That would be the middleweight tilt between Dagestan, Russia’s Shara Bullet (Sharabutdin Magomedov) and Quebec, Canada’s Marc-Andre Barriault.

When the UFC booked the two middleweight strikers against one another, the matchmakers clearly knew what they were doing.

“Bullet” has climbed the UFC’s middleweight division rather quickly, but was handed his first career loss by Michael “Venom” Page last time out. Rather than give Magomedov another elusive, tricky karate-style fighter, they opted to go with the “Power Bar” from Canada, a former double-champ in TKO. Known more as a brawler (or at least a dirty boxer who likes fighting in close), the end result was a contrasting clash of striking styles that saw both men hurt the other – though it was Shara Bullet coming away with the victory after 15 minutes.

Not surprisingly, both men also came away with Fight of the Night honors at UFC Abu Dhabi, and an extra $50,000 to their names.

Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Abu Dhabi went to Steven Nguyen and Muslim Salikhov. The oldest welterweight in the company at 41, Salikhov flatlined Carlos Leal early in their fight. Nguyen took a little longer against Mohammad Yahya, but knocked the “UAE Warrior” down a record-setting seven times before the fight ended between rounds due to massive swelling under Yahya’s eye. Nguyen, who turned up on Dana White’s Contender Series three times before jumping to the UFC, picked up his first victory with the promotion in the process.

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Yahya was making his debut in the weight class, after losing his first two fights under the UFC banner at lightweight.

Yahya vs. Nguyen had a wild start to it, as Nguyen came out and caught Yahya as he was charging in. Yahya hit the canvas, but Nguyen nearly connected with a grossly illegal knee. Luckily, he didn’t land it, and the action would continue. Very lucky, because Nguyen would go on to put on a dominant first round, knocking down Mohammad Yahya five times, with both left and rights. Each time, a tough-as-nails Yahya returned to his feet, but if there was ever an argument for a 10-8 round, this was it.

Round two opened with Yahya rocking Nguyen! But immediately, Nguyen returned fire, dropping Yahya a sixth time! That set a new UFC record for knockdowns. and the fight wasn’t even half over. Still, the pair settled down from there, or at least Yahya managed to stop getting knocked down. Late in the round he’d even shoot for a takedown, though a massive amount of swelling had formed on the left side of his face, under his eye. Nguyen, meanwhile, knocked Yahya down one more time before round’s end. Seven total to that point.

With the swelling on Mohammad Yahya’s face continuing to grow and perhaps signaling a broken orbital, cageside officials took a look — and waved the fight off prior to the third round. And for good reason, given the lopsided beating and the obvious damage and resulting vision issues Yahya was facing. A record-setting, stunning performance by Nguyen regardless. After three appearances on the Contender Series he now has his first victory in the UFC proper.

Official Result: Steven Nguyen def. Mohammad Yahya by TKO (referee stoppage), Round 2, 5:00

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Not since Mike Tyson has a fighter taken such a chunk out of an opponent, but Igor Severino did his best Hannibal Lecter impression at the Fight Night event on Saturday. During a grappling exchange/takedown attempt, he took the time to chomp on Andre Lima’s arm, resulting in an immediate disqualification.

Lima, before the event was even over, had managed to get a tattoo commemorating the incident, and UFC President Dana White’s promise of a $25,000 bonus — later upped to $50,000 when he caught wind of the tattoo.

Severino meanwhile was cut for one of the most blatant fouls in recent memory.

The UFC even had a little fun with the incident, officially announcing the “Bite of the Night” bonus.

Tonight's BOTN 💰💰 #UFCVegas89 pic.twitter.com/Ngttbbryr8

— UFC (@ufc) March 24, 2024

The more traditional post-fight bonuses at UFC Vegas 89 saw Fight of the Night honors awarded to Steven Nguyen and Jarno Errens. The bout saw Errens come away with a hard-fought win. Two main card standouts picked up Performance of the Night bonuses, meanwhile. In an absolute beatdown, the undefeated Payton Talbott finished fellow prospect Cameron Saaiman by TKO, a stoppage that felt more like a life-saving intervention by the ref.

