Dana White welcomed four more fighters to the UFC roster after another night of action on Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Five more fights saw four more winners earn UFC deals at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, with an immediate rematch thrown into the mix for good measure.
The top four fights on the card each produced new UFC fighters, with UFC boss White awarding contract to Russian middleweight Andrey Pulyaev, Austrian featherweight Bogdan Grad, Brazilian middleweight Marcus Tulio and American bantamweight Malcolm Wellmaker.
In the featured bout of the event, Pulyaev dominated Liam Anderson over three rounds to earn a shutout victory on the scorecards, with all three judges scoring the bout 30-27 to the Russian 185-pounder.
He was joined by fellow decision winner Bogdan Grad, who earned his UFC contract at the second time of asking with a split-decision victory over American Michael Aswell after a closely-contested featherweight matchup. Aswell’s performance also earned him the possibility of a short-notice call-up by the UFC’s matchmakers after impressing in defeat.
Another second-time contender also earned his shot, as Brazil’s Tulio stopped France’s Matthieu Duclos in the second round with the first spinning back kick finish in Contender Series history.
The biggest highlight-reel moment of the night came in the bantamweight bout between Wellmaker and England’s Adam Bramhald, with a perfectly-timed right hook from Wellmaker sending Bramhald face-first into the canvas. It was a huge knockout, and left no doubt that the 8-0 prospect would get the nod from White at the end of the show.
The opening bout of the night saw undefeated flyweight prospects go head to head, with former collegiate wrestling standout Nick Piccininni earning a split-decision victory over Jack Duffy.
White wasn’t convinced the right man got the nod, however, as he declined the opportunity to give Piccininni a UFC contract. Instead, he invited both men to run it back in the Contender Series later this summer.
DWCS Season 8, Week 3: Official results
- Andrey Pulyaev def. Liam Anderson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Bogdan Grad def. Michael Aswell via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Marco Tulio def. Matthieu Duclos via TKO () – Round 2, 2:38
- Malcolm Wellmaker def. Adam Bramhald via knockout () – Round 1, 2:29
- Nick Piccininni def. Jack Duffy via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
