Lopes was 1-1 in the UFC coming into the fight, hoping to rebound from a loss against Dustin Jacoby last May.

Stirling took the center of the octagon to open the striking, landing a high volume of low kicks before mixing in a few jabs to Lopes’ chest. Lopes answered with a couple of low kicks of his own, then began working his boxing, landing a clean hook on Stirling’s chin.

As the two men went back and forth, Navajo Stirling responded to Lopes’ offense with a slicing high kick that partially landed on his opponent’s head. Slightly rocked, Bruno Lopes shot for a takedown, but it was quickly denied by the City Kickboxing prospect. Oozing confidence, Stirling continued to land at a steady clip on the feet. Before the end of the round, Lopes attempted two more takedowns, but again Stirling proved to be the better man, using his athleticism to muscle out of Lopes’ grasp.

Round two began with Stirling pushing the pace early, this time landing a beautiful flush knee to the body that drew a reaction from the “Brazilian Cowboy.” With Stirling leading the dance, Bruno Lopes continued to change levels in search of a takedown, but he was repeatedly denied.

With an exhausted Bruno Lopes in range, Stirling landed his biggest strikes of the night: a combination of right and left hooks that sent the Brazilian to the ground. Stirling followed up with a barrage of strikes, and to Dominick Cruz’s pleasure, referee Keith Peterson gave Lopes every opportunity to escape the hellfire Stirling was bringing.

After a full minute of brutal ground-and-pound, the fight was finally waved off, with Navajo Stirling emerging victorious.

Stirling remains undefeated as he earns his first UFC knockout, calling out Ion Cuțelaba for his next matchup in the light heavyweight division.

Official Result: Navajo Stirling def. Bruno Lopes by TKO (ground n’ pound), Round 2, 4:05

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Instead, the co-main event between the #7 ranked lightweight Mateusz Gamrot and an unranked L’udovit Klein served unknowingly as the three-round main event. Two of the five fights on the main card produced finishes. Fights were scratched last second and a bout between ranked contenders was moved up an entire weight class. Losers coming off of this card are mostly middle of the pack fighters with only one potentially in danger of being cut.

L’udovit Klein

Mateusz Gamrot showed off his elite grappling on the way to a unanimous decision victory over L’udovit Klein in the last fight of the night on Saturday. The loss snapped a seven-fight unbeaten streak for Klein dating back to his 2021 loss to Nate Landwehr. Klein is now 7-3-1 with the UFC since he was signed in 2020. Klein stepped up to fight a game #7 ranked lightweight and unfortunately for him, he came up well short in the massive opportunity.

Klein’s next fight should be against Drakkar Klose. Drakkar is 9-3 with the promotion since being signed in 2017. Klose was riding a 4-fight win streak until he was stopped in the first round by Joel Alvarez in their fight in December of 2024. Alvarez is now ranked at #15 within the lightweight division so it’s a win that’s aged fine for Klose.

L’udovit is now in a similar position, after having his streak snapped last night. Both fighters share high action, striking styles and this could easily be a co main event for a fight night card. Even has the potential to grace the main card of a pay-per-view. Winner of this bout would undoubtedly be competing for a ranking next to their name in the following bout. Loser might not be in such a bad space either, depending on how the fight goes. This has the makings to be one of those “all-time” type of bouts.

Klein’s next fight: Drakkar Klose

Billy Ray Goff

Ramiz Brahimaj landed a slick submission in the opening round of his fight with Billy Ray Goff on Saturday. Billy Ray Goff is now 1-2 with the UFC, and on a two-fight skid. Goff, a former CES Middleweight champion, received a UFC contract after a successful appearance on the Contender Series in 2022.

Brahimaj was not Billy’s original opponent, it was actually Seokhyeon Ko who had to withdraw due to visa issues.

Billy should take on a fighter like Pete Rodriguez next. Bassil Hafez who is also 1-2 with the promotion could also be a reasonable choice. However, Hafez, because of his grappling-submission based style would be a matchup Goff would be smart to avoid.  Pete is just 5-2 in his pro MMA career and 1-2 in the UFC. Pete’s last time out was against Themba Gorimbo in February of 2024 where he was smoked in a little over 30 seconds. Pete has a super striking heavy style and a fight with Goff would have a good chance of some fireworks. Rodriguez has never made it out of the first round in any of his fights. And Pete also made his UFC debut against the current welterweight champion, in Jack Della Maddalena back in January of 2022.

Goff’s next fight: Pete Rodriguez 

Bruno Lopes

Dustin Jacoby melted Bruno Lopes in the first round of what was an extremely entertaining fight, while it lasted, at UFC Vegas 107. Tough outcome for Bruno who has faced a lot of adversity in his stint fighting for the UFC and on the Contender Series. A two-time Contender Series competitor, Bruno was signed to the promotion last August. Lopes is now 1-1 with the UFC after he won his debut opposite of the then undefeated, Magomed Gadzhiyasulov, in January.

All things considered, the next matchup for Bruno should be a guy like Vitor Petrino. Vitor is also Contender Series alum but is 4-2 with the UFC. After starting off hot, Vitor has now been finished in two straight fights. Most recently by Dustin Jacoby back in December. But Petrino is already booked to take on Austen Lane in July. Lane, who is also a two-time Contender Series vet is 1-3, 1 NC with the UFC. Lane has been stopped in all of those losses as well. Austen saved his UFC career with his win over Robelis Despaigne last year. Even with that fact in mind, a devastating loss to Vitor could spell the end of his UFC career. For that reason, it’s best to give Burno the winner of this fight which goes down in Nashville on July 12th. Guaranteed violence, guaranteed finish, if this fight is made.

Lopes’s next fight: Vitor Petrino vs Austen Lane Winner

Macy Chiasson

Ketlen Vieira grinded out a unanimous decision against Macy Chiasson on the main card of UFC Vegas 107. A rare women’s featherweight bout- which was changed last second due to Vieira. And the discrepancy in weight was very apparent. This is a fight that had already been canceled twice before (2024-Vieira withdraw, 2025- Chiasson withdraw). Vieira is ranked at #3 in the bantamweight division while Macy is ranked at #5. Goes without saying that the performance was unfair due to the weight cut factor.

Macy’s next fight should be revisiting her canceled fight from July of 2023, against Yana Santos. That fight was cancelled because Chiasson withdrew. Since then, both women have gone 2-1.  Only difference is that Chiasson lost her most recent fight while Yana lost the first after the pair’s cancelled bout. In July of 2023, Yana lost a split decision to Karol Rosa who is now ranked at #10. Santos defeated now #15 ranked, Chelsea Chandler in April of last year and most recently defeated #13 ranked, Miesha Tate on May 3rd. This fight makes a lot of sense for both women at this point in their careers and would be extremely relevant to the women’s #5-10 rankings.

Chiasson’s next fight: Yana Santos

Dusko Todorovic

Zach Reese out-damaged his opponent, Dusko Todorovic, on his way to a unanimous decision victory to open the main card of UFC Vegas 107 on Saturday. Dusko has now lost three fights in a row and is 3-6 with the promotion. None of Todorovic’s victories are still with the promotion (Dequan Townsend, Maki Pitolo, Jordan Wright). Though it’s worth noting that Dusko does have a 2018 first round stoppage victory over Michel Pereira for the SBC middleweight championship. The 2019 Contender Series alum is definitely on the hot seat. But it might take one more loss to get him cut from the UFC’s barren middleweight division.

The fight to make next would be for Dusko to take on Dustin Stolzfus. Sticking to a pick in a previous edition of losers, especially after the clinch-heavy, grappling-type performance turned in by Todorovic on Saturday. Dusko should fight Dustin Stolzfus next. Stolzfus is also 3-6 with the promotion. Though two of his victories are still with the UFC (Punahele Soriano, Marc-Andre Barriault, but not Dwight Grant). Dustin also competed on the Contender Series and the two share a common opponent in Punahele Soriano.

This fight has barn burner written all over it, and there would be a high chance of a finish. Two guys with high-action, all-out styles that aren’t afraid to mix the arts. A good fight to make for the fans. Timing would match up as well as Dustin just lost a unaimous decision to Nursulton Ruziboev on May 17th. Loser might get cut.

Todorovic’s next fight: Dustin Stolzfus

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Jacoby, a.k.a. “The Hanyak” (stemming from a Polish term to describe rebellious, aggressive soldiers), entered off a win over Vitor Petrino, while Lopes had won three straight dating back to his LFA days including a Contender Series fight and his UFC debut.

