Lone’er Kavanagh, Three Others Join UFC on Week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series

The Great Britan Top Team prospect was one of four hopefuls to nail
down an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during
Week 1 of
Dana White’s Contender Series, as he punched out An Tuan Ho
in the first round of their flyweight showcase on Tuesday at the
UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Kavanagh (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) froze the MMA Lab export with a wicked
left hook 2:35 into Round 1.

A brief feeling-out process gave way to a series of leg kicks and a
few standup exchanges between the two men. Kavanagh stepped into a
lightning bolt of a lunging left hook midway through the first
round, connected with surgical precision and separated his
previously unbeaten counterpart from his senses. Ho (6-1, 0-1 DWCS)
remained prone and motionless for several tense moments before
exiting the cage.

Featherweight Jose
Delgado, middleweight Mansur
Abdul-Malik and light heavyweight Bruno Lopes
are set to join Kavanagh on the UFC roster.

MMA Lab’s Delgado buried A1 Combat champion Ernie
Juarez with a savage knee strike and follow-up punches in the
second round of their featherweight attraction.
Juarez (7-1, 0-1 DWCS) succumbed to blows 1:25 into Round 2,
suffering his first professional defeat in crash-and-burn
fashion.

Delgado (8-1, 1-0 DWCS) set the tone right out of the gate, as he
overwhelmed the Gracie Fighter rep with merciless pressure,
multi-punch volleys, knees to the body, intermittent kicks and a
pair of takedowns in the first round. Juarez answered with a few
overhand rights and hooks from both hands. Delgado was unmoved. He
forced Juarez to the fence and uncorked a crushing knee upstairs
less than 90 seconds into Round 2. The Californian collapsed
downward and ate a burst of punches from Delgado before referee
Chris Tognoni could arrive on the scene.

The 26-year-old Delgado has rattled off five straight victories,
all of them finishes.

Meanwhile, Xtreme Couture’s Abdul-Malik disposed of Wesley
Schultz with elbows and punches in the second round of their
middleweight feature.
Abdul-Malik (6-0, 1-0 DWCS) drew the curtain 3:55 into Round 2, as
he posted his sixth stoppage in as many outings.

Schultz (6-2, 0-1 DWCS) acquitted himself well in defeat. He kept
Abdul-Malik at bay for a time by initiating scrambles and stringing
together kicks. However, those efforts put a strain on Schultz’s
gas tank and ultimately cost him midway through the bout.
Abdul-Malik powered into top position, shed an attempted armbar and
got his ground-and-pound in gear. He then progressed to full mount
and finished the exhausted Schultz with a hellacious volley of
elbows and punches.

The loss closed the book on a three-fight winning streak for
Schultz.

Further down the card, Lopes weathered some early adversity and put
away Spitfire Gym standout Mikheil
Sazhiniani with punches in the second round of their light
heavyweight pairing.
Sazhiniani (13-3, 0-1 DWCS) checked out 4:14 into Round 2, losing
for the first time in more than two years.

Lopes (3-1, 1-1 DWCS) hit the deck on the end of an overhand right
from the Georgian late in Round 1, recovered almost immediately and
proceeded to wear down his adversary with thudding leg kicks and
bulletproof takedown defense. Sazhiniani was winded and visibly
compromised at the start of the middle stanza. Lopes denied his
repeated bid for takedowns, let fly with a few close-range elbows
and battered the body with knees. A straight left to the
breadbasket doubled over Sazhiniani and prompted him to retreat to
the fence, where he was met with follow-up punches that
necessitated the stoppage.

The setback snapped Sazhiniani’s six-fight winning streak.

Finally, Rami Hamed
(13-3, 1-0 DWCS) outpointed Meng Ding to
a unanimous decision in their three-round welterweight tilt,
drawing 30-27, 29-27 and 29-27 marks from the cageside judges. Ding
(34-9, 0-1 DWCS) was docked a point in the third round for multiple
low blows.