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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

A bit of UFC history was made as four more fighters earned their way into the UFC on the latest episode of Contender Series

On Tuesday night, the sixth episode of season eight of Contender Series took place in Las Vegas at the UFC APEX, and after five fights, UFC CEO Dana White awarded four of the five winners contracts into the UFC, including one to Elijah Smith, son of former two-time The Ultimate Fighter contestant Gilbert Smith. With Smith now in the UFC, he and his father become only the second father-son duo in the promotion’s history, following UFC after Hall of Famer Randy Couture and his son Ryan Couture.

Smith outlasts Tau

In the main event of the evening, 22-year-old Elijah Smith survived a strong final round from Aaron Tau to win a unanimous decision and a UFC contract.

The son of former two-time The Ultimate Fighter contestant Gilbert Smith, “Swift” looked great early, doing almost anything he wanted against the 31-year-old City Kickboxing product. But in the third round, Smith — who took the fight on short notice — began to fade and Tau turned it on, resulting in a knockdown dog fight as Smith refused to back down despite tiring. In the end, Tau won the third round battle but lost the war as Smith took home the decision win and the spot in the UFC.

Teixeira crumbles Lopes

In the penultimate fight of the evening, Tallison Teixeira did what he was supposed to do and obliterated Arthur Lopes with a first-round knockout that earned him a spot in the UFC’s heavyweight division.

A monster of a man at 6-foot-7, the 24-year-old Teixeira showed why he was such a big betting favorite on the evening, setting the tone early with jabs and low kicks. Lopes proved game though, trying to drag Teixeira into a wild brawl, but “Xicao” didn’t bite and managed to find a clean right hand that floored his fellow Brazilian and moved him to 7-0 in his career.

Bennett ekes past Hart

In the welterweight contest of the evening, Benjamin Bennett eked out a split decision over Joey Hart that did not impress Dana White enough to merit a UFC contract.

With extensive experience in boxing and kickboxing, Bennett instead came in and used his wrestling early against Hart, repeatedly scoring takedowns and neutralizing the bigger fighter. Hart hung tough though and made the most of his moments on the feet when he could as the men went back-and-forth for the full fifteen. In the end the judges awarded Bennett for his control, but White did not award him a UFC contract.

Gautier overwhelms Naito

In the second fight of the evening, Ateba Gautier delivered a second-round TKO over Yura Naito to punch his ticket into the UFC.

Still only 22 years old, Ateba is still developing as a prospect and had to battle through getting taken down in the first round by Naito. However, once things restarted on the feet in the second round, the Cameroonian fighter’s speed and power were on full display, as he dropped Naito with big punches and then, after spending some time in Naito’s guard, finally was able to posture up and deliver vicious shots to secure the victory.

Hassanzada rallies to submit Dylan Mantello

In the opening bout of the evening, Ahmad Hassanzada scored an impressive comeback submission over Dylan Mantello, and earned his place in the UFC.

After falling short in his first attempt on Contender Series back in 2022, Hassanzada looked like he might have again blown his gas tank with a torrid pace in the first round, as Mantello dropped him multiple times in the second and the Afghani fighter looked gassed heading into the final frame. But somehow Hassanzada rallied in the third round, pressing the action, scoring a takedown, and then locking on a fight-ending rear-naked choke.

Check out the DWCS results below.

Elijah Smith def. Aaron Tau via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Tallison Teixeira def. Arthur Lopes via knockout (punch) — R1, 1:57

Benjamin Bennett def. Joey Hart def. via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Ateba Gautier def. Yura Naito via TKO (punches) — R2, 4:00

Ahmad Hassanzada def. Dylan Mantello via submission (rear-naked choke) — R3, 2:41

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tom Aspinall will be at UFC 309, so says UFC CEO Dana White.

Over the weekend, the UFC officially announced UFC 309 will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and former champion Stipe Miocic. It’s a bout well over a year in the making and after hearing the news, interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall made his case for serving as the backup fighter for the matchup. And apparently White agrees.

On Tuesday, the latest episode of Contender Series took place in Las Vegas and afterward, White spoke to reporters where he confirmed that Aspinall will get his wish for UFC 309.

“Yes,” White said when asked about Aspinall serving as backup. “Tom Aspinall is next in line for anything that happens after this fight.”

