With the frankly awesome nickname “Yoo-Jitsu,” Yu was 3-0 inside the octagon; Smith was 2-0 in the UFC himself and coming off a bonus-winning slam KO of Toshiomi Kazama.

Smith opened the fight with a beautiful one-two combination. You shot a takedown in response, but was quickly met with a well-timed knee to the head by Su Young You. Undeterred, You continued pushing forward, landing a series of chain takedowns, scoring a lengthy amount of control from top position. Smith, finally able to return to his feet, was continuously pulled in by Su Young You’s clinch, unable to find any comfortability at range. As the round came to an end, You brought Smith back to the floor, likely winning a decisive first round.

Su Young You rushed into the center of the octagon with the same message as before, quickly attempting a takedown. This time, Smith was ready, meeting You with an uppercut and a hook, stopping You in his tracks. Finally in the striking, Elijah Smith started flowing, landing another combination and dropping the opposition in Su Young You. Smith quickly exploded onto the grounded You, landing some ground strikes before eventually finding the opening for the rear-naked choke.

Smith’s connection with his father, Gilbert, a former UFC fighter himself, proved once again advantageous as the young star moves to 3-0 in the UFC.

Official Result: Elijah Smith def. Su Young Yu by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 1:04

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Instead, four fighters picked up $50,000 U.S. Performance of the Night bonuses following a Fight Night event at the Apex that, if lacking in relevance outside of the main event, produced plenty of explosive moments.

The most explosive of those came when second-generation UFC star Elijah Smith, with proud pop Gilbert Smith in his corner, landed a Rampage Jackson-style slam knockout on Toshiomi Kazama in the opening round of their bantamweight fight. Rampage did that during his prime at 205lbs; seeing Smith hoist up his opponent and, at 135, still have the power to put him to sleep was impressive.

Technically, the follow-up strikes might have done that, but Kazama had been knocked senseless by the slam itself. Unfortunately the ref, probably caught as unaware as the rest of us given the rarity of slam KOs, was just a step slow in making the save.

Kazama was transported to hospital and released later in the evening, per the UFC Vegas 109 broadcast.

UFC Vegas 109 headliner Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez was another Performance bonus winner on Saturday. After controlling Roman Dolidze and wearing him down for three rounds, he secured a rear-naked choke in the fourth to end the fight inside the distance. “Secure” is a word we’re using loosely here, as Hernandez wasn’t in position, and in fact was still standing and stepping backwards when an exhausted Dolidze tapped.

Christian Leroy Duncan, who finished Eryk Anders, and Joselyn Edwards, for her stoppage of Priscila Cachoeira, were the remaining two bonus-winners on Saturday.

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Smith, the son of UFC veteran Gilbert Smith (an Ultimate Fighter alum who had also competed for Bellator MMA and LFA), was looking for his second straight win in the promotion.

Kazama went right out and clinched up with Smith, however after getting some semblance of back control, he fell off and wound up on his back. On top, Smith was drilling Kazama with punches, but Toshiomi wound up latching on to a leg, and soon had a toe hold in place. Smith defensed, survived, and got out of danger. Once again in control, Smith battered Kazama with more punches.

Smith would spend a solid couple of minutes on top, with Kazama hunting for submissions off his back. Elijah Smith was able to land a decent amount of damage, but it all came crashing to an halt for Kazama moments later. Kazama went for a triangle, and Smith hoisted him up, slamming him down Rampage Jackson style! Kazama was done at that point, but the ref wasn’t in quick enough, and Smith added a blow that sent his opponent from dazed and confused to unconscious.

Kazama did regain consciousness in the cage, and his next stop will be the hospital to get checked over. “From start to finish, I knew I had the ability to keep up with the guy on the ground,” Smith said following the fight, after paying his respects to Kazama.

Official Result: Elijah Smith def. Toshimoi Kazama by KO (slam), Round 1, 4:10

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Smith’s no-doubt proud pop, Gilbert Smith, featured on The Ultimate Fighter 17 and fought once for the promotion, on the TUF 17 finale. Elijah, who won his way into the company via Dana White’s Contender Series next year, joins Randy and Ryan Couture as the only father-son duos to have fought in the UFC.

He also showed considerable poise in his fight with Vince Morales at UFC Vegas 102, overcoming a nasty low blow early, and proving he could be patient even when blood was in the water. That, and his ability to listen to his corner, he chalks up to his stint on DWCS.

