Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6, Week 7 Results

September 6, 2022

Rodolfo Bellato and Vitor Petrino, Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6, Week 7 — Rodolfo Bellato vs. Vitor Petrino, Dana White's Contender Series 53 weigh-in Credit: Alex Behunin/Cageside Press

Week seven of Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6 was a family affair for two UFC hopefuls.

Gabriel Bonfim and brother Ismael had been turning heads under the LFA banner of late, stalking the welterweight and lightweight divisions, respectively. With Gabriel boasting a perfect 12-0 record and Ismael a respectable 17-3, there was no question they’d be getting a look from the UFC — and that look came Tuesday night on DWCS.

In addition to the Brazilian brothers, a light heavyweight scrap topped the card, and in a rare twist, the fight happened to be a rematch. That bout saw Rodolfo Bellato take on Vitor Petrino, with the pair running back their 2019 meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The first fight saw Petrino come out victorious, but the bout ended in a knockout just 25 seconds into the night — and with three years having passed, a lot had likely changed.

In heavyweight action, meanwhile, Karl Williams stepped up on short notice to take on Jimmy Lawson.

Dana White’s Contender Series 53 takes place at the UFC Apex on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. The event airs live on ESPN+ in the U.S., and UFC Fight Pass elsewhere. Full results can be found below.

Kicking off the card at flyweight, Tereza Bleda put on a dominant performance against Nayara Maia. A lot of fun grappling exchanges in the opening round let her pull out to an early lead. In the final round, Bleda came close to securing a ground n’ pound finish, but they instead went to the scorecards, with 30-26 scores across the board.

Ismael Bonfim and Nariman Abbasov had a wild opening round, with Bonfim really putting it to his opponent. He found success with his hands, not to mention knees, and worked over the body, rocking Abbasov several times. An incredibly durable Abbasov managed to survive the round, where lesser man (and chins) would have faltered. The next two rounds were competitive, but the damage was showing on Abbasov at the end of the fight. Bonfim’s victory was never really in question.

Despite stepping up on short notice and being outweighed by 30 pounds or so, Karl Williams won a three-round unanimous decision over Jimmy Lawson in the third fight of the evening.

Gabriel Bonfim almost certainly secured himself a UFC deal care of a Von Flue choke submission inside of a round against Trey Waters. Waters had latched on with a guillotine choke of his own, only to see it backfire when Bonfim broke out the Von Flue.

Vitor Petrino capped off the night by again defeating Rodolfo Bellato, though it took him a little longer to do it this time. The end came in the second round, care of a thunderous knockout on the feet. Petrino said following the fight that “surely this is the biggest knockout of my career.”