Five for five: Every winner on Contender Series gets a UFC deal
Dana White’s Contender Series history was made Tuesday.
For the first time in the show’s three-year history, every winner earned a UFC contract from White, the promotion president. The five fighters who will be signed: Jonathan Pearce, Maki Pitolo, Hunter Azure, Antonio Trocoli and Joseph Solecki.
“Tonight is what this show was designed for, why I created it,” White said afterward.
Of those five fighters, four had finishes on the third episode of the third DWCS season, which is held at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Solecki and Trocoli had first-round submission wins, Pitolo won by first-round TKO, and Pearce took home a third-round TKO.
All five fights went to decision two weeks ago on the show’s previous episode.
Here’s a fight-by-fight look at one of the best evenings in Contender Series history:
Joseph Solecki def. Jesse Wallace by first-round submission
Solecki got ahold of Wallace’s back in a scramble, stuck there, then made his way into a guillotine. Wallace tried to roll over, but Solecki maintained his grip on his opponent’s neck and got into mount.
Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card in Sacramento, California, will feature one of MMA’s top rising stars and a legend making a return. The unbeaten Aspen Ladd will be in her first UFC main event, facing Germaine de Randamie, with bantamweight title implications on the line. Prior to that, hometown hero Urijah Faber will enter the Octagon for the first time in more than two years to face up-and-comer Ricky Simon.
UFC Fight Night: De Randamie vs. Ladd
• Saturday, Sacramento, California
• Prelims: ESPN+ 5 p.m. ET
• Main card: ESPN+ 8 p.m. ET
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Wallace, with absolutely nowhere to go, went to sleep.
The time of the submission victory was 3 minutes, 49 seconds of the first round in the lightweight main event.
Solecki (8-2) has won three straight, and six of his career wins have come by submission.
The 25-year-old North Carolina native’s wife, Kacey Lynn, was in tears afterward. Solecki credited her with making sacrifices, sticking with him and enduring “a lot of broke nights.”
Wallace (9-3) had won four in a row coming in.
Antonio Trocoli def. Kenneth Bergh by first-round submission
Trocoli was sporting a massive hematoma on his foot after the bout, and he said he thought he broke it in the opening minutes. That did not deter him at all.
Trocoli took down Bergh with an overhook trip, got his opponent’s back and put on a devastating squeeze with a neck crank. Bergh tapped at 3:57 of the first round.
Trocoli (12-3) has won three straight following a three-fight losing streak. The 28-year-old Brazilian has turned his career around since moving up from welterweight. He is 6-foot-5 and fought here at light heavyweight, though he has discussed going to middleweight in the UFC.
Bergh (6-1) had never lost in an official MMA bout, but fell to Eric Spicely on Season 23 of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2016.
Hunter Azure def. Chris Ocon by unanimous decision
Out of all the impressive performances Tuesday, Azure might have had the one that looked the most ready for the UFC’s elite level. The well-rounded Azure battered Ocon with leg kicks, dominated him with wrestling and grappling, and wobbled him with punches in a complete effort en route to the unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).
White praised Ocon’s abilities, saying he had very few holes in his game. The ones he did have were exploited by Azure.
Azure (7-0) looks like a very promising prospect in the bantamweight division. The 27-year-old Arizona resident trains out of The MMA Lab.
Ocon (4-1) is 23 years old, and White remained very high on him.
Maki Pitolo def. Justin Sumter by first-round TKO
Pitolo won with a relentless punching assault against the cage, which he calls “Coconut Bombz.”
He landed a long combination on Sumter, culminating with five hard left hands to the body, and Sumter folded up for a TKO win at 1:37 of the first round of the middleweight bout.
Sumter rocked the smaller Pitolo early, but Pitolo came back and absolutely put it on him.
White said Pitolo is likely best suited for the welterweight division and said he’s excited for him to go to the UFC Performance Institute and learn how to cut weight properly.
Pitolo (12-4), a longtime training partner of UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway, has won three straight, all by finish. The 28-year-old Hawaiian had UFC veteran Yancy Medeiros in his corner.
Sumter (7-3) lost to Ian Heinisch on Dana White’s Contender Series last season.
Jonathan Pearce def. Jacob Rosales by third-round TKO
Rosales seemed to have the fight well in hand by the end of the first round. He wobbled Pearce with some big punches and nearly snared a power guillotine choke.
Pearce, though, would not be denied.
The MMA Lab product put the pressure on Rosales in the second and third, and Rosales, tiring, had no answers.
Pearce landed countless uppercuts and hooks on the inside and from range, with Rosales backing up. The finish came at 1:50 of the third round when Pearce wound up and landed a crushing right hand to a prone Rosales. Referee Herb Dean came in for the stoppage when he noticed Rosales was briefly knocked out.
Pearce (9-3) has won five straight after learning that he had a fracture in his neck and took time off to treat it. The 27-year-old Tennessee native had finished every single one of those five victories.
Rosales (11-5), a 23-year-old California native, had won four straight coming in.