The St. Catharines, Ontario-based Jasudavicius (6-1) joins fellow flyweight Gillian Robertson, who also hails from the Niagara region and who has become a staple of the division.

Another Niagara hopeful, Aaron Jeffery, will look to win his way into the big show later this month, like Jasudavicius and Calgary’s Chad Anheliger, who also earned his spot earlier this year. Plenty of other Canadian fighters call the promotion home, but the latest season of the Contender Series has brought with it a new wave.

Jasudavicius came close to finishing DWCS opponent Julia Polastri in the opening round. “I really tried to finish her in that first round,” the flyweight told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview. “The ref was like standing right over top, and he was saying ‘defend yourself, defend yourself.’ And usually they’re not going to say it more than twice before they stop it. And he was like really slow— I could feel like he was going to jump in there in just a couple more seconds.”

Ultimately the fight went the distance, with Jasudavicius winning on all three judge’s scorecards. The Contender Series being what it is, however, the Canadian was a little nervous waiting to hear if UFC President Dana White would award her the coveted Ultimate Fighting Championship contract.

“I was very, very nervous when I was sitting there. I thought I had a pretty good shot because after the fight, Dana gave me a bit of props,” Jasudavicius admitted. “So I was holding out hope, but my fight did go to a decision, and in the past, he wouldn’t often give contracts out when people would go to a decision. So I was very nervous about that; the whole time I was thinking ‘please please please, please come through for me.'”

“Luckily he did,” Jasudavicius added, but the knot that formed in her stomach made the decision feel “like it took forever.” One factor in her favor was likely her finishing instinct, especially after coming close in the first round.

“I think that was definitely part of it. You could tell that I was obviously really trying to finish,” she said. “Every round, I was trying to finish. I think he understands you’re not always going to get a finish, but if you’re trying for it, that’s what he wants to see.”

With Jasmine Jasudavicius officially a UFC fighter, an infamous bet with a friend is about to be paid off. For those who missed it, one of her friends vowed to get a tattoo of Jasudavicius on her ass if the fighter ever made it to the UFC. At the time, she’d just embarked on her fighting career.

And yes, that placement is firm. Jasmine’s face, her friend’s backside. “That is correct, yup. It’s so funny because right after [winning on DWCS], I messaged her, I said ‘get your ass ready!'”

“There’s been no talk yet about how big the tattoo will be, nor whether it will be photo realistic. “She knows she’s getting it. Even if it’s small, I’m happy with that.” Jasudavicius is even thinking about putting a poll up on social media to choose the style, and her friend has accepted that she’ll have to show it off at some point. “She said ‘I’m going to have to do a bunch more squats and booty exercises to make sure it’s looking good.’ So it’s motivation for her as well!”

With her spot in the UFC assured, Jasudavicius can now look ahead to potential match-ups in the flyweight division. “There’s a couple girls, but I haven’t really checked them out too much yet. Within the next little while, I’m definitely going to go through the roster and start watching more fights, and see who is my best option now. Before, I didn’t want to jump ahead too much. I wanted to focus on my fight, but now that I’m in and I know who’s in the pool, I’m definitely going to start seeing what my options are.

One name that Jasudavicius would like to face is Elise Reed, who represents the only blemish on her professional record. Reed made it to the UFC several months back, taking a fight at flyweight, where the Canadian will compete moving forward.

“Of course! Yeah of course I want to run that back. I think I won that fight, so it’s very interesting, because I’m sure she thinks she won too.”

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That made for a busy Tuesday, and with 10 contracts already handed out this season, there was a rather wild possibility: if all six fighters managed to earn UFC contracts on DWCS 5 Week 3, the show would have matched the sum handed out for the entirety of season one, in just three episodes!

Among the names in action this week, Jack Della Maddalena, a top Australian prospect booked into a promising welterweight fight with Ange Loosa. Canadian flyweight prospect Jasmine Jasudavicius was also getting a look, taking on Brazil’s Julia Polastri. And the “Mo Show” was in town, with Mo Miller taking on Brandon Lewis.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5, Week 3 kicks off at 8PM ET, airing live on ESPN+ in the United States, and on UFC Fight Pass elsewhere. Full results from the card, at the UFC Apex, can be found below.

