LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie reported from Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series 66 event.
Dana White’s Contender Series cards see prospects fighting for the opportunity to sign a UFC deal, with promotion CEO Dana White on hand to make the decisions at the UFC Apex. Tuesday’s episode was the 10th and final of the show’s seventh season.
White was once again in a generous mood as he eclipsed the previous record of 43 as he offered contract Nos. 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, and 46 on the season. Five of the six winners received UFC deals: bantamweight Lucas Rocha, lightweight [autotag]Marquel Mederos[/autotag], featherweight [autotag]Connor Matthews[/autotag], flyweight [autotag]Andre Lima[/autotag], and bantamweight [autotag]Ramon Taveras[/autotag] this week.
The lone fighter who did not receive a contract was middleweight [autotag]Torrez Finney[/autotag], a physical specimen who finished [autotag]Yuri Panferov[/autotag] by second-round rear-naked choke.
White said Finney needed more time to develop and that he’d be doing the fighter a disservice by bringing him into the UFC now.
Additionally, White announced Taveras’ UFC debut – a rare move due to rare circumstances. Taveras will rematch [autotag]Serhiy Sidey[/autotag], a fighter he lost to in controversial fashion due to a premature stoppage earlier in the season.
Full results of Dana White’s Contender Series 66 include:
- Ramon Taveras def. Cortavious Romious via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:29
- Andre Lima def. Rickson Zenidim via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Connor Matthews def. Jair Farias via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Torrez Finney def. Yuri Panferov via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:43
- Marquel Mederos def. Issa Isakov via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 4:09
- Lucas Rocha def. Davi Bittencourt via knockout (knee) – Round 2, 0:18
Continue reading below for more details about each fight.
