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Dana White‘s Contender Sequence, which presents MMA potentialities the different to compete in front of the UFC president for uncommon contracts, has proved to be a precious scouting program for the promotion, producing talents indulge in Sean O’Malley, Dan Ige, Greg Hardy, and Sodiq Yusuff since its 2017 inception.
The 2020 iteration of the present has been no exception to that rule. This one year, it has resulted in 33 unique opponents being signed by the UFC, at the side of three on this week’s episode.
But which of this week’s winners comprise the brightest futures in blended martial arts?
That’s the assign a question to we are going to strive to resolution right here, as we assign the latest Contender Sequence victors letter grades in step with their performances on the present and the opposite recordsdata we had been ready to predicament collectively about them.
Let’s catch to it.
Danny Sabatello: B
Danny Sabatello defeated Taylor Moore by unanimous resolution, didn’t produce a UFC contract
The action began in the bantamweight division, where trash-speaking American High Team product Danny Sabatello (9-1), a feeble Mountainous 10 wresting champion at Purdue, took on the amply extra skilled Taylor Moore (10-5), whose pro file is bolstered by a 16-1 beginner high-tail.
This one became all Sabatello, who oldschool his wrestling so effectively that he earned a Khabib Nurmagomedov comparability from cageside commentator Michael Bisping.
Over the direction of three rounds, the 27-one year-identical outdated secured a pair of takedowns, racked up nearly 14 minutes of support a watch on time and landed proper insecure of 160 strikes—greater than sufficient to present a unanimous resolution and catch ideal on his residence as the ideal having a bet favorite on the cardboard.
With this victory, Sabatello moved onto a three-fight drag, which entails a bantamweight title salvage in the Titan FC cage. Whereas this latest salvage cemented his residence as a excessive-stage fighter, it left loads to be desired by design of excitement.
In his put up-fight interview with Laura Sanko, Sabatello justified his approach by explaining that he enjoys “beating the f–good sufficient out of a guy for 15 minutes.” That’s all smartly and perfect, nonetheless it proper wasn’t the form of performance that goes to salvage him any followers, particularly after he asked Moore how he wished to be completed on the cardboard’s weigh-ins.
It became a classic instance of speaking the debate with out walking the plod, and no-one likes that. White undoubtedly didn’t, as he accused the bantamweight of being likelihood-averse on the conclusion of the present.
Luana Pinheiro: A+
Luana Pinheiro defeated Stephanie Frausto by knockout at 2: 48 of Round 1, earned a UFC contract
Brazilian prospect Luana Pinheiro (8-1) would per chance well not comprise made extraordinary extra of a splash in her Contender Sequence scrap with Stephanie Frausto (8-7) in the 2nd bout on this week’s card.
The 26-one year-identical outdated, who is identified as a grappler due to her judo dusky belt and BJJ crimson belt, sealed the deal in the first spherical with a blistering volley of punches—precisely the form of rating each person knows White looks to be like for on the present.
This salvage over Frausto, who has a decade of pro MMA expertise, pushes Pinheiro onto a six-fight salvage drag, at the side of a violent knockout salvage over The Closing Fighter feeble Helen Harper in her next most latest fight.
To stutter she’s got promise would be an underestimation. She is a lethal submission specialist who, a little over three years into her MMA career, has chanced on some serious firepower in her fingers and is gaining self assurance in her inserting in consequence.
That’s got to be a scary thought for her fellow strawweights, even of us that populate the UFC’s top 15.
Nikolas Motta: A-
Nikolas Motta defeated Joe Lowry by unanimous resolution, earned a UFC contract
In the center bout of this week’s episode of Contender Sequence, feeble CFFC light-weight champ Nikolas Motta (13-3) took on a fellow CFFC feeble in Joe Lowry (9-2).
Each and every lightweights had near shut to earning UFC roster spots beforehand, as Motta competed on season four of The Closing Fighter: Brazil, and Lowry became knocked out by Devonte Smith on a 2018 episode of Contender Sequence.
Evidently, each males had been desirous to catch an announcement in this fight, and it became Motta who did so.
The Brazilian became the a long way extra handy occasion proper thru the three-spherical slugfest, touchdown upward of 40 head strikes and shattering his rival’s nose in the design. If truth be told, he potentially would comprise scored a knockout salvage had he no longer been preventing Lowry, who regarded indulge in he had been hit by a meteorite and walked out of the smouldering crater largely unscathed.
After Motta’s unanimous-resolution salvage, Bisping forecasted “a truly, very radiant future” for the Brazilian. We trust that, although the 2 knockout losses on his 16-fight file imply some fragility, which would per chance well trigger him problems in opposition to the ideal lightweights in the world.
Other than that minor facet, he looks to be smartly-geared up to catch some sizable things in this sport, and we’re wrathful for his UFC debut.
Natan Levy: A
Natan Levy defeated Shaheen Santana by procedure of technical submission (arm-triangle choke) at 0: 55 of spherical three, earned a UFC contract
The penultimate bout of the night time occurred at a 160-pound catchweight, as Shaheen Santana (6-1) took on Syndicate MMA product Natan Levy (6-0), who stepped in on short undercover agent to change his rival’s originally slated opponent, Landon Quinones.
Barring a short 2nd-spherical fear when Santana threatened with an armbar, this one became all Levy. The LFA feeble became the extra handy man on the feet and on the mat thru the first two rounds and, spurred on by a agency talking to from his coach between rounds, choked his rival unconscious with an arm-triangle choke in the third.
With this salvage, Levy maintained his unbeaten file, and heaps extra importantly, flaunted some sorely wanted ending skill after successful his final three fights by resolution.
From right here, the karate specialist will likely descend help to the featherweight division, and we assign a question to him to comprise some actual success there.
Mario Sousa: B
Mario Sousa def. Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz by procedure of unanimous resolution, didn’t produce a UFC contract
This week’s episode concluded with a clash of towering middleweights, as 6’3½” Canadian Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz took on 6’3″ Brazilian Mario Sousa.
Because it grew to change into out, the pair had been as evenly matched by design of their talents as they had been by design of their bodily traits. For three rounds, they battled thru all phases of the game, blasting every other with heavy artillery on the feet and threatening every other with submissions and ground-and-pound when the action hit the mat.
It became the form of help-and-forth fight that judges potentially scare, nonetheless all three finally sided with the Brazilian, giving him his first salvage outdoors his dwelling nation.
With this salvage, Sousa is now on a five-fight drag. Whereas he failed to salvage up a rating for the first time in his career, the silver lining became that it gave him the different to be conscious he has the fuel tank to fight for three laborious rounds. He moreover reaffirmed what we already knew: He’s got slick inserting, solid jiu jitsu and a clear appetite for violence.
Unfortunately, Sousa moreover showed a aesthetic sure deficit in the wrestling division—something Bisping eluded to in the course of the fight. That’s going to be an pain for him going forward, particularly if he makes it to the UFC, where there might per chance be simply no avoiding excessive-stage wrestlers.
If the 24-one year-identical outdated can shore up that piece of his game, he can potentially catch some sizable things, nonetheless that is a sizable if.
