Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7 continued on Tuesday night with Week 7 featuring a pair of undefeated heavyweights, a top flyweight prospect out of Brazil, and a decorated grappling star all in action.
The undefeated heavyweights in question were Shmil Ghaziev (10-0) and Greg Velasco (6-0), the latter a Cage Fury FC champion. The only downside to the match-up was that one of them would have to lose and be denied a UFC deal — given how desperate the promotion is for heavyweights, it might have been a better idea to just sign the pair of them outright.
Talita Alencar, meanwhile, brought some serious jiu-jitsu credentials with her to this week’s DWCS outing. But whether she had the wrestling to get Stephanie Luciano down in order to use her BJJ was another question entirely.
Igor Da Silva, a 20-year old flyweight out of Brazil, was a hot prospect at 7-0, but would be getting a solid opponent in Jhonata Silva.
Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 7 gets underway at 8PM ET on ESPN+ in the U.S., and UFC Fight Pass elsewhere. Full results can be found below.
To kick off Tuesday nights action, Igor Da Silva put away Jhonata Silva on the feet after storming out of the gate in the second round. One fight later, it was Kaynan Kruschewsky enduring a bit of early adversity before submitting Dylan Mantello inside of a round.
In the lone women’s fight of the night, Talita Alencar found some success with her takedowns but struggled to impose her will with her highly touted jiu-jitsu game, thanks in part to Stephanie Luciano’s length and flexibility. Then, in the third, with Alencar tiring, Luciano came on strong, lighting Alencar up at times but making the questionable decision to engage on the ground repeatedly. Some Fight IQ issues there to be sure, but Luciano came close to finishing and did enough to earn a 10-8 round, making the fight a draw.
Daniel James would go on to win a unanimous decision over JaCobi Jones, pulling off the upset, while Shamil Gaziev didn’t take long to submit CFFC champ Greg Velasco. Velasco didn’t seem able to fight the hands and quickly tapped when the big man took his back.
Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 7 Results
Heavyweight: Shamil Gaziev def. Greg Velasco by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:38
Lightweight: Daniel James Allen def. JaCobi Jones by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Women’s Strawweight: Talita Alencar vs. Stephanie Luciano ends in a unanimous draw (28-28, 28-28, 28-28)
Lightweight: Kaynan Kruschewsky def. Dylan Mantello by technical submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:52
Flyweight: Igor da Silva def. Jhonata Silva by TKO (strikes), Round 2, 2:37
Contract Winners: Igor da Silva, Kaynan Kruschewsky, Stephanie Luciano, Shamil Gaziev