In the opening moments Lopes pressed Jacoby back to the cage forcing the former Glory Kickboxer to fight of the back foot. Moments later Lopes walked into a left jab that put him on wobbly legs. Jacoby pounced on the staggered Lopes who ate multiple punches against the cage. Lopes showing a good chin ate shot after shot until a sharp right hand from Jacoby dropped the Brazilian fighter to the canvas.

A statement victory for Jacoby whose won by highlight reel knockout in his last two fights. Jacoby will be moving up the division rankings come next week and has an opportunity to go one another title run. Earning this victory in under two minutes, Dustin Jacoby looks in top form and as good as we have seen him in his UFC career.

Official Result: Dustin Jacoby def. Bruno Lopes by KO, Round 1, 1:50

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His opponent, Magomed Gadzhiyasulov, had entered the fight undefeated, so perhaps the grueling, grinding pace can be forgiven. And despite it being his first fight since winning his way into the UFC on the Contender Series, it seems that Brazil’s Lopes is already thinking about getting his contract renewed.

“I think one of the most difficult things for an athlete in the UFC is to have a contract renewed. And my plan is to ride out those four fights and always have victory in my mind,” he said, addressing media outlets including Cageside Press. “It might have not have been pretty, but the most important thing there was, have my arm raised in the end.”

As for the game plan, “the plan was to nullify and to basically neutralize his strengths,” which included Gadzhiyasulov’s striking and takedown ability. “I knew I needed to pressure him, and if I was able to take him down or get close to him, to inflict some damage.” Lopes believes Gadzhiyasulov’s confidence was sagging near the end, “and I think that at the end, you saw what happened.”

With a victory in his promotional debut, Lopes now hopes to stay busy, and to see action at home in Brazil.

“2025 starts on the right foot, coming off a victory. The idea is to actually have many fights throughout the year. There’s a UFC coming up in Brazil, and I would love to fight in Brazil regardless of it’s a Pay-Per-View or perhaps a Fight Night. It would be great to actually have a crowd, the home crowd yelling my name.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 101 post-fight press conference with Bruno Lopes above.

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The first UFC card of 2025 had Lopes looking to prove he belonged, after earning a shot at the UFC in his second appearance on DWCS (his first had seen him finished by Brendson Ribeiro).

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Ahead of UFC 305 in Australia, and with The Ultimate Fighter 32 still to wrap up, season eight of Dana White’s Contender Series arrived on Tuesday, August 13, 2024 with a five-pack of fights featuring some of the best up-and-coming talent in MMA.

That’s not hyperbole for at least one fight. Though not the featured fight of the evening, the flyweight showdown between An Tuan Ho and Lone’er Kavanagh legitimately featured two of the hottest 125lb prospects around, especially given their age. Either (or at some point, both) had the potential to go far in the promotion, which only recently let one of the best prospects in MMA walk in Muhammad Mokaev.

Bruno Lopes, meanwhile, made his return to the Contender Series on Tuesday as part of Week 1 of Season Eight, taking on Mikheil Sazhiniani. An LFA champ, Lopes (or alternately Sazhiniani) was looking to join a 205lb weight class badly in need of fresh blood.

Where to Watch Dana White’s Contender Series Season 8, Week 1

As always, the new season of DWCS airs live from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, on ESPN+ in the U.S., and Sportsnet/Sportsnet+ in Canada. The card will also be carried on UFC Fight Pass. Full results from the event can be found below.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 8, Week 1 Results

Middleweight: Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Wes Schultz by TKO, Round 2, 3:55
Welterweight: Rami Hamed def. Meng Ding by unanimous decision (30-26*, 29-27, 29-27)
Light Heavyweight: Bruno Lopes def. Mikheil Sazhiniani by TKO, Round 2, 4:14
Featherweight: Jose Degaldo def. Ernie Juarez by KO, 2, 1:25
Flyweight: Lone’er Kavanagh def. An Tuan Ho by KO, Round 1, 2:35

* Score was announced incorrectly as 30-27, as reported by John Morgan

Contract Winners: Lone’er Kavanagh, Jose Degaldo, Bruno Lopes, Mansur Abdul-Malik

The post Dana White’s Contender Series Season 8, Week 1 Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

In a must-see match-up between young prospects, meanwhile, flyweights An Tuan Ho and Lone’er Kavanagh collide.