The women’s flyweight bout between Jasmine Jasudavicius and Julia Polastri kicked off the card on Tuesday. The Canadian was dominant in the first, coming close to finishing with ground n’ pound and arguably doing enough for a 10-8 round. The second was closer, but knees in the clinch and takedowns seemed to swing it to Jasudavicius. The end of the round saw Polastri come on strong, however. That led to the Brazilian pushing forward in the third, while Jasudavicius seemed to be tiring. But a late takedown from the Canadian saw her finish strong, and she took home the unanimous decision.

Jack Della Maddalena vs. Ange Loosa, meanwhile, lived up to the hype. Maddalena’s boxing was on point early. He lit up Loosa on the feet. Everything found a home. The dominance continued in the second, until a low blow slowed things down. The third round saw Jack in some trouble, on his back, and Loosa certainly held his own. The pair would end up bloody, in a scrap that would potentially have earned Fight of the Night on any number of UFC cards. Della Maddalena took home the unanimous decision win.

Lukasz Brzeski picked up a submission win over Dylan Potter in the most controversial fight of the season thus far. The ref stopped the action for a phantom tap in the third, while Brzeski locked in a rear-naked choke on a tiring Potter. Problem is, Potter was fighting hands, not tapping, and the replay was pretty clear.

Albert Duraev, meanwhile, made no mistake with a rear-naked choke on Caio Bittencourt. After the win, Duraev asked Dana White for a UFC deal, saying he was ready to smash anybody — including champ Israel Adesanya.

At bantamweight, Mo Miller controlled the bulk of his fight against Brandon Lewis. But it arguably wasn’t flashy or one-sided enough to earn the UFC contract, despite over eight minutes of ground control from Miller.

Two skilled grapplers collided in the featured fight of the evening. And it was Jailton Almeida getting the job done with a second-round rear-naked choke!

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5, Week 3 Results

Light Heavyweight: Jailton Almeida def. Nasrudin Nasrudinov by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 1:49
Bantamweight: Mo Miller def. Brandon Lewis by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Middleweight: Albert Duraev def. Caio Bittencourt by submission (neck crank), Round 1, 3:29
Heavyweight: Lukasz Brzeski def. Dylan Potter by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 3:51
Welterweight: Jack Della Maddalena def. Ange Loosa by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Women’s Flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Julia Polastri by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

Contract Winners: Jasmine Jasudavicius, Jack Della Maddalena, Lukasz Brzeski, Albert Duraev, Jailton Almeida

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Canada’s Jasudavicius (5-1) is a very bright, red-hot prospect that has been eyed for the UFC for a while now. If it weren’t for a very close split decision loss to Elise Reed last year in the main event of CFFC 83, she would probably be inside of the UFC.

Nevertheless, she gets her opportunity the fight for a UFC contract in less than two weeks on September 14, when she takes on Brazilian fighter Julia Polastri. Jasudavicius is excited about the match-up because she believes it will be a scrap for the fans.

“I really like the match-up. One thing I really like about it is, she from what I’ve seen, she looks like she is down to scrap. She is not like a runner, and obviously, I’m not a runner, you know, so I think it is a very good match-up. Definitely a match-up for the fans,” Jasudavicius told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview.

Jasmine Jasudavicius is looking for the finish, as is everyone who gets a chance to compete on the Contender Series. The Canadian believes she can get it when she was asked for a prediction.

“A finish. It’s the Contender Series, so it looks like it has to be a finish, right?” Jasudavicius said.

Jasudavicius has competed at flyweight most of her professional career, although she dropped to strawweight in her fight with Reed. If she makes it to the UFC, she said the plan is to stay at flyweight, but she is not opposed drop to strawweight if need be.

Watch the rest of the interview with Jasmine Jasudavicius above, where she speaks about her time in Las Vegas at Syndicate MMA, her last fight, the Reed match up and much more.

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