Viacheslav
Borshchev made quite an impression.
The Team Alpha Male representative was one of three mixed martial
arts hopefuls to earn an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract on
Week 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he knocked out the
previously unbeaten Chris
Duncan in the second round of their lightweight firefight.
Duncan (7-1) hit the deck in a semi-conscious state just 28 seconds
into Round 2.
Borshchev (4-1) operated behind a punishing jab in the first round,
where he had the Scotsman reeling on more than one occasion—first
with a multi-punch burst and later with a brutal body kick. Duncan
answered with takedowns, positional control and ground-and-pound
but failed to turn the corner with his short-lived momentum. Early
in the middle stanza, Borshchev stepped out of range from a lunging right
hand and clipped his counterpart with an exquisite counter left
hook. No follow-up shots were necessary.
In addition to the 29-year-old Borshchev, UFC President Dana White
awarded contracts to reigning Cage Warriors Fighting Championship
titleholder Jake Hadley
and Spartakus Fight Gym export Martin
Buday.
The undefeated Hadley submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 29
graduate Mitch
Raposo with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their
flyweight feature. Hadley (8-0), who missed weight for the match by
one pound, brought it to a close 3:11 into Round 2.
Raposo (5-0) more than held his own in the first round, where he
delivered a pair of takedowns and managed to navigate the Team
Fearless rep’s spidery guard. He was not as successful in the
middle stanza. Hadley backed up a body kick with a takedown,
transitioned to the back and zeroed in on the neck. He locked up the choke on the chin, at which point
his considerable squeeze proved to be too much for Raposo to
bear.
Hadley now has four submissions to his credit, all by rear-naked
choke.
Meawnhile, the monstrous 6-foot-5, 265-pound Buday put away
Lorenzo
Hood with a close-range knee strike in the first round of their
heavyweight encounter. Buday (9-1) drew the curtain 4:56 into Round
1, as he extended his winning streak to eight bouts.
Hood (12-5) missed his window opportunity. The Chicago Fight Team
product managed to free himself from Buday’s clutches in the
clinch, staggered him with a left hook and teed off with follow-up
punches. The Slovakian refused to wilt, closed the distance once
again and trapped Hood against the fence. From there, Buday wore
down the World Series of Fighting alum with crushing knee strikes
to the legs and body punches before closing it out with a well-timed kill shot
upstairs.
The loss was Hood’s first since June 17, 2016.
Elsewhere, Roufusport standout Christian
Rodriguez outstruck Reyes
Cortez Jr. to a clear-cut unanimous decision in a three-round
bantamweight battle. Rodriguez (6-0), whose inability to make
weight—he missed by a pound—cost him a contract, swept the
scorecards with 30-27 marks across the board.
Cortez (5-2) lacked the weaponry he needed to alter the complexion
of the fight. Rodriguez leaned on airtight takedown defense, forced
his counterpart to engage him on the feet and cut loose with two-,
three- and four-punch combinations to the head. The two men
wandered into the clinch often, but Cortez found no refuge there.
Rodriguez handled his business with traditional fare while mixing
in powerful shoulder strikes on occasion.
The setback snapped Cortez’s two-fight winning streak.
Finally, Dragon Kombat prospect Maria Silva
kept her perfect professional record intact, as she laid claim to a
unanimous decision over Kathryn
Paprocki in a three-round women’s strawweight pairing. All
three cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Silva
(7-0).
Paprocki (3-2) was out of her depth. Silva controlled every phase
of the fight but did her best work in the second and third rounds,
where she executed multiple takedowns, floated from one dominant
position to the next and threatened with chokes and cranks. Only
the finish was lacking for the promising 25-year-old Brazilian.