Marshall was returning to the lightweight division for the first time since 2021, prior to joining the UFC. Brennan was 11-2 as a pro and a perfect 9-0 in Bellator MMA, and a fighter known for his BJJ acumen.

Marshall opened with authority, cracking Brennan with heavy inside leg kicks and a few stiff straight rights. It didn’t take Brennan long to realize he’d need to grapple to find success. He looked for a takedown after throwing a knee in the clinch, but Marshall countered well, securing top position instead. From there, Marshall stayed heavy and composed, shutting down Brennan’s submission attempts. Brennan stayed active, attacking limbs and constantly adjusting his hips. He even threatened with a deep heel hook, but Marshall’s experience showed as he calmly worked his way free.

Brennan came out in the second round feinting often, but Marshall refused to bite. Instead, it was Marshall’s own feints that kept Brennan frozen, allowing him to land a powerful right hand. He immediately tied Brennan up in the clinch, giving him little chance to recover. Brenner lingered there too long, and Marshall capitalized with another takedown. Applying crushing shoulder pressure from top position, Marshall controlled the remainder of the round and left Brenner needing a finish.

That finish never came. Early in the third, Brennan had a kick caught and was swept to the mat. Marshall, brimming with confidence, allowed him back to his feet. Brennan continued to struggle with his wrestling, finishing the fight 0-for-6 on takedown attempts. Marshall punished him with a sharp straight right as Brennan dropped his guard, then followed with looping right hands to both the body and head. It was a dominant performance from Marshall, who dictated every phase of the fight and never allowed Brennan a real opening.

Official Result: Francis Marshall def. Lucas Brennan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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The featherweight bout found Marshall entering with a 2-3 record in the UFC overall, coming off a controversial split decision loss against Mairon Santos. With two of those three losses coming via Split Decision, Marshall locked in on making a statement.

Round 1 – Silva opened the fight up with a spinning wheel kick, followed by some clean side kicks. Marshall tried to take back the center of the cage, but poked Silva in the eye. After a brief pause, Marshall landed a quick double-leg takedown, which Silva tried to counter with a guillotine. Marshall scrambled his way out and got the fight back to the ground, landing punches in half guard while working for an arm triangle. Silva defended well but gave up mount in the process, then swung to his back, where Marshall was quick to lock up a Rear-Naked Choke. After a couple of seconds of a tight squeeze, Silva’s face went red, and he was forced to tap. Marshall gets the statement win he was looking for and improves to 3-3 in the UFC.

Marshall said it felt good to get back in the win column with a big finish and thanked his team of American Top Team after the win.

Official Result: Francis Marshall def. Erik Silva by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 1, 2:29

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Santos (14-1) came off an impressive UFC debut victory over Kaan Ofli last August finishing the fight in the second round via TKO. The 24-year-old Brazilian calls Las Vegas home training at the world-famous Xtreme Couture gym.

Standing in his way was Marshall (8-2) who arrived in Las Vegas coming off a a tough split-decision victory over Dennis Buzukja on the same card as Santos fought last time out. The DWCS alumni looked to start a win streak at UFC 313.

Round 1 Santos came out patient, but Marshall wasn’t going to let him get comfortable off the bat. He dropped Santos with a hard calf kick, but ended up on the canvas himself off the same attack just seconds later.

Marshall began to lift the lead leg to limit the damage from calf kicks sent from Santos.

Marshall finished the round dropping Santos with a massive left hand, but couldn’t find the finish.

Round 2 both men came out sharp landing clean and crisp strikes on each other. Marshall was clearly looking to land another big left hand having testes Santos’ chin in the first round.

Marshall finally scored a takedown which began a dance of Santos getting back to his feet, but then getting one of his legs kicked out from under him. Marshall got him to the fence, and fought like hell to keep him there, but couldn’t.

Round 3 Marshall clearly knew his game plan was working and he kept it going with Santos likely needing a finish. Santos didn’t change his pace, but he did pick his shots much better in the last round of the fight.

Santos needed to get the volume going and combinations flying and halfway through the round he still hadn’t. Marshall continued to stick-and-move not staying in front of Santos to get hit.

Marshall scored one more takedown and kept Santos on his back as time ran out.

Somehow the judges saw fit to give the win to Santos.