“I think that really came down to the Contender Series. The Contender Series was such a crazy scramble on short notice. I think this time around, we definitely game-planned the perfect game plan. And we went over some code words and things just to make sure that when we came into this fight we were successful,” Smith (8-1) told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight. “I always felt like I was always really good at being coachable whether it was my pops or somebody else. Just being coachable, I learned that at a young age playing football, wrestling. The best athletes are the ones that are able to be coached.”

With a decision win over Morales in his debut, Elijah Smith is now looking ahead to what he hopes will be an active 2025, one that will give him an opportunity to show his true self as a fighter.

“2025 I want to at least get two more fights. I’ve always been a pretty much active fighter if I don’t have any injuries. And I feel like I don’t have any injuries; you know soreness, bumps and bruises, whatever,” he stated. “I want to go out there and show everybody Elijah ‘Swift’ Smith. I feel like I haven’t shown that yet, even though this is my debut.”

“I want to show Elijah ‘Swift’ Smith, and what that means is, I want to go out there and get a finish.”

Of course, finishes aren’t something you can force, and the 22-year old bantamweight is clearly aware of that. “When it comes down to finishes, I try not to look for the finish, I want it to come to me naturally. Because if we’re standing in the fight looking, looking, looking for the finish, the finish will never come. So you have to let that finish come to you naturally,” he noted. “And I think just being in the UFC, guys are a lot tougher, a lot more durable. So finding the finish in the UFC, it’s hard. Which is why they want to find guys on the regional scene who have finishes, because if you get finishes on the regional scene, they see it as if you can do it in the UFC. And I want to be able to show the world and show Dana White that Elijah Smith can go out there and get a finish.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 102 post-fight appearance by Elijah Smith above.

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The DWCS veteran was also just the second second-generation UFC fighter in promotion history. Smith’s father, Gilbert, had appeared on The Ultimate Fighter 17, the Jon Jones-Chael Sonnen season that saw stars like Kelvin Gastelum and Uriah Hall emerge. The elder Smith had last competed in MMA in 2017, earning a win under the LFA banner; he’d fought once for the UFC, losing to Bubba McDaniel at the TUF 17 finale.

Win or lose on Saturday, Smith was likely to surpass his father in terms of number of fights for the promotion. And the pair joined Randy and Ryan Couture in the history books as the second father-son duo to fight for the company.

Smith found himself on the outside early in Saturday’s preliminary card fight, with Morales pressing. Unfortunately, the first significant strike to land was a low blow that left Elijah Smith writhing in pain on the canvas. After taking several minutes to recover, Smith was ready to go, and the action got back underway. He circled on the outside, back to the cage, while Morales hunted, only for an eye poke to halt the action. This time, it was Morales who was the victim. After being checked over by the doc, Morales was cleared to continue and the fight got back underway. Smith found some success with his hands, and late in the round, changed levels and landed a late takedown, with Morales attempting an awkward guillotine in response.

Round two once again found Smith with his back to the fence; Morales closed the distance, tied things up, dropped for a level change then scooped Smith up. Rather than immediately finishing the takedown with a slam he actually carried Smith over to his corner and dropped him there, hard. But in a scramble, it was Smith threatening with a rear-naked choke. Morales was able to prevent Smith from getting hooks in, and with Smith at an angle he couldn’t finish the choke. Morales reversed for a bit but Smith would scramble, nearly reverse, and get to his feet. Morales, however, got him back down and latched on with a D’arce choke. It wasn’t in initially, but after some adjustments, Smith was in trouble. He gutted it out however, finding some space and finally pulling his head free.

If nothing else, Elijah Smith displayed grace under pressure that belied his 22 years. Morales, however, went after the choke again as Smith got to his feet. This time, he shifted to a Japanese neck tie, but didn’t have it. What he did have was the round, more than likely.

With five minutes to go and the fight up for grabs, Morales held center early in the third, with the opening mimicking the first two rounds. Smith, however, worked his way off the cage as the pair exchanged fire. Smith, in addition to fast hands, was mixing in kicks; the pair tied up 90 seconds in, with Morales initiating put Smith reversing. He caught Morales with an uppercut, bloodying his nose and landing a takedown immediately after, though Morales wouldn’t stay grounded. Still, on the feet, it was Smith landing a left hand, and more leg kicks. Morales’s nose was a mess; he would look to set up another choke after a takedown attempt, but Smith was able to free himself. A pair of outside kicks followed by Smith doubling up on his jab saw Morales slowly tenderized. The blood on his face was matching his fiery red hair, and Morales was starting to look like a victim of Hannibal Lecter. Yet he had enough in him to try for one more choke, standing alongside the fence, before the final horn.