Of course, being the backup fighter does not necessarily guarantee Aspinall will get a shot at the undisputed belt if something happens to either Jones or Miocic before the event. After all, Jones and Miocic were first scheduled to face each other at UFC 295, with Sergei Pavlovich serving as backup fighter, but when Jones sustained an injury, the promotion postponed the bout entirely and called Aspinall to step in on short notice against Pavlovich for the interim title.

Hopefully nothing similar will happen this time, however, even if they fight does go through, Aspinall may not get his “dream fight” against Jones afterward as the heavyweight champion recently declared UFC 309 will “more than likely” be the final fight of his career. That flies in direct opposition to White’s previous contention that he believes Jones will fight Aspinall should he beat Miocic, but for now, White says he can’t worry about that.

“Why speak to him after this event?” White said when asked about Jones’s comments. “You’ve got to figure out what’s going to happen in this fight. See how this fight plays out and then we’ll go from there.”

UFC 309 takes place on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

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Warning Shots
| BJPenn.com

It’s that time!

Contender Series keeps rolling on for 10 straight weeks of mixed martial arts (MMA) action. Week five goes down tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, in front of UFC CEO, Dana White, as well as his cadre of matchmakers.

As has become standard for the program of late, all four fighters earned UFC contracts last week.

In the main event this evening, Dan Hooker’s protege, Aaron Tau (8-0), takes on Elijah Smith (6-1), the son of former UFC fighter, Gilbert Smith. The co-main event sees Heavyweights clash as 6’8” Brazilian Tallison Teixeira (6-0) fights fellow Brazilian, Arthur Lopes (6-1). The “Featured” bout has Welterweight knockout artists as Benjamin Bennett (6-1) clashes with Joey Hart (6-1). Yura Naito (6-0), who has all first round finishes, fights Cameroon slugger Ateba Gautier (5-1). To kick off week six, two Lightweight hopefuls return to the show for a second time as Dylan Mantello (8-3) takes on Ahmad Suhail Hassanzada (11-3).

‘Contender Series’ Quick Results:

Aaron Tau vs. Elijah Smith
Tallison Teixeira vs. Arthur Lopes — Teixeira def. Lopes via knockout (punches) in round one
Benjamin Bennett vs. Joey Hart — Bennett def. Hart via split decision (29-28×2, 28-29)
Yura Naito vs. Ateba Gautier — Gautier def. Naito via technical knockout (ground-and-pound) in round two
Dylan Mantello vs. Ahmad Suhail Hassanzada — Hassanzada def. Suhail via submission (rear-naked choke) in round three

‘Contender Series’ Highlights & Results:

135 lbs.: Aaron Tau vs. Elijah Smith

265 lbs.: Tallison Teixeira vs. Arthur Lopes

Final result: Teixeira def. Lopes via knockout (punches) in round one

170 lbs.: Benjamin Bennett vs. Joey Hart

Final result: Bennett def. Hart via split decision (29-28×2, 28-29)

185 lbs.: Yura Naito vs. Ateba Gautier

Final result: Gautier def. Naito via technical knockout (ground-and-pound) in round two

155 lbs.: Dylan Mantello vs. Ahmad Suhail Hassanzada

Final result: Hassanzada def. Suhail via submission (rear-naked choke) in round three

For more Contender Series news and notes, be sure to hit up our comprehensive archive right here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

A presumptive No. 1 contender bout is headed to Las Vegas.

Top-ranked UFC strawweight contender Tatiana Suarez (10-0) will face No. 3-ranked Virna Jandiroba (21-3) at UFC 310, which takes place on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena. Ag Fight was first to report the news which was later confirmed to MMA Fighting via multiple sources with knowledge of the booking.

A decorated wrestler before transitioning to MMA, Suarez won season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter and made an immediate impression in the UFC, winning her first five bouts in the promotion. A title shot seemed imminent but then Suarez was beset by injuries that kept her out of the cage for nearly four years. She finally returned to action in 2023, with wins over Montana de la Rosa and Jessica Andrade, and now hopes to cement her claim to a shot at 115-pound champion Weili Zhang.

A former Invicta strawweight champion, Jandiroba was handed a tough task in her UFC debut back in 2019, losing to former champion Carla Esparza. An up-and-down stint followed but recently the BJJ black belt seems to have found her stride, winning four fights in a row, all over ranked opposition.

UFC 310 does not currently have a main event scheduled.

Guilherme Cruz and Damon Martin contributed to this report.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts