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. This episode however will cover a rare three-peat.
Torrez “The Punisher” Finney (9-0 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)
Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: Cam Rowston (8-2)
Third DW Contender Series Fight: 2024 (Week 8)
Third DW Contender Series Opponent: Abdellah Er-Ramy (7-1)
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. Finney 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 sub finish on his opponent in a bout that impressed many.
Five fighters received contracts on Finney’s week of DWCS. With Week 10 of 2023 being a six-fight Contender Series card, every winner on the card received a UFC contract, except Finney. 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 CES, which is based out of Rhode Island, USA. Panferov 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 competed one time.
In May, Finney fought Tyson Jeffries on a Combat Night card which is 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.
Second Contender Series Fight/Opponent
For Finney’s shot at redemption on the Contender Series he took on Cam Rowston. Rowstown was riding a 5-fight win streak and also finished all five of those opponents. He had also stopped all eight of his pro MMA wins heading into the bout
Rowston’s only losses in pro MMA were to future UFC veteran Jacob Malkoun in 2017 and future ONE Championship fighter Isi Fitikefu in 2018.
Finney was able to secure a unanimous decision victory in his second Contender Series appearance.
The Second Road Back
Immediately following his second fight on the Contender Series, Finney was notified that he would not be receiving a UFC contract. Out of the five winners on Week 2, Finney was the only winner to not to receive a contract once again. He was also notified right away, rather gruffly (by UFC President Dana White) that he would be invited back to compete later on the same season and that his contract denial had to do with his short stature, and lack of activity between DWCS appearances, having only fought once. White stated that Finney would be “decimated” in the UFC’s middleweight division.
So, for that reason, Finney has not had any fights between his second and scheduled third appearances on the Contender Series.
Torrez Finney’s Third and Final (?) Shot
For Torrez Finney’s presumably last shot on the Contender Series, he will be taking on Abdellah Er-Ramy. Abdellah is riding a six-fight win streak. In his last fight he competed under the PFL banner stopping his 5-1 opponent in just over two minutes back in March of 2023. Abdellah has gone the distance just one time in his pro MMA career was also stopped in his only career fight. At 6’0″ tall he’s another fighter that will tower over the shorter Torrez, and it’ll be up to “The Punisher” go a flawless 3-0 on DWCS and prove that his stature is a non-factor, and he deserves a UFC contract. Finney will need to utilize his wrestling once again and show that he can neutralize the taller man.
