Knockdown Daily 11/3/21: Two Fighters Signed In 'Contender Series' Season Finale
The season finale of "Dana White's Contender Series" leads the MMA headlines for Wednesday
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue will cover all of the top MMA stories from the past 48 hours.
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Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5 Episode 10 Results: Two Fighters Offered UFC Contracts In Season Finale
The final episode in season five of “Dana White’s Contender Series” saw just two fighters get offered UFC contracts Tuesday.
Yohan Lainesse and Maheshate were offered contracts by UFC President Dana White following their wins at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Only two of five winners on Tuesday’s episode getting offered a UFC contract finished the season on a low note, concluding 10 generous weeks that saw 40 fighters get signed to the promotion – a new high for a season of the show.
An average of four fighters was signed per episode this year. This is a slight increase from the season before, where on average 3.7 fighters were offered a contract per episode.
The first three seasons of the show in total saw UFC bosses much more strict on who got a contract, offering an average of 2.6 winners a contract per episode from 2017 to 2019.
Maheshate’s main event fight over Achilles Estremadura saw him use his sharp striking to take a unanimous decision win. His best moment was in the second round, where he hurt Estremadura with a flying switch knee before unloading with follow-up shots.
CFFC Welterweight Champion Lainesse had an explosive win in his co-main event appearance, scoring a left hook knockout in the first round to hand Justin Burlinson his first pro loss.
Erisson Ferreira earned a win on Tuesday, defeating Qiu Lun via unanimous decision after a close three-round striking battle.
Jonas Bilharinho scored a flashy walk-off win in his fight, stopping Canaan Kawaihae in the third round with a wheel kick. Bilharinho had an explosive win in his previous fight as well, stopping Junior Duarte in 2019 with a first-round flying knee knockout.
Flyweight veteran Juan Puerta kicked the card off with a win, taking a split decision over Shang Zhifa. Puerta is now on an impressive 12-fight winning streak. Previous victories in the run include a win in Combate Global and numerous appearances in Titan FC.
A full report on “Dana White’s Contender Series” can be viewed here.
Dustin Jacoby To Replace Aleksa Camur In UFC 268 Matchup Against John Allan
UFC’s November 6th pay-per-view card has faced another change recently, as Dustin Jacoby has stepped in and replaced Aleksa Camur in a light heavyweight fight against John Allan. The change was first reported by Marcel Dorff of MMA DNA on Monday.
The new matchup joins UFC 268, which is scheduled to happen Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA.
The booking gives Jacoby the opportunity to build on a current hot run in the promotion. The veteran fighter has been active since rejoining the roster last year, scoring three wins and one draw within a year’s time.
Jacoby’s last victory was in August, where he stopped Darren Stewart within a round due to strikes.
Allan will be hunting for his first win in the promotion. His two UFC appearances have so far resulted in a no contest and a loss since 2019.
An undisclosed injury reportedly forced Camur out of the fight. He was looking to bounce back from a two-fight skid that has developed since September 2020.
Undefeated Casey O’Neill To Face Veteran Roxanne Modafferi At UFC 271
Undefeated flyweight Casey O’Neill will get a big step-up in competition next year, facing veteran Roxanne Modafferi at UFC’s February 12th pay-per-view event. The fight was first reported by mma.ideas on Tuesday.
O’Neill has been successful since joining the UFC roster earlier this year. She has scored three wins since February, with all of the victories coming via stoppage.
Her last appearance saw her finish Antonina Shevchenko in the second round with strikes.
A win at UFC 271 would be O’Neill’s fourth and final victory as a rookie in the UFC, as the booking is just two weeks before her one-year anniversary with the promotion.
Modafferi has fought as a pro since 2003. She joined the UFC roster in 2017 and has picked up four wins and six losses in that time. She fought to a unanimous decision loss in September when facing Taila Santos at UFC 266.
Report: UFC Releases Six-Fight Vet Laureano Staropoli
Welterweight Laureano Staropoli is reportedly no longer on the UFC roster following a six-fight run. News of Staropoli’s departure from the roster was first reported by Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting.
Staropoli, 28, joined the UFC in 2018 as a welterweight with seven wins and one loss.
He picked up two wins to start his run in the promotion, defeating Hector Aldana and Thiago Alves on scorecards.
Staropoli then went on a four-fight losing streak that sounded the end of his run with the promotion. This skid includes two fights from this year, where he moved up to middleweight and lost to Roman Dolidze and Jamie Pickett.
UFC Looking To Book Tom Aspinall vs. Shamil Abdurkahimov For March 19th Event
UFC is attempting to book heavyweights Tom Aspinall and Shamil Adburakhimov for their March 19th event, per a report from Brett Okamoto of ESPN.
Should the fight be finalized, it would join a card that doesn’t have a location confirmed at the moment. The fight is the first to be reported for a March 19th card.
Aspinall’s UFC run has consisted of four fast wins since his 2020 debut. The rising heavyweight last fought in September, defeating Serghei Spivac within a round with strikes.
Aspinall’s prior appearance was his first UFC win via submission, defeating veteran Andrei Arlovski with a rear naked choke in February.
Abdurakhimov lost in his return to the cage two months back, getting finished by Chris Daukaus. The veteran’s previous fight was also a loss, dropping a bout back in 2019 to Curtis Blaydes.
ONE Championship Reveals Full November 12th ‘NextGen 2’ Lineup
ONE Championship recently unveiled the full six-fight lineup for their pre-recorded November 12th event “NextGen II.”
The fights, which first happened in late October at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore, will air for the first time this month.
A full report on the recently announced card can be read here.
Here’s how it looks:
Main Card (7:30AM EST / 8:30PM SGT) (Bleacher Report App / Youtube)
Bout 6: Saemapetch Fairtex vs. Rittewada Petchyindee Academy (145 lbs) (Muay Thai Bout)
Bout 5: Tang Kai (12-2) vs. Yoon Chang Min (5-1) (155 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 4: Zhang Chunyu vs. Dovydas Rimkus (Kickboxing Grand Prix Alternate Bout)
Bout 3: Smokin’ Jo Nattawut vs. Yurik Davtyan (Kickboxing Grand Prix Alternate Bout)
Bout 2: Agilan Thani (10-5) vs. Hiroyuki Tetsuka (9-4) (190 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 1: Han Zi Hao vs. Victor Pinto (145 lbs) (Muay Thai Bout)
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