Week three of this year’s Dana White’s Contender Series arrived on Tuesday with standout NCAA Division I wrestling champion Bo Nickal in tow.
Nickal (1-0), who had a couple of amateur fights before turning pro, was set to join Danyelle Wolf and Greg Hardy as one of the least experienced fighters in DWCS history. Of course, both of those names made it to the UFC (Wolf is expected to debut later this year, while Hardy, in two appearances on the show, wound up with a developmental deal followed by a 10-fight stint in the UFC culminating in his release earlier this year).
Up against Nickal on Tuesday was Zachary Borrego — who threw a wrench in the works by missing weight for the fight.
Also featured on the latest episode of the Contender Series, Jamal Pogues was returning to the show. The Bellator MMA vet had first appeared on DWCS in 2019, winning his fight only to be denied a contract with the UFC.
Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6 Week 3 goes down live at the UFC Apex on Tuesday, August 9, 2022. The card airs on ESPN+ in the U.S., and UFC Fight Pass elsewhere. Full results can be found below.
The only fight to feature the ladies at DWCS 49 went the distance. Karolina Wojcik controlled the bulk of the fight with her grappling, bullying Sandra Lavado up against the cage. Not a whole lot of offense until the end of round three, with Wojczik threatening with a rear-naked choke but unable to finish.
The second fight of the evening saw flyweights Clayton Carpenter and Edgar Chairez go the distance, with Carpenter picking up the unanimous decision win. The first round saw Carpenter down, but he battled back from adversity to pick up the win.
The first finish of the evening saw Erik Silva get Anvar Boynazarov down early, then smash away with elbows and some heavy punches to seal the deal — almost certainly landing himself a UFC contract.
In his second appearance on the Contender Series, Jamal Pogues went the distance once again, winning a unanimous decision against Paulo Renato Jr.
Bo Nickal did exactly what was expected on Tuesday: he dominated Zachary Borrego, who missed weight for the middleweight fight. Nickal came out, got the fight down, locked on a guillotine, and when he couldn’t finish with that, took the back and sunk in a rear-naked choke to seal the deal. It all took little more than a minute.
Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6, Week Results
Middleweight: Bo Nickal def. Zachary Borrego by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 1:02
Heavyweight: Jamal Pogues def. Paulo Renato Jr. by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Featherweight: Erik Silva def. Anvar Boynazarov by knockout, Round 1, 1:32
Flyweight: Clayton Carpenter def. Edgar Cháirez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Women’s Strawweight: Karolina Wójcik def. Sandra Lavado by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Contract Winners: Clayton Carpenter, Erik Silva, Jamal Pogues. Bo Nickal will get a second fight on DWCS later this season.