Fernando Padilla picked up the other Performance bonus for a brabo (standing d’arce) choke submission of Luis Pajuelo.

All five fighters pick up $50,000 for their efforts; Lima may want to consider a tetanus shot.

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Errens had lost his first two UFC fights while Nguyen had gone 2-1 on Dana White’s Contender Series before earning a contract, and this first fight. Though Steven came in as the favorite it was the Dutchman, Errens, who out-struck Nguyen confidently en route to a unanimous decision win.

Nguyen took a toll on Errens quickly with calf kicks, stumbling the Dutchman once and reddening his calf. But Errens stayed in the fight and had his moments, fighting back well and even taking a lead on the strike count with his decisive counter striking while on the back foot. As a result of the pace and competitiveness, the round was exciting throughout.

Blood had dried in Errens’ nose when the round started but he drew blood through Nguyen’s mouth early in the second and continued to look sharper than ever before with his counter boxing. Errens’ hand speed was excellent and he began to beat up Steven before Nguyen got flash knocked-down by him in the final seconds of the round.

Although Nguyen stayed on the front foot for much of the third round, just like the second, at first he simply could not keep up with the speed and straight shots of Jarno Errens. However, he turned the tables in a big way with a big elbow that dropped one minute into the round, giving himself a chance to take back the fight. However, Errens stayed composed, got back up, and then dropped Steven the other way.

Though Nguyen got back up, he looked very hurt and Jarno’s punches simply seemed to be doing more damage. Steven never gave up, pushing forward to the end of the round and even staying on a mostly even field with an Errens who was constantly circling the cage. Errens landed a big uppercut but Nguyen seemed to have entered a zombie-like state where he could not get hurt and could do naught but walk forward.

When the judges’ scorecards were read it was no surprise that Errens won 30-27 on all three, earning him his first UFC win and giving the Netherlands a potential new fighter to look for.

Official Result: Jarno Errens def. Steven Nguyen by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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Now, he has a UFC contract at long last.

“The contract aspect, it’s been a very long road for me. I think it’s been four years since my first Contender Series fight? I just had to keep going. That was the main thing,” Nguyen told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight on Tuesday. “I knew there was a lot of pressure coming into this fight. I had to finish this fight, it was my third time around. So I went in there with that mindset, kill or be killed.”

The fight that played out was wild, with a near finish at the end of the first round. The game plan wasn’t necessarily to brawl, but rather stick and move, Nguyen admitted. “I don’t know what it was, I just said ‘I’m going to bite down on my mouthpiece right now and I’m going to throw, and we’re going to see who stands and who falls.'”

Ultimately, it was A.J. Cunningham who fell, with Fortis MMA’s Nguyen finally securing the contract. He admits that, after being denied twice on DWCS, once off a win, “I was in a dark, dark space for a little bit. I didn’t really know where to go at that point. But I have the best coach, I have the best manager, Jason House, coach Sayif [Saud]. My family, my girlfriend, everybody that has supported me just told me, ‘just keep going.’ Because of them, I’m where we’re at now, and here I am talking to you.”

Nguyen took a different approach to his third Contender Series fight, going so far as to decline all interviews ahead of the bout. “I knew I just had to dig deep down, not, on top of just having a tough opponent, but just for myself knowing that this is possibly going to be my last chance of possibly going to the UFC, because it’s my third time,” he added. “So I just had to dig deep in there tonight.”

Watch the full DWCS 62 post-fight press scrum with Steven Nguyen above.

The post Steven Nguyen Admits He Was in “Dark, Dark Space” After Coming Up Short Twice on DWCS appeared first on Cageside Press.

A full four fighters were getting second (or third) looks on the show on Tuesday night, with Julia Polastri, Eduardo Neves, Stephen Nguyen, and Malik Lewis all returning from previous seasons.

