Four out of five winners from last night’s 9th episode of Dana White’s Contender Series 8 earned UFC contracts last night in Las Vegas.
The most notable fight of the night was undoubtedly the main event due to the fact that the winner Artem Vakhitov had beaten Alex Pereira by majority decision in his final kickboxing fight back in 2021, just a few months before the star joined the UFC.
In fact that had been Vakhitov’s 2nd fight in a row with Pereira, having lost to him by split-decision earlier that year. And with that much history between them, fresh off his latest UFC 205lb title defense at the weekend, Pereira himself was in attendance in Las Vegas last night to watch his former rival attempt to win a place in the UFC.
And Vakhitov was able to do just that as he connected with a big right hand in the final minute of the first round that rocked Islem Masraf, before follow-up strike sunk him to the canvas for a TKO finish.
The 33-year-old Vakhitov’s performance before the finish had left Dana White with some doubts though, so he actually consulted with Pereira himself on whether to award his rival a UFC contract, and ‘Poatan’ gave him the green light. It seems like Vakhitov will have to earn his stripes against other UFC 205lb’ers before he’d be granted another showdown with Pereira though.
Kody Steele, Mario Pinto and Islam Dulatov also earned UFC contracts after delivering finishes via strikes in their fights, but Sean Gauci’s unanimous decision win over Anthony Drilich wasn’t enough for him to secure a spot on the roster.
Check out all the results and highlight clips below.
Artem Vakhitov def. Islem Masraf via TKO (punches) — R1, 4:23
What a way to close Week 9! Artem Vakhitov with a crafty creation of strikes to secure the first RD finish! #DWCS pic.twitter.com/gvYxqX72G9
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) October 9, 2024
Kody Steele def. Chasen Blair via TKO (punches) — R2, 4:07
Kody Steele is THE REAL DEAL
[ #DWCS is LIVE NOW on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/D09ruXkOAV
— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2024
Mario Pinto def. Luis Camacho via TKO (punches) — R1, 1:43
Right on the button!
Mario Pinto gets the early first round TKO!
[ #DWCS LIVE NOW on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/cx0eREeCjt
— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2024
Islam Dulatov def. Vanilto Antunes via knockout (elbow) — R1, 2:44
WHAT A KNOCKOUT
Islam Dulatov just DELIVERED on #DWCS!
[ LIVE NOW on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/3vnVN7eudR
— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2024
Sean Gauci def. Anthony Drilich via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
WHAT A KNOCKOUT
Islam Dulatov just DELIVERED on #DWCS!
[ LIVE NOW on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/3vnVN7eudR
— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2024
