Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series was back this week with an exiting women’s strawweight headliner.
LFA vet and promising prospect Maycee Barber faced former DWTNCS winner Jamie Colleen who hoped to pick up a contract this time. Both fighters have a combined seven finishes in eight fights.
Austin Vanderford, the fiancé of Paige VanZant, got his wish for a shot in the UFC and faced Team Alpha Male’s Angelo Trevino. Here’s who scored contracts and how the fights went down.
Middleweight bout: Edmen Shahbazyan def. Antonio Jones via TKO (punches) (R1, 0:40)
The opening bout of the card didn’t last long. Edmen Shahbazyan, a Ronda Rousey prospect, made it seven knockouts in seven fights as he finished Antonio Jones 40 seconds into the first round, landing a barrage of punches before dropping him and having the fight called. That performance was a no-brainer for a UFC contract.
Welterweight bout: Austin Vanderford def. Angelo Trevino via submission (rear-naked choke) (R2, 2:42)
The first round of this fight is everything you’d hope for in an MMA bout. Both fighters were landing early, with Vanderford having the slight advantage. Trevino shot for a takedown and wound up getting Vanderford’s back before Vanderford slipped out and it was back to the feet. After a couple exchanges, Trevino landed a right that dropped Vanderford. Trevino went for the finish, even getting full mount at one point, but Vanderford survived the end of the round. The second round started with more trading exchanged before Vanderford now rocked Trevino. Trevino, clearly hurt, shot for a takedown, but Vanderford took his back and eventually locked in the rear-naked choke for the win.
Middleweight bout: Chibwikem Onyenegecha def Anthony Adams via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
The first round of this fight was very close. Lots of leg kicks were thrown by Onyenegecha and a nice spinning back fist was landed by Adams, but not much else happened. The second round was more of the same. The third round continued the technical fight, with both fighters staying outside their range, when with under two minutes left the lights went out. When the lights came back, both fighters went for it, hoping to steal a win. Onyenegecha wound up picking up the split decision win.
Bantamweight bout: Domingo Pilarte def Vince Morales via technical submission (rear-naked choke) (R2, 1:52)
The 6’0 Domingo Pilarte had the size and reach advantage going into this bantamweight bout, but Vince Morales did a good job of covering his distance in the first round, landing a few clean shots. Nearing the end of the round, Morales caught Pilarte inside and dropped him twice, cutting him open and ending the round on top with Pilarte leaking. Pilarte came out shooting in the second round, failing to get the takedown originally but after catching Morales’ leg on a counter, tripped him to the mat. Pilarte got to Morales’ back and locked in the rear-naked choke to put Morales to sleep. The comeback win for Pilarte was enough for a UFC contract.
Women’s Strawweight bout: Maycee Barber def Jamie Colleen via TKO (elbows) (R3, 4:15)
The first round started with Colleen landing some punches before Barber closed the distance and took the fight to the fence, landing some elbows in the process. After a quick break and some nice right hands that landed from Colleen, Barber brought it back to the fence to end the round. The second round was pretty much Colleen’s right hand versus Barber’s kicks. Halfway through the round Barber landed a takedown and controlled top position until it ended. Maycee Barber came out in the third taking the fight back to the cage and keeping it there for nearly four minutes before hitting a takedown. With under a minute left, Barber landed some brutal elbows, opening Colleen up and getting a stoppage victory. Maycee Barber’s UFC dream of being the youngest champion in history is still alive and well as she will be joining the strawweight roster.
MMAMotion 