Dana White signed a guy who lost and passed on a guy who won. That is Contender Series in one sentence.
Six fighters earned UFC contracts out of Week 7 of Season 10 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas on Tuesday: Alvi Dasuyev, Jaden Ortega, Marcos Degli, Piero Guaylupo, Callum Connor and Damian Piwowarczyk.
Callum Connor lost. The English lightweight, 8-1, dropped a unanimous decision to Guaylupo and got signed anyway.
White loved the fight more than the result
“This is the Contender Series, but that could be up for Fight of the Year. I mean, two undefeated guys, both coming forward,” White said. “I said, ‘I don’t want that guy fighting anywhere else. I want that guy fighting here.'”
That is the correct instinct. A promoter’s job is to identify people who make compelling television, and a fighter who goes to war for fifteen minutes with an undefeated prospect has proven exactly that.
Guaylupo is the actual prize
White did not hide which signing excited him most.
“Probably Piero, because he’s 21 years old. To be that young and have the fight IQ, he’s got everything,” White said. “And he’s 13-0 at 21 years old. That’s insane.”
A 13-0 record at 21 is not a typo. The Peruvian has been fighting professionally since he was a teenager and just beat a fighter good enough to earn a contract in defeat.
The main event winner went home empty
Hungary’s Norbert Novenyi Jr. beat Theo Haig by decision in the middleweight headliner and was not offered a contract. He is 11-1, 25 years old, and entered as close to a 5-1 favorite.
Winning as a heavy favorite in a decision is the fastest way to leave the APEX with nothing. White has been consistent about this for a decade: performance beats result.
Matchmaker Sean Shelby also pushed to sign Jaden Ortega on top of Alvi Dasuyev, per White.
White addressed the Steveson mess
The other topic was Gable Steveson, who was knocked out in 12 seconds by Sean Sharaf at UFC 331 in Los Angeles on Sept. 19 as a heavy favorite. Steveson was booed for leaving the cage before the decision was read.
White also said former WWE star Jake Hager had emergency eye surgery the night of a Power Slap event and is being sent to a specialist in Miami.
On rules, White said he does not disagree with the California commission’s Andy Foster about making oblique kicks to the knee illegal under the Unified Rules. Coming from a promoter who usually resists rule changes, that is notable.
Six contracts is a lot
The UFC needs bodies right now. The heavyweight division is in chaos after Tom Aspinall vacated the title on Sept. 14 due to complications from an illegal eye poke by Ciryl Gane at UFC 321. Gane now faces Josh Hokit for the vacant belt at UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 14.
When the top of the roster is unstable, the bottom gets restocked aggressively. Six contracts in one night is the promotion telling you it is short on depth.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.