Last night, the UFC president’s Contender Series had it second successful week after it’s return. The Contender Series has been turning out top talent for the last few years for the promotion.
The night was filled with five fights that delivered. Normally, Dana White hands out two or three contracts when there are five fights. However, last night, the UFC president was feeling a little more generous than usual.
Five UFC contracts handed out
White and the UFC signed all five of the fighters who won their fights last night. White joked that he was in a good mood after getting back from his recent vacation. Let’s take a look at the five fighters who are now members of the UFC.
Dustin Stolzfs
Dustin Stoltzfus (13-1) won in the most gruesome fashion last night in his fight. The new UFC middleweight had a solid back and forth battle going on with Joseph Pyfer.
Stoltzfus rolled for a knee bar late in the round, and once that didn’t work, a scramble found him in a position for a takedown. He picked Pyfer up and slammed him to the ground dislocating Pyfer’s elbow in the process.
Stoltzfus looked pretty good everywhere and with his experience, White was willing to give him a UFC contract.
Adrian Yanez
Adrian Yanez (11-3) looked absolutely fantastic last night. He stopped Brady Huang in just 39 seconds with an impressive striking display. The fight earned the bantamweight a UFC contract.
After the fights, White labeled Yanez as a sniper. The 26 year old bantamweight will now enter one of the deepest divisions in the UFC. He will enter his first octagon trip on a four fight winning streak that features three TKO’s.
Cory McKenna
The one fighter that had White the most on the fence about was Cory McKenna (5-1). McKenna came into last night as the underdog facing Crystal Demopoulos. However, the Team Alpha Male fighter was able to prove the odds makers wrong.
White wasn’t sure that she was ready for the UFC. McKenna is just 20 years old and still has a lot to learn and improve on. She does have five wins to her record now, and White decided to give her a shot.
She comes out of one of the better camps, and being just 20, she hasn’t even scratched the surface of what she’s capable of. Her only career loss came via split decision, but other than that, she’s looked very good in her young career.
TJ Laramie
TJ Laramie (12-3) was labeled as a savage by the UFC president. Laramie who is just 22 years old looked incredibly impressive last night. He found himself in some compromising positions at times, but the young fighter showed incredible poise.
His opponent, Daniel Swain, had him locked up a few times, but Laramie kept pushing through. Laramie got into a dominant position and landed massive shots on Swain. Swain struggled even getting back to his corner after the first round.
The beating was so bad that Swain couldn’t get off the stool and Laramie won via TKO. Laramie will now head into the UFC‘s featherweight division riding a four fight winning streak.
Impa Kasanganay
Impa Kasanganay (7-0) fought on The Contender Series for the second time last night. Both times, he’s walked away with a unanimous decision victory, but White didn’t seem extremely impressed.
However, with Kasanganay winning twice now, White was willing to give him a shot. One of the reasons why White was willing to do so is Kasanganay’s willingness to fight.
Kasanganay will be getting a very quick turnaround for his first official fight in the UFC. According to White in the post-fight press conference, Kasanganay will be taking on Maki “Coconut Bombz” Pitolo on August 22nd.