Last night, UFC hopefuls took center stage as Dana White’s Contender Series returned for their second episode of the seventh season. Last week got off to a hot start with White handing out contracts to every single winner from the show last week. With the bar set high, the first fighters of the night made the walk.
The action started in the bantamweight division with Charalampos Grigoriou (8-3) taking on Cameron Smotherman (8-4). The first fight of the night didn’t take long as Grigoriou won by knockout in the first minute of the fight. With that performance, he earned himself a contract from Dana White after the night was over.
Next, we moved on the women’s strawweight division as Eduarda Moura (9-0) took on Janaina Silva (5-1). Both Silva and Moura entered the bout with perfect records. Considering how the UFC is always looking to add talent to their female divisions, you knew that the winner had a really good shot at making the cut.
Once again, the fight didn’t make it past the first round. Moura was able to secure a rear naked choke and forced Silva to tap. As expected, White gave her a contract when the fight was over.
UFC Newcomers
The next fight was a featherweight matchup between Hyder Amil (8-0) and Emrah Sonmez (14-5). In a grueling fight, Amil was able to pick up the decision win. Despite not being a flashy finish, the undefeated featherweight was still able to walk away with a contract from Dana White.
Following the featherweight bout was a matchup between two big light heavyweights. Ibo Asian (12-1) took on Brazil’s Paulo Renato Jr (12-3). Asian ran through Renato Jr and scored a first round TKO finish which earned him a contract with the UFC.
From there, we went to the main event where we saw a lightweight matchup between Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady (15-3) and England’s George Hardwick (12-2). Al-Selwady was able to win a decision over the tough Hardwick which was his fifth win in a row. White gave him a UFC contract as well.
Yes, you’re reading it right. Through two weeks of The Contender Series, all ten winners have earned themselves a contract. While it’s ten newcomers to the promotion, you have to wonder if the criteria is going to get stricter as the weeks go on. We could see some real talent night get signed. Time will tell, but so far, ten winners and ten contract.