Polastri had come up short in 2021 against Jasmine Jasudavicius, a loss that has at least aged well given the Canadian is now 3-1 under the UFC banner, and facing Tracy Cortez in a high-profile flyweight bout in less than a week’s time.

Lewis, who lost to Trevor Peek previously on DWCS, was looking to show he had improved his cardio, while heavyweight Neves was booked into a fight with a dangerous striker in former GLORY kickboxer Jhonata Diniz.

Steven Nguyen, meanwhile, was getting his third opportunity on the Contender Series when he took on LFA alum AJ Cunningham. Nguyen was floored by a memorable Aalon Cruz flying knee in his first Contender Series showing in 2019, then returned in 2021 to defeat Theo Riayang. That decision win, however, was not enough to land him a UFC deal. On Tuesday, he was hoping to make a much bigger statement.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 6 kicks off at 8PM ET on ESPN+ in the U.S., and UFC Fight Pass elsewhere. Full results can be found below.

Week 6 kicked off with a bang as undefeated Jean Matsumoto and Kasey Tanner threw down in a technical back-and-forth. One of the best fights of the season, Matsumoto controlled with leg kicks, but Tanner was never really out of the fight, firing back and even pursuing a takedown late. Matsumoto would claim a decision win in the end, improving to 14-0, but it was enough to bring Dana White into the cage post-fight to pay his respects to both men.

Not to be outdone, Julia Polastri and Patricia Alujas put on a solid show, with Polastri getting the fight down and landing some heavy ground n’ pound before wrapping up a rear-naked choke in the second round.

An explosive ending to the opening round between featherweights Steven Nguyen and AJ Cunningham came as Nguyen hurt his opponent and went after the finish just ahead of the bell. Landing a series of punishing ground strikes, Nguyen was swinging away with a couple of shots almost certainly landing after the horn before the ref could step in. Not a finish, and the fight carried on to the second. Nguyen did put the fight away in round two, uncorking a series of combos that all hit the mark — and with Cunningham not defending, the ref stopped it on the feet.

The slug fest that many expected in Eduardo Neves vs. Jhonata Diniz very much played out, with Diniz lighting up the returning Brazilian on the feet before finishing things with a one-punch KO.

After a trio of finishes, the final fights of the evening saw lightweights Malik Lewis and James Llontop go the distance. Llontop was the clear winner of this one, collecting a pair of 10-8 scores from the judges.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 6 Results

Lightweight: James Llontop def. Malik Lewis by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Heavyweight: Jhonata Diniz def. Eduardo Neves by TKO (punch), Round 1, 3:15
Featherweight: Steven Nguyen def. A.J. Cunningham by TKO (strikes), Round 2, 4:06
Women’s Strawweight: Julia Polastri def. Patricia Alujas by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 4:05
Bantamweight: Jean Matsumoto def. Kasey Tanner by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Contract Winners: Jean Matsumoto, Julia Polastri, Steven Nguyen, Jhonata Diniz, James Llontop

The post Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 6 Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

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 6th week of the Contender Series for 2023, the Redemption Series will be taking a look at multiple fighters including, Steven Nguyen. 

Steven “The Ninja” Nguyen (8-1 MMA)

Age: 30 years old

Height: 5’11″ / Reach: 73″

Weight Class: Featherweight (145lbs.)

First DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2019 (Week 6)

Old DW’s Contender Series Opponent: Aalon Cruz (11-5 MMA)

Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2023 (Week 6)

Second Opponent: Theo Rlayang (5-1)

Third DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2023 (Week 6)

New Opponent: A.J. Cunningham (10-2)

First Contender Series Fight

It’s been over four years since the first time the Steven Nguyen competed on the Contender Series and it was prior to then that Nguyen cut his teeth in pro MMA, primarily under the Evolution Fighting Championship banner out of Wichita, Kansas.

