Dana White’s Contender Series continues to turn out contracts

Dana White’s Contender Series continues to bring nonstop action every week, and the Week 5 card was no different.

For the second consecutive week, UFC president Dana White awarded contracts to all five winners, running the total to 20 contracts awarded at the halfway point of the season.

Week 5 opened with Denisse Gomes earning her sixth consecutive victory in a three-round war with fellow Brazilian Rayanne Amanda. Gomes withstood Amanda’s early success with take downs, using her kicks to neutralize Amanda’s early speed advantage. Although Amanda showcased her durability late in the fight, the difference in the power of Gomes was the deciding factor in the fight. An argument could be made that both women deserved a contact. When UFC president Dana White went to give Rayanne Amanda her money, she declined and said “I want the contract.”

After two extremely close rounds in the second bout of the night, South African phenom Cameron Saaiman shined. The 21-year-old took advantage of a tired Josh Wang-Kim, landing a knockout with an impressive uppercut hook combo.

The impressive Week 5 card continued as Jesus Aguilar went to his bread and butter to secure a victory over Erisson Ferreira. In the third round, Aguilar earned his fourth victory by guillotine choke in his last five fights. One of the unique things about the UFC and MMA in general is that every week fans are likely to see something they’ve never seen before. Darrius Flowers’ victory over Amiran Gogoladze would qualify. Just over a minute into the very first round, Flowers earned a victory by pile driving Gogoladze into submission. The Georgian was left unable to continue after the impact of the takedown dislocated his shoulder.

Michael Parkin closed the show in Week 5 with an upset first round submission victory over Eduardo Neves by rear-naked choke. Post-fight, White alluded to the fact that four out of the five fights last week were won by underdogs saying “if you like betting parlays and you’re a sick degenerate, Tuesday night is your night. You can’t handicap heart and determination. Every kid that comes in here on Tuesday night, it’s their dream to fight here.”

In the press conference, White also mentioned the growth of the UFC’s state of the art performance institute. Five years after building the original performance institute in Las Vegas, the company announced the building of performance institutes in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Africa. The UFC is truly a global phenomenon.

As a new crop of fighters roll into the UFC Apex August 30, there must be an added sense of pressure for the fighters given that in the last two weeks the show has showcased some remarkable talent. This Tuesday’s card is headlined by a Welterweight clash between 22-year-old Japanese prospect Yusaku Kinoshita and undefeated Brazilian prospect Jose Henrique Souza. In his five victories, the Brazilian has landed four knockouts. Tuesday night’s co-main event in the Light Heavyweight division features a pair of 6-0 contenders, as Sedriques Dumas faces Matej Penaz.

Who will rise to the occasion and put on a performance worthy of a UFC contract? Find out Tuesday, August 30 at 8 p.m. on ESPN Plus.

Dana White Contender Series Season 6, Week 6 full card:

Main event-Welterweight: 5-1 Yusaku Kinoshita versus 5-0 Jose Henrique Souza

Co-main event-Light Heavyweight: 6-0 Sedriques Dumas versus 6-0 Matej Penaz

Lightweight: 12-2 rodrigo Lido versus 15-1 Mateusz Rebecki

Strawweight: 8-0 Maria Silva versus 5-0 Victoria Dudakova

Featherweight: 11-4 Alex Morgan versus 6-0-1 Blake Bilder