SHANGHAI, CHINA - JUNE 20: Dana White, UFC President gives a speech during 2019 UFC Performance Institute Panel and UFC Fight Night Shenzhen Press Conference at UFC Performance Institute Shanghai on June 20, 2019 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Yifan Ding/Getty Images)
Last night, the UFC hosted it’s third week of Dana White’s Contender Series. There were five action packed fights, and there were several newcomers added to the roster.
Last week, White was feeling very generous as he handed out five contracts to every single one of the winners. Last night he wasn’t quite that generous, but four of the five winners on the cards last night earned their way into the UFC.
It’s been incredible, but three weeks into this season of the Contender Series, and we’ve seen 12 UFC contracts handed out. The fights have been pretty good this year, and a lot of dynamic prospects have been added. Let’s take a look at the winners from last night.
The first UFC contract last night was handed out to heavyweight Josh Parisian (13-3). Parisian knocked out Chad Johnson in the first round of their fight. This was Parisian’s second fight on the Contender Series. Both ending in first round knockouts.
White said that he would love to get Parisian inside the UFC‘s PI to fine tune his skills. One thing is for sure and that is that Parisian has huge power at heavyweight. In 13 career wins, 10 have come by knockout with eight of those coming in the first round.
The second UFC contract of the night was handed out to welterweight Orion Cosce (7-0). Cosce was the biggest underdog on the card coming in against previously unbeaten Matt Dixon. Dixon was one of the highlights of the lineup on the card last night prior to the fights.
After losing the first round, Cosce showed his toughness and determination. Came back with a solid second round, and a dominant third. In the third, Cosce secured a crucifix and got the finish.
The only criticism White had was that at the end of the second round, Cosce stopped fighting with seconds left and touched gloves with Dixon. Despite that frustrating the UFC President, Cosce walked out with a contract last night due to his finish of Dixon.
The third UFC contract handed out last night went to strawweight Cheyanne Buys (5-1). Buys has a lot of fire about her which makes her very appealing to the promotion. She’s got very good overall skills and very crisp hands. Even talks a little trash in the cage.
White said that he’s expecting big things from Buys after her victory over Hilarie Rose. Buys will enter the UFC after winning four straight fights. A lot of potential in Cheyanne Buys.
The final UFC contract of the evening was handed out to the fighter that impressed me the most. That would be Louis Cosce (7-0) who knocked out Victor Reyna in the first round of their fight.
Reyna had never been knocked out before and he has been in there with guys like Daniel Rodriguez and Kevin Holland. Yet, Cosce went in and made it look easy. There is just a very easy power about Cosce.
His performance blew Dana White away. All seven of his wins have come via first round stoppage. The kid has never seen a second round, but as White pointed out, that’s a good problem to have.
Cosce is the brother of Orion Cosce who won the second contract of the evening. Both brothers fought at welterweight last night, but Louis said he will likely drop down to lightweight and fight there.
This post was published on 2020-08-19 08:58