Nguyen had finished five out of his six opponents with four of those stoppages coming in the first round. In Nguyen’s final fight before his first Contender Series bout, he won the EFC Featherweight Championship via fourth round stoppage.

Steven fought valiantly in his first fight on the Contender Series showing many promising attributes of a polished fighter especially on the feet with his solid cardio sting jab and quick jab straight.

Unfortunately, Steven was caught with a flying knee and KO’d in the third round by his opponent.

First Contender Series Opponent

In Steven’s first Contender Series bout he faced off against then 7-2, Aalon Cruz. Cruz had fought against solid competition including future UFC fighters Da’Mon Blackshear and Steve Garcia.

Aalon Cruz would receive a UFC contract as a result of his flying knee KO. Unfortunately, Cruz would go 0-2 with the UFC getting finished by both Spike Carlyle and Uros Medic before being released by the promotion.

Cruz would go on to finish a couple of fights in Fury FC before signing with Bellator this year where he is 1-1.

Both of Aalon’s losses in the UFC proved to be against solid competition.

This is a loss that has aged well for Steven Nguyen despite the fact that Cruz has gone 3-3 since then.

The Road Back 

Steven took a year and a half off after his KO loss before coming back to face 5-2 fighter, Jorge Juarez on the main card of LFA 100.

Nguyen steamrolled his opponent finishing him in a quick 30 seconds of the first round and again putting him on the radar of the UFC.

Second Contender Series Opponent + Outcome

In Nguyen’s second shot on the Contender Series, he fought 5-0, Theo Rlayang. Theo came into the bout having stopped four of the four opponents that he had faced but with only one of those opponents having a winning record at the time of competition.

Nguyen delivered a solid and measured performance against his opponent showing off good cardio as well as great jab and offensive boxing. Nguyen was unable to land a UFC contract thanks in part to the lack of a finish.

The Road Back

This time around, Steven Nguyen has not competed in pro MMA since his last bout on the Contender Series and has been inactive for almost two full years.

Gameplan/ New Opponent

For his 3rd and likely final shot on the Contender Series, Steven will compete against 10-2 A.J. Cunningham. Cunningham is a two-fight veteran of the LFA and has finished seven of his nine wins. A.J.’s two losses (both decisions) are too Solo Hatley Jr., a two fight Bellator vet that shared the cage with Aaron Pico, and Javier Garcia, the current LFA featherweight champion.

It will be important for Steven to keep a high pace in this fight, he has been here two times before, close to half an hour on fighting on the Contender Series. He has high level cardio and that can be exceptionally dangerous with how educated his hands are.

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

Among those returning faces is Julia Polastri, who had fallen to Jasmine Jasudavicius in 2021. Since that date, Polastri has won three straight to earn herself another crack at the UFC.

Eduardo Neves and Steven Nguyen are also returning to Dana White’s Contender Series in Week 6 — and somewhat surprisingly, Nguyen has not fought at all since his last appearance on the show. Nguyen is fighting on DWCS for the third time, and is coming off a win that hadn’t earned him a UFC deal. But will the third time be the charm?

Plus, Malik Lewis returns after falling to Trevor Peek the first time around.

Read on for our predictions!

Featherweight: James Llontop Vs. Malik Lewis

Tale of the Tape

Pros and Cons

Who has the advantage?

Striking: Lewis
Speed: Lewis
Output/Volume: Llontop
Kickboxing: Llontop
Striking defense: Llontop
Footwork/movement: Lewis
Wrestling: Lewis
Grappling: Even
Gas tank: Llontop

Prediction: Lewis is getting another Contender Series opportunity after losing to Trevor Peek last season. He beat on Peek for four minutes and then gassed out badly and lost in round two. It was a bad look losing to Peek but more importantly his cardio looked lacking. He did get back on track with a win but his cardio was still shaky. From a technical standpoint, he’s solid but his endurance and durability are a big concern.

