The running total of contract winners in Season 10 of Dana White’s Contender Series climbed to 24 after Week 5 produced another action-packed night at Meta APEX.
Four of the night’s five winners earned UFC deals from UFC President and CEO Dana White, as Christian Natividad, Martin Kozak, Isaac Moreno, and Quentin Pasley all impressed with their respective performances in Las Vegas.
The featured bout of the evening saw undefeated light heavyweight prospect Quentin Pasley close the show in style as he stopped fellow unbeaten hopeful Arlind Berisha with a vicious first-round knockout.
Pasley settled into his striking early against the patient, composed Berisha, but the action took an enforced pause after a Pasley strike strayed low, leaving Berisha in some discomfort and needing to take an injury timeout. Once the action got back underway, the Armenian resumed his composure, and drew gasps from the Meta APEX crowd with a stinging body kick that echoed around the building.
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Pasley looked the more active striker through the opening round, but it was his pursuit of a submission that eventually created the opening for him to secure the first-round finish. First, he looked to lock up a D’Arce choke, then, while looking to adjust his hold, saw the opportunity to switch from submission to strikes and landed two massive elbows that knocked Berisha out cold.
It was a nasty finish that maintained Pasley’s 100 percent first-round finish rate and closed the show in style. Even UFC President and CEO Dana White was wincing as Pasley landed his fight-ending elbows.
Isaac Moreno impressed with his striking, but had to showcase his defensive mat skills down the stretch to earn himself a unanimous decision victory after three hard-fought rounds against Brazil’s Reginaldo Junior in their welterweight bout.
Moreno quickly established his range as he worked out of the southpaw stance, snapping up blurring kicks with his lead leg and coming around the side with lead hooks and jabs.
Junior’s first serious attack of the fight came two minutes in as he stepped in and landed solid right hand, but was immediately sent staggering backward by a lightning-fast counter left from Moreno, who responded in kind.
With Junior conceding height, reach and speed advantages to Moreno, he wisely switched gears, body-locked his man, and took him to the canvas. But he wasn’t able to keep him there, and Moreno returned to his feet, and his striking dominance, once more.
But, despite being outstruck, Junior showed late in the round that his power needed to be respected as he dropped Moreno with a big right hand, then connected with another when Moreno scrambled to his feet.
Moreno looked to keep the fight on the outside early in Round 2 as he scored consistently with strikes on the outside. But after taking a few too many shots for his liking, Junior closed the distance again and, after grabbing a single-leg, managed to force the action to the canvas, but Moreno stayed patient and gradually worked his way back to his feet. Moreno then returned to his striking and connected with some nasty kicks to the body before the horn sounded for the end of the round.
With Moreno looking to turn his striking advantage into a finish, and Junior chasing a fight-altering moment of his own, the third round got underway, with Moreno the more aggressive fighter over the final five minutes.
Junior clipped Moreno with a short right hand, then dragged him to the canvas. But an attempt at locking up an anaconda choke didn’t quite come off, and Moreno escaped. Junior persisted with his submission attack and, after a 10-finger choke didn’t bring the finish, he switched to a D’Arce choke, which Moreno escaped from once again.
The Brazilian was pushing hard for the finish, and leaning heavily on his wrestling and grappling to nullify Moreno’s offense. Junior landed a big slam takedown, and Moreno countered by locking up a guillotine choke, but time ran out before he had a chance to turn it into a fight-finishing position.
Despite Junior’s third-round pressure, Moreno’s work through the first two rounds proved crucial as he earned scores of 29-28 from all three judges to claim the unanimous decision victory.
Slovakia’s Martin Kozak put his height, reach, and striking skills to good use as he broke down Christian Echols in their middleweight matchup.
Echols started smartly as he looked to close the distance on the six-foot-four striker. But he wasn’t able to make an impression on the 24-year-old at close quarters, and as the round wore on, Kozak took over.
Kozak started to find a home for his punches as he connected with head and body, then dropped a retreating Echols with a big head kick that the American did remarkably well to recover from.
With the fight back on the feet, Kozak resumed his attack and, with Echols trapped against the fence, a finish looked imminent. However, a massive upper cut to the groin from Kozak forced referee Mike Beltran to pause the action to give Echols time to recover.
Kozak resumed his assault in Round 2 as he hammered Echols to the body with teeps, body kicks and punches, then, with Echols covering up against the fence, Kozak unloaded his full arsenal of strikes to eventually force his opponent to the mat.
A salvo of unanswered follow-up strikes was enough for Beltran to step in and wave off the contest as Kozak delivered an impressive finish to take his career to 7-0 in eye-catching fashion.
Brazilian bantamweight Apollo Gomes got off the canvas twice in the first round to claim a hard-earned decision victory over South Korean Contender Series returnee and former ONE Championship title challenger Kwon Won Il.
Gomes wanted no part of Kwon’s striking early on and immediately charged across the Octagon and shot for a takedown. The South Korean defended well for a minute or so, but Gomes persisted, and after forcing Kwon to one knee, managed to take his back. Kwon shook him off and got separation to bring the fight into the striking realm.
With the fight back in the stand-up, Kwon dropped Gomes twice in quick succession as the Brazilian stepped in looking to land big shots. Both flash knockdowns came from short sharp, but not fully-loaded, shots, with Kwon’s accuracy proving crucial in that exchange.
Kwon continued to calmly land clean shots, and badly hurt Gomes with a body shot that sent him to the mat. Kwon tried to finish, but Gomes tied him up well to stay in the fight, and even managed to fight his way to his feet before the opening round came to a close.
Gomes started the second round in the same way he started the first, by shooting for a takedown, but Kwon stuffed it to keep the fight standing, and another shot to the body forced Gomes to catch his breath for a moment. The Brazilian continued to push forward, but while his striking was wild and at-times off target, Kwon’s more accurate, economical style fared much better at close quarters as he repeatedly found his opponent’s midsection.
Both fighters traded illegal groin kicks as the action got a little scrappy, with Kwon needing a little time to recover during an injury timeout after taking a heavy shot to the cup. When the action resumed, Gomes hammered the South Korean with calf kicks, then landed a well-timed takedown. Gomes managed to take Kwon’s back as he looked to finish the fight with a rear-naked choke, but Kwon defended well enough to survive the round and take the bout into the final frame.
With Kwon likely taking Round 1 and Gomes enjoying an improved round in the second, the bout was up for grabs in the final round as both men looked to strike their way to victory. Kwon started to find a home for his shots, but was briefly dropped to one knee by a perfectly-timed check right hook from Gomes. And as the final 90 seconds ticked down, it was Gomes who had more gas left in the tank as he pushed the pace down the stretch.
That final round push from Gomes proved decisive as he claimed the unanimous decision victory, with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 to the Brazilian.
Christian Natividad kicked off the night with a thumping first-round knockout as he finished Colton Loud with a picture-perfect body shot to get the action off to a flying start.
Flyweight prospect Natividad, brother of former UFC vet Kevin Natividad, stepped into the Octagon at Meta APEX with a perfect 9-0 record against the taller, rangier Loud, who arrived with a 100 percent finish rate.
Something had to give, and Natividad ensured it wasn’t him, as he answered a solid body kick from Loud with a crushing left hook to the liver. The shot folded up Loud and forced referee Mike Beltran to dive in and spare him any further punishment as Natividad celebrated a spectacular victory.
It all lasted just one minute, 10 seconds, as Natividad made a statement with the second-fastest finish of his unblemished 10-fight career.
