Last night we saw another episode of Dana White’s Contender Series. It was the UFC‘s second episode of the season and featured five fights. Ten prospective fighters were ready to go all out to earn themselves UFC contracts.
Last week, Dana White handed out five contracts during week one. In all the years of DWCS, it was the first time the UFC gave out a contract to both fighters featured in one of the bouts. The fight was so close that White gave the winner and loser a shot.
With five fresh faces added to the roster, attention turned to The Contender last night as well. The action did start relatively slow in the bantamweight division. Given how stacked 135 is for the UFC, I figured the bantamweights needed to go all out.
Chad Anheliger (11-5) took on Muin Gafurov (17-4). Anheliger was a massive underdog, but he was riding an eight-fight win streak. His constant pressure and activity was enough go get a split decision. After the performance, I didn’t think he’d get a contract, but Dana White surprised me and added the Canadian bantamweight to the promotion.
UFC Contender Highlights
After that first fight, we saw some tremendous action the rest of the night. CJ Vergara (9-2) looked like a flyweight destroyer last night in his bout with Bruno Korea (12-4). Vergara stormed out of the gate and finished Korea with a brutal knee to the body in the opening minute.
After that fight, we saw a war in the bantamweight division between Saimon Oliveira (18-3) and Jose Alday (14-6). Oliveira got the nod on the cards and was given a UFC contract by Dana White.
After that, we had back-to-back finishes to close the night. Nigerian middleweight Chidi Njokuani (20-7) dominated and stopped Mario Sousa (12-2) in the third round. Then the attention turned to the featured bout of the evening.
Josh Quinlan (6-0) took on Logan Urban (5-2). Quinlan was a huge favorite and he showed why. He completely overwhelmed Urban and stopped him in the first minute to stay perfect and earn a UFC contract.
Yes, you read that right, the promotion gave out five new contracts last night for the second straight week. Ten fighters have now been added to the UFC roster through two weeks on DWCS. Given how many fights the promotion puts on, it’s not surprising to see so many new additions right away this year.