It was another wild week on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Caroline Foro showed shades of one-time strawweight champion and fellow Brazilian Jessica Andrade as she extended her winning streak to seven in a row with a unanimous decision win over Shanelle Dyer in a spirited strawweight bout to open Week 5 of the Contender Series.
Foro had won six consecutive bouts by stoppage — all by strikes and all but one in the first round — and nearly got the finish against Dyer in the opening round. Foro gave Dyer problems in Round 1 with her power punches, landing clubbing left hooks and dropping Dyer with an overhand right that opened a significant cut over Dyer’s left eye.
Dyer displayed serious mettle by making it out of the opening round and found success the longer the fight went. Dyer trains with the Great Britain Top Team in her native England and had UFC veteran Brad Pickett in her corner. The 24-year-old is a three-time veteran of the PFL Europe series and hadn’t fought since a split decision win one year ago.
UFC president Dana White entered the cage after the fight to congratulate both fighters on “an incredible fight.”
White said afterwards it was “one of the best women’s fights I’ve ever seen” and awarded both women a UFC contract. Dyer became the first losing fighter this season to get a UFC contract.
Lerryan Douglas made quick work of Cameron Teague, picking up one of the fastest knockouts in Contender Series history. It took him just 36 seconds to land a vicious left hook that put Teague to sleep. It tied him for the eighth-fastest DWCS knockout.
Douglas entered the night as the Legacy Fighting Alliance featherweight champion, riding a four-fight finishing streak, and was the biggest Week 5 betting favourite.
Teague had picked up three consecutive wins on the regional circuit after being stopped by Kevin Vallejos in half a round one year ago on the Contender Series.
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Heavyweight Steven Asplund saw that Douglas knockout and wanted in on the action.
Asplund finished Anthony Guarascio’s in just 16 seconds, which is now the third-fastest finish in DWCS history.
The 27-year-old at one point in his life weighed roughly 525 pounds and used training in mixed martial arts to turn his life around and lose nearly 300 pounds.
Samuel Sanches melted Chasen Blair with a vicious combination two minutes into their lightweight bout to earn a highlight knockout win.
Sanches, a teammate of rising UFC heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida, improved to 11-1 in professional MMA with eight of them coming by KO/TKO.
The 22-year-old from Brazil was coming off a 54-second knockout in March that earned him a shot on the Contender Series.
Blair, meanwhile, fell to 0-2 on the Contender Series after getting stopped by Kody Steele during the 2024 season of DWCS.
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Freddy Vidal is a high school wrestling and football coach by day, but on Tuesday night, he pulled off a dramatic, upset submission victory over Felipe Franco at the UFC Apex. Vidal and Franco had split the first two rounds, and Franco was ahead in the third when Vidal reversed position in the final minute and was able to lock in a rear-naked choke with just 12 seconds remaining in the match.
Both fighters entered the bout with unblemished pro records, but the quality of past competition was a big question for both men. The combined record of Vidal’s three previous professional opponents was just 3-5, while Franco’s eight previous opponents were a combined 19-26 at the time he fought them, with one fighter accounting for all 19 of those wins.
Vidal accepted a 205-pound matchup with Franco on short notice and missed weight Monday by a significant margin, stepping on the scale at 210 pounds. He explained after his win that he accepted the fight on less than a week’s notice and weighed 240 pounds after the Labour Day weekend.
Franco, who weighed in at 204 pounds on Monday, had previously been scheduled to face Ivan Gnizditskiy and then Quentin Pasley on the card, but Gnizditskiy and Pasley both withdrew. Franco entered 8-0 with eight first-round finishes.
Vidal was the only winning fighter who ended up not walking home with a UFC contract, though White said the finish was impressive enough that he would give him a second shot with a full training camp on the season finale of DWCS later this year.
DWCS Season 9, Week 5 Official Results:
— Steven Asplund def. Anthony Guarascio by TKO at 0:16 of Round 1
— Lerryan Douglas def. Cameron Teague by knockout at 0:36 of Round 1
— Freddy Vidal def. Felipe Franco by submission 4:48 of Round 3
— Samuel Sanches def. Chasen Blair by knockout at 2:01 of Round 1
— Caroline Foro def. Shanelle Dyer by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
UFC contract recipients: Lerryan Douglas, Samuel Sanches, Steven Asplund, Caroline Foro, Shanelle Dyer
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