Tommy Cuozzi vs Ramiro Jimenez

Round 1 – Right out of the gate, Jimenez pops Cuozzi with a left that appears to hurt him. He sticks kicks to the body as well, looking to get Cuozzi to drop his hands. Cuozzi looks to counter with some forward pressure, but is quickly detered with another hard left. Cuozzi is back on jelly-legs. Jimenez marches him down and lands a bunch of lefts. He adds a head kick, and another. In the clinch, he switches to some elbows on the temple and Herb Dean has to wave it off.

Official Result: Ramiro Jimenez def. Tommy Cuozzi by TKO (Strikes) – Round 1 (2:53)

Josh Hokit vs Guilherme Uriel

Round 1 – Uriel comes out with some feints and looking to throw hands. Hokit quickly gets a tie up and goes for the takedown. Uriel grabs the fence and gets a warning, but then Hokit brings him to the floor. Uriel makes it back to his feet, but it’s rinse and repeat for Hokit, who hits at least a half down mat returns before getting any kind of offense off. After three minutes of that, Uriel breaks the hands. He lands a leg kick and a big shot before Hokit shoots again. These two takedowns get stuffed and Uriel lands again. One more tie up and Uriel gets ahead of himself and Hokit winds up with top half. He spends the last 30 seconds there. The control and late onslaught does it for Hokit. 10-9 Hokit

Round 2 – Hokit takes an early takedown with no resistance from Uriel and immediately starts to open up on the mat. Uriel does land an up kick, but the exhuastion of Uriel is apparent. Hokit lands a couple of elbows and Uriel turns away.

Official Result: Josh Hokit def. Guilherme Uriel by TKO (Strikes) – Round 2 (1:06)

Louis Lee Scott vs Kaushik Saikumar

Round 1 – Lee Scott coming out looking to get the striking going. Saikumar finds an early opening and drops for a leg lock. He gets deep on some entanglements, but Lee Scott keeps his knee safe. He eventually separates and forces Saikumar to stand. Lee Scott is again doing the bulk of the work on the feet. He lands a spinning back kick and tries for another, but Saikumar catches the back the second time and jumps to back mount. He finishes the round standing there with a body triangle and that’s likely enough to win the round. Saikumar 10-9

Round 2 – Lee Scott again with the agression straight out of the gate. He lands the bigger shots, but when he raises a knee to land, Saikumar uses it to create another scramble. In there, he gets in on another leg, but Lee Scott does the smart things and gets himself back to safety on the feet. We wind up back up against the cage with Lee Scott landing elbows with inside control. Lee Scott gets going with the leg kicks, but Saikumar finds another of them as an opening to make it in on an entry. Lee Scott finds his way out again, but this time uses to land strikes from top. The damage was clear and Lee Scott should take it. Lee Scott 10-9

Round 3 – Lee Scott comes out again with more leg kicks. He throws a jump knee that appears to catch the cup of Saikumar and we get a quick break in the action. More combinations from Lee Scott on the restart and throwing to all levels. He hurts him to the body with a step in knee and then throws a spinning back kick. Saikumar catches him and nearly takes the back, but Lee Scott breaks away this time. He opens back up with more combinations and hurts Saikumar to the body. Saikumar turns away and Lee Scott pours it on.

Official Result: Louis Lee Scott def. Kaushik Saikumar by TKO (Strikes) – Round 3 (2:20)

Brandon Holmes vs Cam Rowston

Round 1 – Holmes rips a pair of hooks immediately that wake Rowston up. The Aussie tries to find range with a couple of kicks, but Holmes lands a few of his own. After exchanging on the feet for a bit, Rowston shoots a takedown. Holmes looks to hit a counter and come out the back. He doesn’t succeed, but makes it back to his feet. The shot gives Rowston confidence, and he throws the straight left and it connects. Holmes starts backpedaling and eats a few more. Holmes on wobbly leg. A big shot from Rowston sends Holmes to the mat and Blake Grice has seen enough.

