Dana White’s Contender Series is back for its ninth season. Last Tuesday night was the final episode of the season, so let’s look at each fight’s aftermath and make some observations from last night.
- Wes Schultz def. Mario Mingaj: This is going to be a very negative observation. First off, neither of these guys are UFC caliber and we knew that coming into this fight. So the fact that just because Wes Schultz got a finish got him a UFC contract kind of defeats the purpose of this show looking for supposed “contenders.” Schultz isn’t even a top-25 middleweight prospect outside the UFC…and he scored a freakin’ Suloev stretch victory over Mario Mingaj, who in losing proved he should never sniff a UFC or DWCS cage again. Schultz will go winless in the UFC in either two or three fights and be gone. But hey, he got a finish so like almost every other fighter on this season, Schultz gets a UFC contract!
- Jovan Leka def. Azamat Nuftillaev: Not much to observe here. A lot of non-UFC heavyweight bouts (including Contender Series) remind me of Bellator prelim heavyweight bouts when the company was owned by Bjorn Rebney. They are sloppy and uninspiring. That’s what you saw here and that’s why Dana White walked out on this fight before it was over. Not shocking.
- Michael Oliveira def. Victor Valenzuela: Michael Oliveira was one of my favorite prospects coming into this season of the Contender Series, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. His striking style is so chill and technical, but so devastating. Everything about his decimation of Victor Valenzuela gives you the inclination that he will be a guy to watch in the UFC welterweight division.
- Marwan Rahiki def. Ananias Mulumba: Speaking of guys who shouldn’t be sniffing a UFC Octagon (not yet at least), both Marwan Rahiki and Ananias Mulumba both showed they are not UFC quality fighters in their fight. Was the fight crazy and did Rahiki show mad heart coming back to win that fight? Sure, that was impressive. However, Rahiki, the striker in this matchup, was outstruck by Mulumba until her got tired (poor gas tank). And when Mulumba had Rahiki on his way to a finish, he couldn’t sinch up a layup of a choke on a guy in Rahiki that showed bare minimum ground competency. Rahiki gets the contract and he’s young, but he is in no way UFC ready. Could be a quick tenure. And on a side note, they need to stop with this “SHOULD BOTH GUYS GET THE CONTRACT?” nonsense every time there’s a competitive fight on the Contender Series. No both guys should not get a contract. One of the guys lost, just stop. This is the UFC, not a charity contract handout.
- Juan Diaz def. Won Il Kwon: In contrast with two fights with two non-UFC ready fighters, this fight was the complete opposite. Both Juan Diaz and Won Il Kwon are both guys that could have been on the UFC roster right now and seen success. That provided us another great fight and even better finish. Juan Diaz hit a knockout of the year contender with that clean, loud spinning back elbow finish. He’s a very welcome addition to the UFC, especially considering he’s a non-Brazilian South American talent.
- Levi Rodrigues def. Freddy Vidal: When Dana White did not sign Freddy Vidal outright earlier this season after a late-notice stoppage win, I agreed with him and wish he’d do it more often, as some of these guys clearly need more experience or have more they need to show they belong in the UFC. It should happen more often, and it was proven here in the form of Vidal. He showed great grit and the ability to overcome earlier in this season, but looked short on the skills needed to be successful. That was proven here, as he was finished in the first round by a vastly superior Levi Rodrigues. Rodrigues himself probably needs some more seasoning, but showed enough rounded ability to be able to test the UFC waters, especially the thin light heavyweight division.