4 winners welcomed to UFC at Contender Sequence
Jeff WagenheimESPN
There have been comebacks. There have been underdog victories. There was even entertaining fighter speak in the course of a bout. And on the finish of the evening at Dana White’s Contender Sequence, there have been 4 additions to the UFC roster.
4 of 5 winners on Tuesday have been provided UFC offers, considered one of them a developmental contract.
UFC 241 includes a heavyweight championship rematch and the return of probably the most common stars within the UFC. Daniel Cormier will defend his title in opposition to Stipe Miocic, and Nate Diaz fights for the primary time in three years, taking over Anthony Pettis.
UFC 241: Cormier vs. Miocic 2
• Saturday, Anaheim, California
• Early prelims: ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. ET
• Prelims: ESPN, eight p.m. ET
• Important card: ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET
Order UFC 241 now
William Knight, a 31-year-old mild heavyweight who ended the evening explosively, earned the event contract. He overcame a tough begin by taking up late and ending Herdem Alacabek through ground-and-pound TKO with simply 26 seconds left within the combat. He remained undefeated at 5-Zero, with 5 finishes.
However White wished to proceed slowly with the 205-pounder from Connecticut. “Coming in at that weight within the UFC could be powerful for him,” he stated. “So we’ll transfer him. We have achieved this with different folks, together with Greg Hardy.”
Zero:34
Brok Weaver will get Devin Smyth pushed up in opposition to the cage and lands a pleasant mixture of punches throughout Smyth’s higher physique. For extra UFC, join right here for ESPN+ http://plus.espn.com/ufc.
These incomes entry to the UFC proper off the bat have been welterweight Brok Weaver, males’s bantamweight Tony Gravely and girls’s bantamweight Sarah Alpar.
Weaver was the entertainer of the evening, placing a smile on White’s face along with his postfight plea for a contract. However he did not simply speak recreation. The 31-year-old out of Alabama, a member of the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, overcame the aggressive wrestling of Devin Smyth, the godson of UFC Corridor of Famer Rashad Evans.
2 Associated
It was Smyth who had the hype behind him going into the combat, however afterward the highlight was on Weaver (14-Four), who received by unanimous determination.
“I might be an fool to not signal Brok Weaver,” stated White. Weaver responded with, “Yeah, man, he could be silly.”
Gravely (15-6), 27, from Virginia, was a step forward of Ray Rodriguez for the whole lot of their bantamweight bout, repeatedly taking him to the canvas earlier than lastly flattening him out on the canvas within the third spherical and raining down punches till the official stepped in, declaring him the winner by TKO at 2:16.
“Tony has nice wrestling, nice palms, unstoppable cardio,” stated White. “He goes for the end, and he completed a man tonight who hasn’t been completed in 20 fights. There isn’t any method I might say no to that.”
Alpar, a 28-year-old Texan, got here out aggressively in opposition to Shanna Younger, flinging wild punches and touchdown just a few stable ones earlier than being taken to the canvas and practically being completed by the tip of the primary spherical. Alpar (9-Four) survived, and in Spherical 2 she took a extra measured strategy, patiently securing dominant place earlier than sinking in a rear-naked choke at 2:55.
“I like her model,” stated White. “I like the whole lot about her.”
Besides one factor: her weight class. The UFC contract comes with a request that she drop to flyweight. “At 130 kilos within the UFC — the ladies at 130 kilos are large,” stated the corporate president.
The one winner to not be provided a contract was mild heavyweight Julius Anglickas (7-1), who opened the evening with a third-round rear-naked choke end of Karl Reed, who gassed earlier than the primary spherical was over.
“Julius did not go after him like he ought to have,” stated White.