Official Result: Cam Rowston def. Brandon Holmes by TKO (Strikes) – Round 1 (2:58)

Manuel Exposito vs Jose Delano

Round 1 – These two come out swinging, but the head movement is keeping Delano as the more successful fighter. Exposito hits a few here and there, but Delano is playing matador with him a bit. A big left lands for Delano and he surprisingly shoots. He comes up empty and they reset. He lands some work to the body and another upstairs, and Exposito shoots. He seems in, but Delano counters with a kimura and nearly a crucifix before they scramble back to the feet. Delano really finds his range and begins to beat Exposito down. He lands a elbow to the nose and Exposito is bleeding. Another left encourages Exposito to shoot again and they scramble to the bell. Delano 10-9

Round 2 – Exposito looks a little more defensively minded to kick off the second. That forces Delano to work behind his jab a hit more and work to the body. After eating a few, the old aggressive Exposito comes back out. He shoots a takedown, but can’t get underneath. He’s eating everything that Delano throws – lefts, kicks, elbows. Another shot late for Exposito, but he winds up against the cage and eats more elbows as the horn sounds. Delano 10-9

Round 3 – Exposito comes out looking frash and aggressive. He gets a right to land for himself, but them immediately becomes the punching bag again. Delano lands at will. More lefts. More body shots. He puts toegther a five-punch combination that ends up top. Exposito’s face is a mess. Despite all of this, Exposito is still throwing back with bad intentions. Delano closes the fight with his foot on the gas and closes around 150 significant strikes landed. Clear win for the Brazilian. Delano 10-9

Official Result: Jose Delano def. Manuel Exposito by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Contract Winners:

• Ramiro Jimenez
• Josh Hokit
• Louis Lee Scott
• Cam Rowston
• Jose Delano

And for more Dana White’s Contender Series coverage, check out all of the work here on Cageside Press. We have interviews with the fighters as well as analysis of those getting a second chance on Tuesday.

The post Dana White’s Contender Series 2025: Week 2 – Play-by-Play & Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Do not expect another crazy turnaround like that any time soon. But Susurkaev, who trains alongside Khamzat Chimaev, has certainly set a high bar for this latest Contender Series season. Week 2 features several undefeated talents and other hot prospects – here’s a look.

Featherweight, Jose Delano (15-3) Vs. Manuel Exposito (13-2)

Notable notes

• Exposito has won via KO/TKO, Submission, and Decision
• Exposito has won in rounds one, two, and three
• Exposito is 0-2 in the US
• Delano is 6-1 in the LFA cage
• Delano has won via KO/TKO, Submission, and Decision, but losses by all three as well
• Delano’s only loss in ten years is to UFC fighter Gabriel Santos

Jose Delano

Delano is a high-level fighter who would likely already be in the UFC if not for his struggles with making weight. His loss to Gabriel Santos was almost a blueprint for how to beat him; Santos effectively neutralized Delano’s movement with leg kicks and consistently beat him to the punch.

Delano’s game is built around his footwork. His cage craft and lateral movement are top-tier, especially his ability to glide side to side. Even when he’s pressuring, he’s not blindly following. He mirrors his opponent, maintaining angles and staying active. While he’s not the fastest striker, he compensates with surgical accuracy and a wide variety of strikes. At range, he makes life difficult with a sharp jab and punishing lead leg kicks. Off his back foot, he’s a dangerous counter striker who can flip the momentum in a heartbeat.

His takedown defense has come a long way, showing clear improvements over time. He sprawls with excellent timing and makes smart use of underhooks in the clinch. Speaking of the clinch, Delano is a real problem there— vicious with knees and especially nasty with elbows.

Delano has all the tools to succeed at the UFC level. I’m not going to call him a future champion (that’s always impossible to predict) but I do see him cracking the top 15 at featherweight down the line.

Manuel Exposito

Exposito dropped two straight fights less than two years ago, and while he’s bounced back with three wins, the level of competition has been low. Those losses revealed some major red flags. When faced with real adversity, he tends to wilt. If he can’t get the takedown, he becomes a liability on the feet, lacking head movement, with poor hand placement, and flawed footwork.

While he does have some grappling ability, he’s more of a scrambler than a dominant wrestler. His wrestling and top control don’t really complement his overall style. Technically, Exposito is just too limited to break through even at the higher regional level. He lacks striking fundamentals, has virtually no striking defense, struggles with cardio, and doesn’t offer reliable takedown defense. Outside of being a guillotine threat, his ground game doesn’t offer much either.

Prediction: I fully expect Delano to look every bit like a -600 favorite. For Exposito to have any chance, he’ll need to either drag this fight to the mat or capitalize on a rare mistake, most likely looking to snatch a guillotine. The problem is, Delano’s takedown defense is exceptional, and Exposito has shown a tendency to mentally unravel when things don’t go his way.

The striking gap here is massive. Delano’s jab and leg kicks are going to pile up early and create the kind of damage that quickly breaks Exposito down. I’m extremely confident in Delano to get the finish. I’m calling a first-round TKO.

The post DWCS 2025: Episode 2 Breakdown and Predictions appeared first on Cageside Press.