Official Result: Mairon Santos def. Francis Marshall via Split Decision (29-28×2, 27-30)

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TUF winner Mairon Santos and Francis Marshall will meet in the octagon that night. Joshua Van will take on Bruno Silva and Alex Morono squares up with Carlos Leal.

Octagon Update and AG Fight were the first to report the matchups.

Santos (14-1) comes off his TKO victory over Kaan Ofli last August making him 1-0 in the promotion. The TUF featherweight winner defeated Guillermo Torres, Edwin Cooper Jr. and Ofli to raise the TUF crown.

Marshall (8-2) has had a quiet start to his UFC career having earned a contract on DWCS in 2022. Since then he’s gone 2-2 with victories over Dennis Buzukja and Marcelo Rojo.

Van (12-2) continues to live up to his nickname with no fear of any opponent. The young flyweight will bring his 5-1 UFC record into the fight with wins over Zhalgas Zhumagulov, Kevin Borjas, Felipe Bunes, Edgar Chairez and Cody Durden.

Silva (14-6-2) will look to make a quick bounce back following his loss to Manel Kape in December. The loss snapped a 4-fight win streak that Silva believed could have gotten him to a title shot with a win over Kape.

Morono (24-11) has had a couple stumbles as of late following a 4-fight win streak in 2021-2022. Since then he’s gone 2-4 last time out falling short against Daniel Rodriguez last October.

He’ll face Leal (21-6) who gets his second UFC bout following a loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov in his UFC debut at UFC 308.

No main event has been announced for UFC 313 as of yet.

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Both men were 1-2 under the UFC banner, but concerningly for “Fire” Marshall, he had dropped back-to-back fights and was looking to avoid a third strike. Buzukja entered off a win over Connor Matthews.

To begin the fight, Marshall got right to the action, pressing forward and looking for the takedown. Marshall partially ate a body kick in the process but was able to get his hands locked around Buzukja against the cage. From here it would be a stalemate. Midway thru the round and Marshall was finally able to get his opponent down to a knee. Marshall had one hook in for the majority of the round and was able to land short strikes but wasn’t able to get the other hook in.

With about a minute left in the round Buzukja was able to get free and both fighters went back to space. Dennis landed several solid kicks to the body of his opponent. Marshall blitzed forward with about 20 seconds left and was able to corral his opponent to the cage yet again. As the two fighters got back to space, Marshall dropped Dennis with a shot. It wasn’t too bad and Buzukja was able to pop up and recover as the two exchanged and the round end.

To start the second round Marshall again surged forward and backed his opponent to the cage.  Francis landed a massive highlight-reel, right hand and dropped his opponent before landing some strikes on top. Somehow Dennis survived and was miraculously able to return to his feet. Moments later and Buzukja landed a body kick. Marshall was able to come right back with a blitz and put his opponent against the cage before deciding to return to space. Halfway thru the round and Buzukja finally landed a big punch of his own on his opponent.

Marshall, sensing a change in momentum, shot for a takedown a few seconds later and Dennis was able to defend. Buzukja scored a couple of punches, slipped a shot, landed one of his own. The shot drew blood from his opponent’s nose. With seconds left in the round Buzukja was able to have some of his biggest moments of the fight as he outboxed his opponent against the cage. He also landed some big strikes that had his opponent looking worried.

To open the last round, Buzukja was able to again find a home for his hands off of the slip. Marshall was still coming back with strikes of his own, he just wasn’t able to land as flush and as hard as he did earlier on in the fight. Dennis was really swinging leather and keeping his hands high before halfway thru the round he looked for a shot. Francis was able to fend off the shot and when the fighters returned to space Dennis missed another halfhearted takedown. Seconds later and Dennis made Francis pay for another punch that was slightly off the mark with a slick counter.

With less than a minute left, Marshall began to pick up the volume. This forced Dennis to be even more defensively sound. With under 30 seconds left, Marshall looked for a single leg that found him running across the octagon. Though Marshall didn’t get the takedown, he was able to keep his opponent busy against the cage. That is how the two would end up as the final bell sounded.

Official Result: Francis Marshall def. Dennis Buzukja by Split Decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)

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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.

For this week, the 10th and final week of the Contender Series for 2023, the Redemption Series will be taking a look at Connor Matthews. 

