Eight weeks are in the books and there are two to go on Season 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series, and this week’s slate for the penultimate episode of the season carries the same “expect electricity” warning as the previous seven weeks have, with another five sets of hopefuls eager to make the walk at UFC APEX with designs impressing the UFC President.
Over those last seven weeks, there have been 33 contracts awarded, with defeated competitors Shanelle Dyer and Sofia Montenegro getting the call to the Octagon despite landing on the wrong side of the results. Last week, the final four victorious fighters were all added to the UFC roster, as Kurtis Campbell, Christopher Alvidres, Louis Jourdain and Damian Pinas all punched their tickets to the biggest stage in the sport.
As great as this season had been, Week 9 somehow upped the ante, as before the final fight even hit the cage, UFC President Dana White announced that bantamweights Adrian Luna Martinetti and Mark Vologdin, who combined for arguably the greatest fight in Contender Series history and were set to be transported to the hospital, were both getting contracts and a $25,000 bonus for their efforts as well.
Once the night did wrap up, White returned to hand out more UFC invites, awarding contracts to Luke Fernandez, Luis Felipe Dias, Imanol Rodriguez, and Magomed Zaynukov, bringing the total for the night to six and the total for the season up to 41 with one more week to go.
Just an incredible night of action at the UFC APEX, and we have all the detailed collected for your review below.
(This page will be updated live throughout the event with full fight recaps, scorecards, plus interviews with Dana White and tonight’s contract winners. See Tuesday's fight card below.)
Magomed Zaynukov and Lucas Caldas saw the fight before them and thought, “Let’s give that a try!” meeting in the center and bombing away with big, heavy shots for the majority of their 15-minute affair to close out Week 9.
Zaynukov, who represents the Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov School, was happy to throw heavy leather from the jump, taking the fight to Caldas, who showed a willingness to engage and a rock-solid chin while dropping his Russian foe in the first. Though he remained game the rest of the way, Zaynukov completely out-paced Caldas over the final two rounds, setting a new DWCS lightweight record for significant strikes landed, firing and connecting through to the final horn.
All three judges scored the fight in favor of Zaynukov, who advanced to 8-0 with the victory, showing outstanding output and diverse striking while battering his Brazilian adversary from start to finish.
Adrian Luna Martinetti and Mark Vologdin went toe-to-toe, blow-for-blow in one of the nastiest back-and-forth battles in Contender Series history.
After a first round where both men had their moments and Vologdin seemed to be getting the upper hand, Martinetti came out hunting in the second, taking the fight to his Russian adversary, unloaded a torrent of strikes, only for Vologdin to repeatedly respond with heavy shots of his own. Somehow, both men stayed upright and engaged into the third round, where Vologdin clipped Martinetti early, leading to the first real grappling interaction of the night. They returned to their feet and continued slugging away on one another to the final minute, where Martinetti timed a takedown and closed things out landing more punishing shots from top position.
Dana White and everyone else in the UFC APEX were on their feet when this one ended, saluting the dueling bantamweight savages for their insane 15-minute battle. When the scorecards were collected and totalled, it was Martinetti that came out ahead.
This was an absolute slobberknocker where both men left every ounce of themselves inside the Octagon. What an insane fight!
TUF alum Imanol Rodriguez registered an impressive first-round stoppage win over Roque Conceicao, advancing to 6-0 as a professional with his sixth consecutive finish.
The fast-paced flyweights spent the first 90 seconds of the bout flashing their speed and trying to find their range and timing, both looking sharp and quick as they tried to land something sharp. Conceicao the landed a body kick, but Rodriguez countered with a swift right hand down the pipe that put the Brazilian on the canvas, and the recent Ultimate Fighter semifinalist did not allow him to get back into the fight.
Rodriguez stayed on Conceicao, connecting with heavy sots and continually chasing him down as he tried to find safety. Finally, with Conceicao on the fence, Rodriguez landed another heavy shot that halted the action. What an outstanding performance from the Team Cormier alum, who has been training with the former two-division champion since coming off the show.
Luis Felipe Dias ended an over two-year hiatus with a second-round submission win over Donavon Hedrick.
Dias, who hadn’t fought since July 2023, played to his advantage in the grappling department throughout the contest, closing the distance and looking to tie up with Hedrick as often as he could. The American had success at range with his striking, but was outgunned in the grappling entanglements, with Dias doing an excellent job of looking to set his hooks as soon as he had Hedrick in his clutches.
Late in the second round, Dias forced Hedrick to give up his back, immediately attacking the choke and sinking in the finish to secure his second straight submission win and 16th victory in 21 professional appearances.
This as an excellent showing from the 30-year-old Brazilian who looked, as UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby said in introducing Dias, ready to roll straight into the middleweight ranks.
That’s how you open a fight card!
Luke Fernandez wasted no time dispatching Rafael Pergentino, landing a clean one-one-two right out of the gates that put the young Brazilian on the deck, chasing him to the canvas and pounding out the finish.
Just an absolutely drubbing by the CFFC light heavyweight champion, who advanced to 6-0 with the victory while looking absolutely terrific to kick off the penultimate Tuesday night at the UFC APEX.
