UFC president Dana White was displeased with most performances last week on the season nine premiere of the Contender Series, save for Baysangur Susurkaev’s breakout win, but it was a completely different story the second week.
While Week 1 had only one finish and two contracts handed out, Week 2 saw four fights end in a stoppage and all five winners get rewarded with UFC contracts.
“This is what we expect from the Contender Series and these guys are all that good and came to fight today,” White said.
Heavyweight Josh Hokit is a former NFL player, but it was his collegiate-level wrestling that was on display in a win over Guilherme Uriel.
The two-time All-American from Fresno State smothered Uriel with frequent takedowns and control, and Uriel was exhausted by the time the second round began.
Hokit didn’t waste any time in Round 2 and went to work with ground-and-pound to get the finish. After the win, Hokit proceeded to cut a pro wrestling-style promo in his post-fight interview, bashing the rest of the heavyweight division.
“I just keep going. I’ve got way too much heart,” Hokit said while wearing an American flag bandana and sunglasses. “I’m way smarter than these guys. These guys are fat, lazy and slow. They’re not on (my) level.”
Hokit trains out of the Jackson-Wink Gym in Albuquerque, N.M., where former champion Jon Jones honed his craft over the years. He improved to 6-0 in professional mixed martial arts and has finished all six of his opponents.
Middleweight Cam Rowston made good on his second Contender Series performance and earned an impressive first-round win over Brandon Holmes.
Rowston got out-wrestled and lost a decision to Torrez Finney last year on season eight of DWCS, but put Holmes away with a series of powerful strikes. Rowston is from Australia and a member of the famed City Kickboxing team. The 30-year-old from Sydney said he’d be ready for a fight on the UFC Fight Night card scheduled for Perth at the end of September, and White said afterwards they’d look to make it happen.
Louis Lee Scott was the only fighter who missed weight at Monday’s weigh-in — the 25-year-old from England missed the non-title bantamweight limit by half a pound — so he knew he needed to impress against Kaushik Saikumar in order to secure a contract.
Scott, a teammate of Lerone Murphy who thrilled this past weekend at UFC 319, had to be cautious early and smartly defended a nifty leg lock attempt from Saikumar, a student of leg lock specialist Ryan Hall. Saikumar continuously attacked Scott’s legs throughout the bout, but Scott took control of the fight on the feet at striking distance and incorporated spinning kicks into his offence.
Knowing he’d likely need a finish to have a shot at getting onto the UFC roster, Scott worked the body with hard kicks and combinations and got the stoppage win in the final round. White overlooked the weight miss and gave Scott a contract.
Ramiro Jimenez came through with a precision performance in the opening matchup of the night, stopping Tommy Cuozzi by technical knockout midway through the opening round.
Jimenez repeatedly fired kicks into the midsection of Cuozzi before dropping him with a straight left hand. Cuozzi showed heart and recovered briefly, but Jimenez, who hadn’t fought in roughly 20 months, patiently persisted and continued to damage Cuozzi until referee Herb Dean stepped in and called a halt to the action.
Jimenez is a promising featherweight who improved to 11-0 as a pro with the win.
Jose Delano showed he’s ready for the UFC, picking apart and bloodying Manuel Exposito in Tuesday’s featherweight main event.
Brazil’s Delano pieced up Argentina’s Exposito with crisp, accurate combinations en route to a unanimous decision victory. Delano landed more than 40 significant strikes in the opening round and more than 50 in each of the final two rounds and did so with an incredible 64 per cent accuracy.
Even though he couldn’t secure the finish — largely due to the admirable durability of Exposito — the 28-year-old from Brazilian Top Team flaunted his high-level skill set. It impressed White, plus UFC matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard.
DWCS Season 9, Week 2 Official Results:
-- Jose Delano def. Manuel Exposito by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-- Cameron Rowston def. Brandon Holmes by TKO at 2:58 of Round 1
-- Louis Lee Scott def. Kaushik Saikumar by TKO 2:20 of Round 3
-- Josh Hokit def. Guilherme Uriel by TKO at 1:06 of Round 2
-- Ramiro Jimenez def. Tommy Cuozzi by TKO at 2:53 of Round 1
UFC contract recipients: Ramiro Jimenez, Josh Hokit, Louis Lee Scott, Cameron Rowston, Jose Delano