With the season kicking off, it’s time to break down each fight and give our predictions for episode 1!

Middleweight, Mansur Abdul-Malik (5-0) vs. Wes Schultz (6-1)

Notable Notes

• Both are the same height but Abdul-Malik has a four-inch reach advantage.
• Abdul-Malik has only beaten one person with a winning record (1-0).
• Schultz’s only pro loss comes to UFC fighter Dylan Budka.
• Abdul-Malik has never fought outside round one.
• Abdul-Malik trains out of the predominant camp at MMA Masters.

Pros and Cons

Prediction: Not surprised to see Abdul-Malik on the Contender Series for DWCS 2024 but he’s so raw that he would benefit from gaining more experience. Yet while he is raw, he’s still so athletic and has the wrestling base along with the power to be something special.

Saying that there are concerns. If you watch his pro debut you’ll see those concerns. He wasn’t setting anything up, was reckless, and got dropped. He’s grown since then but there are still a lot of unanswered questions that remain.

Wes Schultz would be the complete opposite. He’s seasoned and we’ve seen him put in every position. His only loss is to UFC’s Dylan Budka.

This fight I can see going two ways. Abdul-Malik will just run through Schultz or Schultz will survive round one and take over. Schultz fought another wrestler in Budka and Schultz would just pull guard and accept the bottom position. If he does that to Abdul-Malik who is a stronger better wrestler than Budka, Schultz will be in trouble.

I ultimately think that happens because of the superior wrestling of Abdul-Malik. Picking Schultz would just be me assuming the cardio of Abdul-Malik stinks. I just think Abdul-Malik is a bad matchup for Schultz. Abdul-Malik will land the bigger shots on the feet but more importantly, get the takedowns and land with that ground n’ pound. I’ve got Abdul-Malik by first-round knockout and I’m 65% confident.

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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.

Bruno “Brunao” Lopes (12-1 MMA)

Age: 31 years old

Height: 6’2″ / Reach: 74.5″

Weight Class: Light Heavyweight (205lbs.)

First DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2023 (Week 5)

Old DW’s Contender Series Opponent: Brendson Ribeiro (15-7 MMA)

Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2024 (Week 1)

New Opponent: Mikheil Sazhiniani (13-2 MMA)

First Contender Series Fight

Bruno entered his first fight on the Contender Series with a perfect 11-0 record. He finished nine of those opponents including five by TKO and four by submission. In his last fight before going on the CS he stopped Willyanedson Paiva to win the LFA vacant light heavyweight championship.

Bruno looked solid and measured defensively early on in the fight landing some nice leg kicks among other strikes in a fight he entered as a huge favorite. But his opponent was ultra-aggressive and got Lopes to fight out of his game plan just a little bit. This ultimately opened him up to be hurt and stopped.

Bruno was dropped and finished by hammer fists in under four minutes of the first round by his opponent in what was a huge upset.

First Contender Series Opponent

In Bruno’s first fight on the Contender Series, he faced Brendson Ribeiro. Brendson entered the fight with a 14-5 record.  Ribeiro, then 27-years-old, cut his teeth on the Brazilian regional MMA scene.

As for how Bruno has fared in the UFC since being signed— he’s 0-2.

Ribeiro lost his debut on the undercard of UFC 298 earlier this year to Zhang Mingyang. Mingyang was able to finish Ribeiro in under two minutes.

In his most recent fight, Brendson lost a majority decision to undefeated fighter, Magomed Gadzhiyasulov, in June.

The Road Back 

When Bruno enters the octagon on August 13 it will just over 11 months since he last competed on the Contender Series. In that time, he’s competed once under the LFA banner.

Lopes submitted his opponent, 17-6 fighter and 2019 Contender Series veteran, Marcos Brigagao. Lopes took just two rounds to become the LFA light heavyweight champion once again.

Gameplan/ New Opponent 

For Bruno’s shot at redemption on the Contender Series he will be facing Mikheil Sazhiniani. Mikheil will enter the fighter with a 13-2.

Mikheil is riding a six-fight win streak, featuring five finishes, since losing to Murtaza Talha, in 2022 (Talha would also compete on last season’s Contender Series fighting Rodolfo Bellato in Week 9).

