All five winners earned UFC contracts after Dana White’s Contender Series 6 Week 9 event last night, including the youngest fighter ever to feature on the UFC roster at just 17-years-old.
In the main event, Brunno Ferreira didn’t take long to find a finish against Leon Aliu after initially rocking him with a couple of big right hands.
Aliu was unsteady on his feet as he lurched backwards and then fell to the mat, before trying to rise back up with a single-leg takedown. He was still under-fire from punches though as Aliu continued landing despite balancing on one foot, which again sent his opponent to the mat to secure a 65 second TKO finish.
By far the biggest talking point of the night however was the performance of 17-year-old Raul Rosas Jr, who showed off high level skills that fighters with 10 years more experience would have been envious of during his unanimous decision win over Mando Gutierrez.
Some of Rosas Jr’s most notable moments in the fight included going for a rare Suloev stretch submission in the opening round, seamlessly transitioning to a successful takedown off of a flying knee in the second round, and also landing a spinning head kick at another moment in the fight.
All of which helped lead Rosas Jr not only to a clean sweep on the judges scorecards, but also to make history afterwards by becoming the youngest fighter ever to sign for the UFC.
Meanwhile, Austen Lane also won a contract despite being taken down and mounted by Richard Jacobi early in the fight. Lane was able to get on top and then capitalized on that advantageous position as he avoided an armbar attempt from his opponent and punished him with ground-and-pound blows that forced a TKO stoppage at the 4.34min mark.
Nurullo Aliev also finished his fight with Josh Wick late in the first round after having taken him down and then unleashed a relentless barrage of punches and hammerfists to secure the TKO stoppage.
The opening fight of the night also resulted in a conclusion before the final bell, with Jafel Filho withstanding punishing leg kicks from Roybert Echeverria throughout the fight, and then getting payback in the third round when he landed a clean left hand that dropped his opponent, before blasting him with repeated right hands on the mat to claim the TKO win.
Check out all the Contender Series 6 Week 9 results below.
Brunno Ferreira def. Leon Aliu via TKO (punches) at 1:35 of Round 1
Raul Rosas Jr. def. Mando Gutierrez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Austen Lane def. Richard Jacobi via TKO (punches) at 4:34 of Round 1
Nurullo Aliev def. Josh Wick via TKO (punches) at 4:36 of Round 1
Jafel Filho def. Roybert Echeverria via TKO (punches) at 3:13 of Round 3
