Ten contracts in two weeks: Dana White’s Contender Series was off to a banging start in season seven.
That five UFC contracts per week pace would not be met in week three, however, after one fight fell through at Monday’s weigh-ins. That, unfortunately, was the highly anticipated showdown between Luciano Pereira and Felipe dos Santos.
With Pereira pulling out of the fight due to medical issues, dos Santos has already been given the golden ticket to the UFC: he’ll replace Kai Kara-France against Manel Kape at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia next month.
In the meantime, four fights are a go for Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7 Episode 3. Those include a battle of undefeated middleweight prospects in Zachary Reese versus Eli Aronov. Ahead of the fight, Reese told Cageside Press that he was gunning for the first-round finish. Not only would that help impress Dana White, but “it’s how I take my mentality to training and fighting and stuff. Just looking for finishes, looking for checkmates the entire time.”
After a couple of early starts due to The Ultimate Fighter 31, which has now concluded, Dana White’s Contender Series airs a little later in the night this week. It kicks off at 8PM ET airing live on ESPN+ in the U.S., and UFC Fight Pass elsewhere. Full results can be found below.
Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 3 Results
Middleweight: Zachary Reese def. Eli Aronov by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 1:14
Welterweight: Oban Elliott def. Kaik Brito by majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
Women’s Strawweight: Josefine Knutsson def. Isis Verbeek by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Featherweight: Luis Pajuelo def. Robbie Ring by TKO, Round 1, 3:43
Contract winners: Luis Pajuelo, Oban Elliott, Zachary Reese