Sazhiniani won the Georgian Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight championship in his last fight back in March. He took just a round to stop his opponent to bring his record to 8-0 in the GFC. Mikheil is obviously very powerful but has quite a few questionable skill level opponents on his record.

With how light the ranks of the UFC’s 205lb division currently are, a win on August 13 by either man means it will likely grant a ticket to the promotional giant.

It’ll be important for Bruno to cautiously execute his game plan as at this weight class one shot can change the entire fight, as with his first appearance on the Contender Series.

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DWCS 2023 episode five was topped by Bruno Lops and Brendson Ribeiro, who appeared to have no love lost between them at Friday’s weigh-in. Among the other notables on the card, Dione Barosa was stepping up on short notice to replace Corinne Laframboise at the event. That, after Laframboise’s pre-fight blood test had revealed her to be three months pregnant. Happy news, but her career will have to be put on hold for the time being.

With Barbosa stepping up, she got an endorsement from former UFC women’s featherweight champion (and current Bellator champ) Cris Cyborg, a fellow Brazilian.

Like Barbosa, Dylan Budka was also taking a bout on short notice, facing Chad Henekom at middleweight after fighting at heavyweight less than two weeks ago. Budka weighed in around 207 pounds for that heavyweight bout (which he won), so he probably didn’t cut any weight, but it’s still crazy to see him make middleweight successfully, and what sort of toll the short notice nature of the fight takes on the outcome remains to be seen.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 5 kicks off at 8PM ET on ESPN+ in the U.S., and UFC Fight Pass elsewhere. Full results can be found below.

After Dione Barbosa snagged an arm-bar submission win to open the card, forcing a verbal tap inside of a round against Rainn Guerrero, it was two straight decisions on the week five card. They could not be more different, however: Jean Silva duked it out with a tough but ultimately outworked Kevin Vallejos, while Dylan Budka found himself in a grappling-heavy affair with a lot of work against the cage. Budka came away with a win over Chad Hanekom, and was emotional after the fight, revealing that he had been homeless just three years ago.

The penultimate fight of the evening saw Ukrainian-Canadian Serhiy Sidey finish Ramon Taveras early. But the finish was not without controversy: Sidey clearly knocked down Taveras, but Taveras never appeared out of the fight, despite ref Kevin MacDonald jumping in and waving things off. An unquestionably bad stoppage.

Wrapping up the night, Brendon Ribeiro pulled off the upset, flooring Bruno Lopes with a right hand. That was followed up on the ground with nasty hammer fists, the first of which Lopes managed to avoid. Not so with the rest, and he was put out shortly after by another three of four blows.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 5 Results

Light heavyweight: Brendson Ribeiro def. Bruno Lopes by TKO (right hand to ground n’ pound). Round 1, 3:47
Bantamweight: Serhiy Sidey def. Ramon Taveras by TKO (strikes), Round 1, 2:26
Middleweight: Dylan Budka def. Chad Hanekom by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Featherweight: Jean Silva def. Kevin Vallejos by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Women’s flyweight: Dione Barbosa def. Rainn Guerrero by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 4:35

Contract Winners: Dione Barbosa, Jean Silva, Dylan Budka, Serhiy Sidey, Brendson Ribeiro (Ramon Taveras will be invited back for week 10).

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In her place this week steps Dione Barbosa, but there’s a good chance Lamframboise will get a crack at the UFC in future — though for obvious reasons, she’ll be taking some time off. Also featured this week, Laframboise’s fellow Canadian Serhiy Sidey, and Dylan Budka, who is no stranger to those following the regional circuit. Budka, like Barbosa, is taking this one on short notice.

We’ve got our predictions in! Read out for our preview of DWCS 2023 Episode 5!

Light heavyweight: Bruno Lopes Vs. Brendson Ribeiro

Tale of the Tape

Pros and Cons

Prediction: There was no point in bother with who has the advantages because simply put, Lopes is better in every aspect. This is a fight made for Lopes to be able to show out and get a huge knockout.

If Lopes wanted to he could just take this fight down and submit Ribeiro. I’ve seen Ribeiro fall to lesser punches than Lopes is going to sling at him. With the level of striking and power Lopes has he probably ends this in under two minutes.

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