Dana White’s Contender Series began back in 2017. Since then, the Contender Series has produced some big-name upcoming stars like Dan Ige, Sean O’Malley, Geoff Neal, Maycee Barber, and Edmen Shahbazyan. In short, it has been a huge success for finding talent.
A Contender Series fight is one that has stakes like none other, where fighters must showcase their skills to impress the UFC president enough for a contract with the promotional giant. Holding the Contender Series with a smaller cage inside the UFC Apex venue makes for a tense atmosphere, and with only close friends and family of the competing fighters in attendance as spectators. Emotions always run high, as a limited number of contracts can be given out on any given night, and many fighters can potentially have their dreams snubbed out solely because of bad luck.
In rare cases, however, a fighter gets a second look. This series will examine those.
Torrez “The Punisher” Finney (8-2 MMA)
Age: 25 years old
Height: 5’8″ / Reach: 75.5″
Weight Class: Middleweight (185lbs.)
First DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2023 (Week 10)
Old DW’s Contender Series Opponent: Yuri Panferov (7-1 MMA)
Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2024 (Week 2)
New Opponent: Cam Rowston (8-2)
First Contender Series Fight
Torrez Finney entered his first fight on the Contender Series having never tasted defeat in his MMA career. 5-0 as an amateur with four finishes and 6-0 as a pro with five finishes he was off to a stellar start in his career. The combined record of Finney’s pro opponents at the time he fought them was 20-28 (his second opponent was 1-12 but he had two fights against fighters with winning records).
Torrez scored a second-round rear naked choke finish on his opponent in a bout that impressed many.
Five fighters received contracts on Finney’s week of the CS. With Week 10 of 2023 being a six-fight Contender Series card, every other winner on the card received a UFC contract. Even Connor Matthews and Andre Lima who did not score stoppages in their respective bouts.
First Contender Series Opponent
For Torrez Finney’s first appearance on the Contender Series, he took on then 6-0, Yuri Panferov. Yuri entered the fight having stopped all six of his opponents in the first round and on the ground. Four of his five finishes were by submission. But none of Yuri’s opponents had a winning record with the combined record of his opponents at the time of competition being: 14-21
Since his appearance on the Contender Series Yuri has competed in MMA just one time. Panferov went back to the CES of Rhode Island, US and stopped Rocky Edwards in two rounds. It was Yuri’s first win over an opponent with a winning record as Rocky was 12-10-1 heading into the bout in February.
The Road Back
In the nearly 10 months since his first appearance on the Contender Series Finney has competed one time.
In May Finney fought Tyson Jeffries on Combat Night a Florida, US based promotion. Torrez KO’d Jeffries in just over 90 seconds. Jeffries, a two-fight veteran of Bellator and six-fight veteran of M-1 Global, entered the fight with a 15-12 record.
Gameplan/ New Opponent
For Finney’s shot at redemption on the Contender Series he will be taking on Cam Rowston. Cam is on a 5-fight win streak dating back to August of 2018. Rowston also finished all 5 of those opponents and has stopped all eight of his pro MMA wins.
Rowston won the Northern Beaches Combat Sports Promotions middleweight championship in 2019. And in his most recent bout won the Shuriken Fight Series light heavyweight championship. Rowston submitted his 3-6 opponent in the third round of the bout by rear naked choke.
Cam Rowston’s two professional MMA losses are to future UFC veteran Jacob Malkoun in 2017 and future ONE Championship fighter Isi Fitikefu in 2018. He has a pro mauy thai bout on his record and looks like he will be a game adversary for Torrez Finney.
