Tonight was the second episode of the 6th season of Dana White’s Contender Series and here’s how it went.
Dana White made it clear, he wants to see finishes whether it be a knockout or submission if the contenders want to earn a contract. Tonight should be a different night than we saw last week.
The first fight for week 2 was a Welterweight bout between the returning Shimon Smotritsky vs. Billy Goff. In the first round it was Smotritsky who took control early, landing a head kick that almost finished the fight before the tides would turn and Goff would finish the fight with a nonstop barrage of strikes on the feet.
During the post-fight interview backstage, Goff said he was not happy with his performance but that Dana White should sign him, his intentions are to put on a war every time he steps out there. With the UFC President jumping out his seat following Goff’s win, it sure does look like he will be the first to earn a contract at the end of the night.
The second fight of the night was between Heavyweights Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Danilo Suzart. From the start til the last 90 seconds, it would be bombs away for both men before Acosta got Suzart down on the ground to the ground before landing the ground and pound to win the fight.
In his post-fight interview. Acosta who is now 7-0 thanked his coaches for preparing him for this win, he said he came prepared for 5, 6 or 7 rounds to ensure he won the fight. He ended it by saying representing the Dominican Republic in the UFC would be the greatest pride. It looks like we’ll be seeing two contracts being handed out.
The third fight of the night was held at Featherweight between Connor Matthews vs. Francis Marshall. The first round had it’s fair share of back and forth action, both men who are undefeated looked for the first round finish but it would be the first fight to go into the 2nd round. The 2nd had Marshall controlling the ground with nonstop ground control. He would keep Matthews to the ground throughout the round before they would go into the 3rd and final round. In the final round it would be both coaches telling their fighters they needed a finish and in the 3rd we saw Marshall continue to take over with the dominant jab before the end of the fight. It would be Marshall who won by unanimous decision, the judges scorecards were (30-27 2x, 30-6).
The fourth fight of the night was between Flyweights Vinicius Salvador vs. Shannon Ross. It would be total domination from the first round to the last 38 seconds left of the 2nd round where Salvador got the KO finish vs. Ross in picture perfect fashion.
In the post-fight interview. Salvador said he was so happy to be here. He made a promise to his coaches at 10 years old that he would be in the UFC and with the win tonight, he knows it was more than enough to secure a UFC contract at the end of the night.
In the fifth and final fight of the night, it was a Lightweight bout between Charlie Campbell vs. Chris Duncan. It wouldn’t be long before we see the end to the main event as Duncan would knockout Campbell to finish the fight and secure his spot on the UFC’s roster.
In the final post-fight interview of the night. Duncan said he knew he was capable of what he did tonight and he is happy to be back here. He called this the toughest fight so far of his career and that he can’t wait to go back home to see his girlfriend, daughter and mom with his signed UFC contract.
Fighters who earned a contract this week:
Billy Goff.
Francis Marshall
Vinicius Salvador.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta.
Chris Duncan.
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