Llontop has looked fine but “looking fine” in the Peruvian scene may not be all that good. He started off 2-2 in his career and has now won eleven in a row. Llontop does a few things really well; His feints, kickboxing, and bodywork all are quality weapons to have.

This is another fight Lewis should win because he’s clearly the better fighter. His cardio is a big concern especially because Llontop fights at the same pace for three rounds. The good thing for Lewis is that Llontop doesn’t push a hard pace. Also, Llontop I would bet isn’t as tough as Peek. My pick is Lewis because he is the better fighter.

The post DWCS 2023: Episode 6 Breakdown and Predictions appeared first on Cageside Press.

All fighters booked for the card weighed in without issue, in orderly fashion after the weigh-in window kicked off a 9AM local time. Among those in action this week, the returning Julia Polastri, who lost to Canadian flyweight standout Jasmine Jasudavicius on the 2021 run of the Contender Series.

Polastri has put together three straight wins, her last two coming inside the distance, since that setback. The same was not the case for the returning Steven Nguyen, who has appeared on DWCS twice previously. Nguyen has not fought since turning up on the show for the second time in 2021, where he beat Theo Rlayang but failed to secure a UFC deal.

Rarely does a fighter get a third look on the Contender Series, so it’s clear the promotion has at least some interest in Nguyen.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 6 takes place Tuesday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Full results from Monday’s weigh-in can be found below.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 6 Weigh-In Results

Malik Lewis (156) vs. James Llontop (156)
Eduardo Neves (263.5) vs. Jhonata Diniz (254)
A.J. Cunningham (145) vs. Steven Nguyen (145)
Patricia Alujas (115) vs. Julia Polastri (115.5)
Jean Matsumoto (136) vs. Kasey Tanner (135.5)

The post All Fighters Make Weight for Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 6 appeared first on Cageside Press.

This time out, Nguyen will take on the undefeated Theo Rlayang.

The featured fight on the card sees middleweights go at it. Hashem Arkhagha entered the night undefeated at 6-0. But ahead of the fight, he missed weight by a full three pounds, making the possibility of winning a contract questionable (though anything, frankly, seems possible on the show). Opposite him, another undefeated fighter in AJ Dobson, whose latest victory came over LFA standout and DWCS alum Kailan Hill.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5, Week 4 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.

Lightweights Victor Martinez and Jacob Rosales kicked off the card Tuesday. The pair went the distance, with Rosales seemingly hurting his hand during the fight (this turned out to be a broken arm). That lead to him being a little gunshy in the final round. Martinez took home the unanimous decision win.

Kleydson Rodrigues followed that up with a one-sided decision against Santo Curatolo, which saw the Brazilian firing jump knees, head kicks, and more en route to the win.

A third straight decision was never in question, as Steven Nguyen controlled his fight against Theo Rlayeng. The previously undefeated Rlayeng had a point deducted in the third round for an eye poke, but it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Almost unthinkable was a fourth consecutive unanimous decision. That saw Ecuador’s Michael Morales get the better of Nikolay Veretennikov. Morales was the underdog heading into the fight, but he certainly didn’t look it. After a bit of a slow start in the first, he began to pull away as the fight progressed, and really took control in the final round.

AJ Dobson broke the decision streak in the final fight of the event. He landed some heavy blows on Hashem Arkhagha, who fired back but couldn’t stave off the onslaught. By the end of the round, Arkhagha was on his knees, and without even taking the back, Dobson sunk in the rear-naked choke for the tap.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5, Week 4 Results

Middleweight: AJ Dobson def. Hashem Arkhagha by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 4:21
Lightweight: Michael Morales def. Nikolay Veretennikov by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Featherweight: Steven Nguyen def. Theo Rlayeng by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 30-26)
Flyweight: Kleydson Rodrigues def. Santo Curatolo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Lightweight: Victor Martinez def. Jacob Rosales by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Contract winners: Victor Martinez, Kleydson Rodrigues, Michael Morales, AJ Dobson

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