In a record-breaking Season 10 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Week 7 produced even more firsts, as six fighters, including two fighters who lost their bouts, were awarded UFC contracts by UFC President and CEO Dana White.
WATCH: Post-Fight Press Conference
Fight winners Alvi Dasuyev, Marcos Degli, Piero Guaylupo, and Damian Piwowarczyk each earned UFC deals, with Callum Connor and Jaden Ortega also earning UFC contracts, despite their respective fights not going their way on the night.
In the night’s featured bout, Norbert Novenyi Jr won a battle of attrition against Theo Haig as their middleweight matchup went the full 15-minute duration.
Novenyi stunned Haig with a big right hand in the opening seconds, but the American did well to avoid further punishment as he retreated to the fence and initiated a grappling exchange. And after clearing his head, Haig went on the attack with his ground game. He managed to drag Novenyi to the mat and took his back as he attempted to work his way to a rear-naked choke. But Novenyi defended well, and even briefly threatened to lock up a kneebar as he avoided submission trouble at the end of the round.
Novenyi opened up and let his hands go and stung Haig with a big right hand, then connected with more big shots before Haig shot in to eventually take the fight to the mat again. This time it was Novenyi who went on the attack as he grabbed a foot and looked to finish a kneebar attempt that wasn’t quite angled correctly to force the tap. The bout continued, with Novenyi showcasing his mat skills as he took Haig to the canvas with an impressive takedown of his own.
Novenyi kept the wrestling pressure on at the start of Round 3 as he took Haig to the mat and worked on him against the fence. The London-based Hungarian dominated the exchanges throughout the round, but with the majority of the action spent against the fence, opportunities for fight-ending offense were hard to come by and the bout progressed to the final horn, where Novenyi took the victory with scores of 29-28 across the board.
The welterweight battle between Jaden Ortega and Alvi Dasuyev delivered a blistering 15 minutes of chaos as Dasuyev took the unanimous decision in a fight that saw the momentum swing one way, then the other as both men had the crowd on their feet throughout.
Early on, the advantage was clearly with Dasuyev, whose lightning-fast hand speed and counter-striking skills turned Ortega’s forward pressure against him, with the Belgian dropping Ortega on multiple occasions with shots that carried speed and power in equal measure.
As the fight wore on, Dasuyev looked like he was closing in on a stoppage victory as he had Ortega on wobbly legs, but incredibly, the Spokane, Washington native dug deep and found something to keep him in the fight as he hung tough and fired back with shots of his own. By the end of Round 2, Dasuyev looked like he’d punched himself out, and Ortega, despite being exhausted himself, looked the fresher fighter.
Ortega started the third round following his corner advice as he worked from distance landing leg kicks and connecting with punches from range. But Dasuyev picked up the pace later in the round as he loaded up and connected with more heavy shots as he tried to finish the fight inside the distance.
Despite their best efforts, the matchup made it all the way to the scorecards, with Dasuyev taking the victory on the scorecards with scores of 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.
Brazilian flyweight Marcos Degli extended his remarkable win streak to 13 fights with a second-round submission victory over Paris Moran.
After a brief period where they traded strikes, Degli forced the action against the fence and eventually was able to take Moran down. As the American looked to battle back to his feet, Degli snatched up his neck and appeared to have a tight standing guillotine choke locked in. But, Moran managed to survive the hold and Degli eventually gave up on the hold.
The Brazilian didn’t give Moran any time to rest, however, as he hopped onto his back and controlled his position with a body triangle before throwing a succession of big punches to continue his dominance all the way to the end of the opening round.
Moran started much more aggressively at the start of Round 2 as he connected with multiple strikes, then dragged the Brazilian to the mat. Degli quickly returned to his feet, but Moran continued to punish his opponent with nasty, niggly knees to the hamstrings before the action returned to the center of the Octagon once again.
Degli then closed the distance and shot in to take his man to the mat, before taking Moran’s back again and attempting a face crank. But, after realizing he couldn’t get the finish with that technique, he switched things up and eventually forced the tap to a one-armed rear-naked choke to seal the victory.
Undefeated lightweights Callum Connor and Piero Guaylupo produced a barnburner of a scrap that saw almost 200 significant strikes landed, as Peru’s Guaylupo claimed a unanimous decision victory.
Connor showcased his compact, disciplined kickboxing style as he worked out of a peek-a-boo stance, throwing straight punches and elbows, and connecting with kicks to the legs and body. Guaylupo, meanwhile, was looking for a fight-changing shot with almost every punch, and fought the entire fight throwing big, powerful shots.
One such shot dropped Connor to the canvas, and Guaylupo unloaded some nasty ground strikes that forced the Englishman to cover up. Perhaps worried about blowing his gas tank chasing a finish, Guaylupo eventually stepped back to beckon Connor back to the feet before resuming his onslaught from the stand-up as the opening round came to a close.
The second round brought even more action, with Connor winning the exchanges from the outside, but when things got up close, Guaylupo unloaded punishing shots to the head and body that busted up the Brit. And, despite both men pushing a relentless pace, their work showed no sign of slowing.
With Guaylupo’s heavy shots seemingly edging the contest going into the last round, both men dug deep and emptied the tank in an incredible final round as they both gave everything they had in a bid to claim a late knockout victory. But, given the effort both men put in, it seemed appropriate that both men made it the full 15-minute distance.
In the end, it was Guaylupo whose hand was raised, with all three judges scoring all three rounds to the Peruvian, but Connor’s performance did his cause no harm, as he battled every step of the way to help create one of the great Dana White’s Contender Series battles.
Light heavyweight Damian Piwowarczyk showcased his own brand of Polish power as he overcame a tricky start to finish previously undefeated German Emilio Quissua via first-round TKO.
Quissua set out his stall early as he took the center of the Octagon and immediately started to pressure with smart jabs and the occasional leg kick. But, as the action went into the mid-way point of the round, Piwowarczyk started to fire back with shots of his own as he found his striking range.
Those strikes prompted Quissua to force the action up against the fence, and after a lengthy period in the clinch, he connected with a clean head kick on the exit and closed in, looking to capitalize. But Piwowarczyk stayed composed and threatened with a guillotine choke before the action returned to the stand-up realm once again.
This time it was Piwowarczyk throwing the heavier leather, and a thumping straight right dropped Quissua to the canvas. With his opponent on the mat, the Pole unloaded a barrage of heavy, accurate ground strikes to force referee Herb Dean to step in and wave off the contest with five seconds remaining in the opening round.