Connor “The Controller” Matthews (6-1 MMA)

Age: 31 years old

Height: 5’8″ / Reach: 71″

Weight Class: Featherweight (145lbs.)

First DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2022 (Week 2)

Old DW’s Contender Series Opponent: Francis Marshall (7-2 MMA)

Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2023 (Week 10)

New Opponent: Jair Farias (10-0 MMA)

First Contender Series Fight

Connor Matthews entered his first Contender Series fight in 2022 with a perfect professional record of 5-0. Matthews had finished all five of his opponents in the first round and only had a total fight time of 2 minutes and 49 seconds. All of his wins except his first (a 7 second KO) were via submission.

Matthews trains out of the New England Cartel, home to talented UFC strikers like Calivn Kattar and Rob Font.

Matthews lost a unanimous decision in what was completely uncharted territory as he had never made it past the first round in a pro MMA fight.

Connor displayed solid offensive boxing as you would expect, training with the caliber of guys that he does. Matthews also showed a great ability to keep his opponent on the end of his straight punches, maximizing his reach.

Matthews struggled with defending the takedown against his opponent and was momentarily stunned a few times throughout the fight. While on the ground Connor was able to show that he does have very competent defensive grappling. And even though the fight didn’t come out in Connor’s favor he raised his stock by continually moving forward and throwing strikes despite slowing down a bit throughout the fight.

First Contender Series Opponent

For Connor’s first fight on the Contender Series, he took on a fellow undefeated fighter at 5-0, in Francis Marshall. Of Marshall’s five MMA bouts heading into the Contender Series, he finished four of them via rear naked choke. Marshall obviously has some pretty good offensive wrestling.

Marshall received a UFC contract as a result of his performance against Matthews. Francis has fought three times in the UFC thus far.

Francis took on then, 16-8 fighter, Marcelo Rojo in December of 2022. Francis was able to finish his opponent in the second round via punches.

Earlier this year in April, Francis took on then 11-2 fighter, William Gomis for his second outing. Unfortunately, Marshall would find himself on the wrong side of split decision.

And in Marshall’s most recent fight he took on 5-0 fighter, Isaac Dulgarian back in August. Marshall would be finished with just 12 seconds to go in the first round via ground and pound.

This loss didn’t age badly for Matthews as it’s important to keep in mind that Francis Marshall isn’t even ten fights into his professional career yet, is 24 years old and showed good things in all his fights thus far.

The Road Back 

Since losing on the Contender Series a year and about two months ago, Matthews has fought just one time.

Connor’s bout was earlier this year, in March, when he took on then 8-4, Andrew Cruz, in the main event of Combat Zone 79. Connor finished his opponent in just under four minutes of the first round.

Gameplan/ New Opponent 

For Connor’s shot at redemption, this time, he will be taking on 10-0 undefeated fighter, Jair Farias. Jair is very dangerous as he has finished nine of the ten fighters that he has faced in pro competition.

Farias has been cutting his teeth on the regional Brazilian circuit and the combined record of his opponents at the time of fighting them was: 40-22

Farias is largely untested and has solid leg kicks and a big right hand. Connor will look to capture a contract this time around in the last edition of the 2023 season of the Contender Series.

The post Redemption: Second Chances on Dana White’s Contender Series — Connor Matthews appeared first on Cageside Press.

“People say I haven’t had the toughest opponents, but I mean if you look at anyone on the regional scene, they don’t have the toughest opponents either. People are saying I can’t go three rounds. I proved that I don’t necessarily have to,” Dulgarian told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“I do train in Denver and I can go three rounds with anybody in the world. I’m just excited to be here, excited to do what I did, and that’s it.”

Dulgarian (6-0) came in with plenty of hype coming into UFC Vegas 78 with 5 wins, no losses, and all finishes. The naysayers still remained stuck on that he finishes his fights quickly because he can’t hang in the cage for a full fight.

“I don’t want to fight three rounds, but I know that there’s people in the world that can push me to go three rounds. I’ll keep taking the first rounders. I’ll try to finish in the first round always, but I just want people to know I’m going to stick around that whole fight, the whole 15 minutes,” he said.

He knows that in the UFC’s featherweight division he’ll eventually get his wish to prove he can go a full fight.

“At 145 any of those guys in the top 15, they’re dogs, they’re tough. Not any specific person,” he said.

