fights in a row, all of them
first-round finishes.
Filipe de Sousa Outduels Ksiazkiewicz
Former Max Fight champion Mario
Filipe de Sousa connected with more consequential strikes,
countered takedowns and ground-and-pound from Mariusz
Ksiazkiewicz with a hyperactive bottom game and walked away
with a unanimous decision in a three-round middleweight encounter.
Scores were 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28, all for Filipe de Sousa.
Outgunned on the feet, Ksiazkiewicz (8-1) pursued takedowns with a
gritty purpose but failed to consolidate many of them with
meaningful offense. Filipe de Sousa (12-1) responded with punches,
hammerfists, elbows and several submission attempts from the
bottom, neutralizing whatever advantages his Canadian adversary
felt he had on the ground.
Filipe de Sousa has pieced together a five-fight winning streak
since he suffered his only professional setback in 2018.
Confident Sabatello Dominates Moore
Multiple takedowns, stifling control and steady ground-and-pound
carried
American Top Team prospect Danny
Sabatello to a lopsided unanimous decision over Taylor
Moore in a three-round bantamweight affair. All three cageside
judges scored it for Sabatello (9-1): 30-24, 30-25 and 30-26.
Moore (10-5) did nothing of note from an offensive standpoint.
Sabatello executed early takedowns in all three rounds, made
positional advances when the opportunities presented themselves and
piled up points with elbows, forearm strikes and short but
effective punches to the head and body. Moore grew more and more
frustrated with each passing second, the dire nature of his
situation coming into focus.
Sabatello, 27, has rattled off three consecutive victories.
