Dana White’s Contender Series produced a quartet of new contract winners as each of the night’s four victors, from four different nations, earned UFC deals at the Meta APEX.
England’s George Staines, Senegal’s Adama Diop, Peru’s Ian Escuza and Brazil’s Aieza Bertolso all earned contracts from UFC CEO White as they took Season 10's running total of contract winners to 38 on another great night of fights in Las Vegas.
In the featured bout of the evening, English lightweight George Stained claimed the biggest win of his unbeaten career as he slammed his way to victory over Loai Abushaar in a little over a minute.
Six-foot-three Abushaar looked to use his size and range early, but Staines landed a couple of nasty leg kicks to him a moment’s pause. Then, after stepping into clinching range, the Englishman picked him up and slammed him to the mat not once, but three times in emphatic fashion.
The third slam saw Abushaar’s head bounce off the canvas, and Staines followed up with punches as referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight after just 61 seconds.
It gave Staines a highlight-reel finish with the first slam knockout in Dana White’s Contender Series history, as he improved his perfect professional record to 11-0.
Former Senegalese wrestler-turned-EFC heavyweight champion Adama Diop blasted his way to victory over Russian striker Zaurbek Sabanov after a wild back-and-forth brawl that somehow made it through to the second round.
Sabanov immediately looked to land punishing kicks on Diop, who managed to catch the first two attempts from the Russian. Then the pair started to throw some heavy leather, with Diop connecting with a wild punch, and Sabanov responding as if to say, “Is that all you’ve got?!” It didn’t take long for Diop to provide an answer.
Clearly, Sabanov was full of confidence, but despite him landing some solid shots to the body, Diop absorbed the punishment and wrestled him up against the cage. Then, when the fight eventually returned to the open, they both motioned to the floor, Max Holloway-style, and proceeded to throw bombs at each other in a wild exchange that had the Meta APEX crowd on their feet.
By the end of the round, it was Diop who was walking down Sabanov and unloading big punches. Sabanov responded by poking his tongue out in defiance, but Diop kept the punches coming until the horn sounded as the crowd roared their approval.
In Round 2, Diop was noticeably the fresher fighter, and the Senegalese fighter quickly found his range with a solid jab, with Sabanov seemingly unable to move his head out of the way of anything Diop threw his way.
Diop continued to let his hands go as he bludgeoned Sabanov with heavy punches. And, after a particularly vicious combination of shots had forced the Russian to turn away, referee Bryan Miner decided enough was enough and stepped in to wave off the fight.
It extended Diop’s win streak to six as he improved his career record to 7-1 with the sixth knockout victory of his career.
Peru’s Ian Escuza wasted no time in making his presence felt at the Meta APEX as he claimed a quickfire TKO finish of Italian prospect Luca Borando in their featherweight bout.
The pair got straight down to business as they met in the center of the Octagon and started throwing leather. And, after connecting with a couple of solid shots, Escuza locked up a Muay Thai clinch and dragged Borando up against the fence, then down to the mat.
After a brief attempt by Escuza to lock up a front choke, Borando attempted to work his way back to his feet, and was met by a crushing knee to the midsection that folded him up. Escuza then connected with another big knee to the head, then another, though the second strike came while Borando was a grounded fighter.
Immediately after that second strike, referee Herb Dean stepped in to wave off the contest. And, after Dean consulted with commission officials at Octagonside to review the illegal knee, it was eventually decided that the strike did not affect the outcome of the fight, and Escuza was ruled the TKO winner.
It takes Escuza’s unbeaten record to 8-0, with all eight of his victories coming in the first round.
In the opening bout of the night, undefeated LFA strawweight champion Aieza Bertolso delivered a statement performance as she submitted Argentina’s Camila Reynoso in the first round of their 115-pound matchup.
Bertolso looked to use her length early as she pumped out a few range-finding jabs and, after letting Reynoso get comfortable in the stand-up, she switched gears and took her opponent to the canvas.
With Reynoso caught between Bertolso and the fence, the Brazilian locked up a D’Arce choke and started to apply some pressure as she went all-out for the submission.
Reynoso fought hard to prevent Bertolso from getting into the optimal position to tighten the hold, and managed to keep her at bay for more than a minute.
But Bertolso wouldn’t be denied, and after pulling guard and applying even more pressure, Reynoso’s resistance finally broke, and she tapped the canvas to give Bertolso the eighth victory of her unblemished career.
*The featherweight bout between Ilias Bulaid and Erick Visconde has been moved to October 13.