Official Result: Elijah Smith def. Vince Morales by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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While the card doubled as UFC 306, it was designed to celebrate Mexican heritage and the country’s fighting spirit, and did just that. Unfortunately for Team Mexico, however, it was a rough night at the office, with Alexa Grasso losing her flyweight title to rival Valentina Shevchenko, while other Mexican fighters also struggled.

That was the past, a whole three days ago. The fight world moves at a breakneck pace, and now it’s on to Dana White’s Contender Series Season 8 Week 6, where the future of the sport will be knocking at the door of the UFC. This week, lightweights Dylan Mantello and Ahmad Hassanzada get second chances at breaking into the UFC, paired up with each other. Heavyweight Arthur Lopes, meanwhile, competes for just the second time in six years.

Where to Watch DWCS Season 8, Week 6

As always, this week’s Contender Series installment takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV and streams on ESPN+ in the U.S., and SportsNet/UFC Fight Pass in Canada. The action gets underway at 8PM ET, 5PM PT. Full results can be found below.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 8, Week 6 Results

Lightweight: Ahmad Hassanzada def. Dylan Mantello via R3 SUB (RNC), 2:41
Bantamweight: Elijah Smith def. Aaron Tau via Unanimous Decision (29-28×3)
Welterweight: Benjamin Bennett def. Joey Hart via Split-Decision (29-28×2, 28-29)
Heavyweight: Talisson Teixeira def. Arthur Lopes via R1 KO, 1:57
Middleweight: Ateba Gautier def. Yura Naito via R2 TKO, 4:00

Contract Winners:

• Ahmad Hassanzada
• Ateba Gautier
• Talisson Teixeira
• Elijah Smith

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Lightweight, Dylan Mantello (8-3) vs. Ahmad Suhail Hassanzada (11-3)

Notable Notes

• Mantello lost last season on the CS losing to Kaynan Kruschewsky.
• Hassanzada lost on the CS in 2022 getting knocked out by Nazim Sadykhov.
• Mantello is a former Ring of Combat lightweight champion.
• Both have only gone to the scorecards a combined five times.
• Both train at predominant gyms. Mantello at Longo and Weidman MMA and Hassanzada at Team Alpha Male.

Prediction: Both these guys were on the Contender Series before and both were put away. Neither have done anything since to be given another chance but here we are. Neither guy is near UFC level. This is a fight you see in LFA. The only good thing is that this could turn out to be a slobber knocker.

Mantello takes a ton of damage in his fights and Hassanzada gets dropped every fight or just about. Between the two it’s basically a matter of whose chin holds up. I like the striking of Mantello more. Although his hand speed is slow he does have good technique and power.

Where Hassanzada could take advantage would be on the mat. Also, as long as the fight goes I value the cardio of Hassanzada more. I don’t see it lasting too long though. I see both trading in the pocket and Mantello landing the kill shot. Hassanzada is just too chiny and too willing to trade in the pocket. I trust the chin of Mantello more. I’ve got Mantello by knockout in round one and I’m 25% confident.

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Kicking off this edition of TTP is our interview with LFA flyweight, Mark Climaco. Just prior to UFC 306, Climaco will serve as the main event of LFA 192. He talks about getting to fight in his backyard after his last three fights being halfway across the world. He also talks about his high level training and influences in his MMA career, and being a veteran himself at a very young age. Then, of course, we’re also getting his thoughts on his upcoming fight with Victor Dias. Make sure to check it out!

Fights, Dogs, and Parlays: UFC 306 (16:24)

UFC Vegas 97 is in the books and now we look ahead to UFC 306 this weekend from the Sphere. It’s an event and a spectacle that we have all been waiting for. While the looks of the event should be legendary, the fights look to not be overshadowed. Sean O’Malley makes his second title defense – this time against Georgian Merab Dvalishvili. We’ll break down our thoughts on that fight as well as a few other of the best main card fight. Plus, we’ll dig into the odds and give you our favorite underdog and parlay to play. With a clean sweep last week, you aren’t going to want to miss this. For this segment, all odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Elijah Smith Interview (25:08)

Closing out this UFC Vegas 97 edition of TTP is our interview with Contender Series bantamweight, Elijah Smith. Smith discusses how he never really knew that MMA was in the cards until the pandemic got him into training with his dad. It also doesn’t hurt to have a UFC and Ultimate Fighter veteran as a father as he does – Gilbert Smith from TUF 17. Now he looks to join his dad’s legacy by punching his own ticket during week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series.

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