Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contenders Series
July 18, 2017
The Ultimate Fighter Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada
On UFC Fight Pass
Brendan Fitzgerald and Paul Felder welcome viewers to the show. Felder says the fighters need to leave it all in the cage to make an impression. They then ran down the card. They throw it to Snoop and Faber where the two are drinking gin and juice. Seriously.
Main Card
(1) Casey Kenney (6-0-1) vs. C.J. Hamilton (11-4) – Flyweight 125 lbs.
Result: Kenney by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
ROUND ONE: Both guys came out and exchanged some heavy leg kicks. Halfway through the round, both fighters landed some heavy offense looking to get a finish. Kenney was the aggressor throughout the round and landed the heavier shots. He also out-volumed Hamilton.
ROUND TWO: Hamilton came out much more aggressive to start the second round. Kenney went for a double and took the back with three minutes left but Hamilton fought out. They traded big shots on the break. Kenney took Hamilton’s back with two minutes left and sunk in a rear naked choke. Hamilton escaped with 45 seconds left, but Kenney finished the round on top.
ROUND THREE: Both fighters looked exhausted early in the round. Halfway through the round Kenney shot for a double and landed a take down. Hamilton tried for a Kimura with a minute to go, but Kenney was able to fight it off and took the back with 30 seconds left. The fight ended with Kenney working for a submission.
(2) Sidney Outlaw (7-3) vs. Michael Cora (4-1) – Welterweight 170 lbs.
Eddie Alvarez is in attendance in support of Sidney Outlaw.
Result: Outlaw by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-27)
ROUND ONE: Outlaw lands a takedown 30 seconds in with a slam. Cora finally got back to his feet with two minutes left but is taken back down quickly. Outlaw had back control at the 1:30 mark. Outlaw worked for a rear naked choke, but Cora fought it off as the round ended.
ROUND TWO: At 3:37 Outlaw swept Cora’s legs out and scored a takedown. Outlaw took the back at the 2:38 mark. For whatever reason Cora didn’t really work all that hard to better his position and he paid for it when Outlaw sunk in a rear naked choke with under a minute left. Cora somehow fought out of it as the round ended.
ROUND THREE: Cora came out more aggressively to start the last round but was taken down again with three minutes to go. At 1:55 the ref stood them up and Cora landed a few nice shots. He was able to stuff a takedown and ended up in top position with 1:20 left. Cora landed some nice ground and pound as the round ended.
(3) Thanh Le (6-1) vs. Lazar Stojadinovic (12-5) – Featherweight 145 lbs.
Ryan Hall is in Thanh Le’s corner.
Result: Le by knockout (1:35 of Round 2)
ROUND ONE: It took until 4:07 for the first strike to land which was a big right kick that put Lazar down. Le was unable to capitalize and Lazar was back up quickly. Lazar was finally able to close the distance and get inside Le at the 1:55 mark but wasn’t able to do anything. Le did a great job establishing range with some wicked kicks while easily winning the first round.
ROUND TWO: Le landed some big kicks again to start the second round. Lazar tried to mix it up on the inside but Le avoided him easily. Le caught Lazar with a huge head kick that dropped him and he finished the fight with multiple hammer fists.
That’s the way to get a contract!
(4) Sean O’Malley (6-0) vs. Alfred Khashakyan (8-3) – Bantamweight 135 lbs.
Result: O’Malley by knockout (4:14 of Round 1)
ROUND ONE: Both guys start the fight looking to throw hands. Khashakyan scored with a takedown at 4:08. Khashakyan landed some nice ground and pound after the takedown. O’Malley got back to his feet at the 3:08 mark. O’Malley landed a huge right hand that rocked Khashakyan with just over two minutes to go and it was all O’Malley until he finally finished it with 46 seconds left in the round.
(5) Dan Spohn (15-5) vs. Angel De Anda (18-5) – Light Heavyweight 205 lbs.
Result: Spohn by submission (3:10 of Round 1 – arm triangle choke)
ROUND ONE: Spohn went low 3 seconds into the fight and time was called. They started dirty boxing as soon as they resumed the fight where both fighters landed punches. Spohn got rocked at the three-minute mark but Big John stepped in and called time due to De Anda landing punches to the back of the head to a downed Spohn. The doctor came in and checked Spohn and declared him fit to continue. Big John deducted a point from De Anda. Spohn came out and rocked De Anda as soon as the fight resumed and he finished it via submission.
The last three fights were ridiculous with impressive finishes from Le, O’Malley, and Spohn. Ultimately Dana White chose Sean O’Malley. I was a bit disappointed because I think Thanh Le deserved a contract as well. He dominated his opponent and finished the fight in impressive fashion. This is a situation where I think White made the mistake by giving two contracts out in Week 1. Le was way more impressive than Boston Salmon, yet Salmon was granted a contract and Le wasn’t.
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