Touted prospect Kurtis Campbell impresses in Week 8 of Contender Series

England’s Kurtis Campbell is a touted featherweight prospect who improved to 8-0 as a pro with a quick technical knockout victory on Week 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series.

The 23-year-old quelled an aggressive early attack from Senegal’s Demba Seck and secured a takedown before landing a swift knee along the fence as Seck attempted to get back to his feet. A few follow-up elbows later and the referee halted the action.

UFC president Dana White made a “signing a contract” gesture to Campbell while sitting cageside, leaving no doubts the youngster would be joining the UFC roster after the win.

Campbell was one of four fighters to earn UFC contracts based on their performances Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Canadian bantamweight Louis Jourdain got his hand raised after a well-rounded showing against Brazil’s Magno Dias.

In fact, White described Jourdain’s performance as an “absolute masterpiece.”

The 28-year-old from Beloeil, Que., is the younger brother of UFC veteran Charles Jourdain, who was in attendance serving as his brother’s cornerman.

Jourdain came out strong, picking Dias apart on the feet and dropping him with a step-in elbow in the opening round. Dias had some brief success on the ground attempting a rear-naked choke, but Jourdain defended intelligently.

Jourdain showed off a variety of skills during the bout, landing a flying knee and several damaging low kicks. In Round 3, he decided to show off his ground game as he locked up a rear-naked choke and forced a tap from his opponent. 

Dias is a member of the Fighting Nerds team and had UFC middleweight Caio Borralho in his corner. He fell to 6-2 and has never gone the distance in his MMA career.

Damian Pinas also made a statement with a big knockout of Vitor Costa at middleweight. Pinas landed a flush right hand early in the first round that sent Costa to the canvas as he cruised to winning a UFC contract.

Christopher Alvidrez became the first fighter to defeat Eliezer Kubanza, picking up a first-round TKO over his durable opponent in a welterweight contest.

Alvidrez was coming off a first-round stoppage of UFC veteran Takashi Sato in April that earned him a shot on the Contender Series.

Russia’s Rashid Vagabov was the biggest betting favourite on the card, but Brazil’s Paulo Henrique da Silva gave a solid account of himself over three rounds in flyweight action in the opening bout of the night. Vagabov swept the scorecards but it was not enough to impress White and earn a shot in the UFC. Henrique had former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in his corner.

DWCS Season 9, Week 8 Official Results:

-- Damian Pinas def. Vitor Costa by knockout at 1:46 of Round 1 

-- Louis Jourdain def. Magno Dias by submission (rear-naked choke) at 0:39 of Round 3

-- Christopher Alvidrez def. Eliezer Kubanza by TKO at 4:44 of Round 1

-- Kurtis Campbell def. Demba Seck by TKO at 1:20 of Round 1

-- Flyweight Rashid Vagabov def. Paulo Henrique da Silva by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

UFC contract recipients: Damian Pinas, Louis Jourdain, Christopher Alvidrez, Kurtis Campbell