“I’m still young so those guys will definitely push me. I’m still young in the sport, but once I get 2-3 years from now, and a little more experience under my belt, I think I can do the same thing to people in the top 15.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Isaac Dulgarian above.

The post Isaac Dulgarian Wanted To Prove He Could Go 15 Minutes, But Will Take A First Round Finish Too appeared first on Cageside Press.

Dulgarian entered Saturday’s tussle low on experience, but undefeated through his five professional bouts. Marshall, meanwhile, was looking to bounce back from his first loss, against William Gomis.

It took thirty seconds for Dulgarian to shoot in for the takedown and he completed it with ease. He sat in the guard for a bit hitting Marshall with some nice short elbows. Dulgarian eventually passed to side control. Marshall was almost able to scramble back up but the heavy top position of Dulgarian held up.

Dulgarian landed a short elbow that busted open Marshall. Dulgarian moved into mount and unloaded with nasty ground and pound and kept raining down those elbows until the ref stepped in. Another first round finish for the undefeated Isaac Dulgarian, who has never made it to round two in his now six professional wins.

DELIVERS IN THE DEBUT 👏👏👏@Isaac_Dulgarian, ladies & gentleman! #UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/SZEBYMrjzi

— UFC (@ufc) August 12, 2023

Following the victory, Dulgarian called for a Performance bonus, looking to get paid and move out of the trailer he’s currently inhabiting. It might be a tough night for choosing bonuses at UFC Vegas 78, with the first five fights ending in finishes.

Official Result: Isaac Dulgarian def. Francis Marshall by TKO (ground and pound), round 1, 4:48

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Isaac “The Midwest Choppa” Dulgarian
Standing at five-foot-seven
Fighting at 145 lbs (flyweight)
27-years-old
Fighting out of Kansas City, Missouri
Training out of factoryX Muay Thai
A pro record of 5-0
3 KO/TKOs, 2 Submissions

How will Dulgarian fare in the UFC:

Dulgarian is an NCAA Division II wrestler and was a three-time state champion. He was an NCAA D2 finalist as a true freshman and a six-time triple-crown winner (winning state in all 3 styles). The man has been nothing short of dominant as an amateur and pro. It would’ve been nice to see him get a real test before moving to the UFC however. His opponents have a combined record of 12-8. He’s only fought one guy with a winning record.

Although Dulgarian hasn’t beaten anyone worth mentioning he’s still blowing past these guys with little effort it seems. So far in all his fights, the performances have looked the same. At times he’ll just explode in or he will punch his way into a takedown. Once Dulgarian gets it down which is quickly he moves right into the mount. Dulgarian has a heavy top position just gliding from the back to the mount over and over never losing position. Dulgarian has excellent wrestling and grappling but his ground and pound is deadly. He’s constantly smashing with elbows and getting the separation to land damaging blows. His last opponent was knocked out with some vicious ground and pound. The ground and pound has opened up paths to submissions and he’s quick to lock them up too.

How he matches up with Marshall:

The post Welcome to the UFC: Isaac Dulgarian appeared first on Cageside Press.

Gomis weighed in last on Friday, then took the extra hour to shed one final pound, hitting 146 on his second attempt. Would it effect his performance in the fight? We’d know soon enough.

The first round was evenly fought, as Gomis utilized his quick kicks to create angles and open up his striking, while Marshall managed to weather the attacks of his combatant and control Gomis against the cage.

Gomis continued to throw up a variety of teeps and strikes up the middle, negating his opponent’s grappling as “Fire” Marshall was unable to find the timing on his shots. Marshall seemed to grow frustrated as the bout waned on, struggling to put together combinations and never quite finding his stride in the grappling realm. He would mount a late comeback in the third, finding a long-sought after takedown and locking up first a rear-naked choke, then later an arm-triangle choke.

Neither got the job done.

The bout was razor close, though Gomis seemed to be in control of the action for the majority, using lateral movement to evade any damage that Marshall had planned for him. The Frenchman went on to win the fight by split decision after doing a great job managing distance while exhibiting solid defense on his feet.

The victory marks Gomis’ ninth consecutive win, kicking his UFC career off nicely with two victories in as many fights.

Francis Marshall suffers his first ever defeat despite disagreeing with the judges’ scorecards, and will look to improve his all-around game prior to his next bout.

Official Result: William Gomis def. Francis Marshall by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

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