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Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 9, Week 7
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00:00that's a great point i mean this is this is a fantastic fight and i i do feel like either of
00:06these women would be an asset to the ufc flyweight division i think they absolutely would be you
00:12know going into the second round montenegro made an adjustment where she got back to the fainting
00:16and that in and out movement like the corner asked for now in this third round she's starting
00:19it much like she did the first round she's a little stuck in the mud and chavez is starting
00:24to turn on right away at the beginning of this round yeah chavez building on the momentum that
00:29she had from the end of the last round
00:34it's a great point earlier about whoever was able to string together the combinations
00:40had the advantage and right now this is chavez in the third round
00:59good head movement by chavez yeah i'm super impressed i mean i'm very impressed with both
01:06ladies but i think the the fighter that is surprising me the most right now is chavez she
01:12just looks like she's really done her homework in terms of the footwork putting together the
01:17combinations but it's any any ladies fight at this point in my opinion i have not been keeping score
01:23well in terms of significant strikes it's almost a dead heat
01:28but i think to your point about chavez it's it's the resume coming in the great unknown right she's
01:33been so impressive yeah i think i'm most impressed with just the mindset the mentality that she has no
01:40matter what happens she continues even when she's getting pushed back you can see her kind of turn it
01:44on and say i'm not backing up anymore 100 the reality is she had not fought anybody even close
01:50to this coming into this fight so to be able to come out here and face the level of his adversity
01:55that she is against montenegro not fold not with her but rise to the occasion is super impressive
02:00and montenegro is fighting to kind of maybe our expectation for her
02:06well as much as she wasn't unknown to us you you have to credit montenegro because she didn't know it
02:11she didn't know what she was getting herself into either so she's figuring it out as she goes
02:19montenegro gets the takedown here with two and a half to go in the third and final round
02:23yeah nice timing on that outside trip she loves that outside trip
02:30see if she can possibly get a piece of rick no
02:33she wants to get up here it's a perfect opportunity with the posture get her feet on the hips and just
02:52kick off it's gonna be hard to win the fight from the from the bottom here ground and pound coming in
02:58from montenegro and chavez still looking for those elbows we don't know a whole lot necessarily about
03:14chavez's bottom game no submission wins to her credit but she is a purple belt so
03:20she's very aware of the advice anthony was giving just a minute ago harder so than done one easier
03:33you guys in the midwest you just have a kind of a different verbiage i'm just excited to have another
03:42montenegro wants to keep this fight where it's at she's going to have to get to work she's going to
03:46have to watch her oh i think she thought the referee was standing him up and she let her up
03:52let's see if that works to her advantage here maybe maybe not yeah you're right anthony i think
03:56she thought that was yeah i think she thought that was a stand-up instead of just a call for action
04:04look at the round by round numbers rounds one and three oh beautiful right hand from chavez
04:11advantage chavez and then there's another right coming in what an absolute war this has been
04:20just switch stands right hand
04:28another takedown attempt
04:32stuffed by chavez
04:33chavez gotta get off the fence here she can't let her hang out yeah she's going to try to look for
04:39those elders that she loves so much what a fight one of the better fights of the season
05:03what an incredible what an incredible fight i think that both these ladies learned a lot about
05:16themselves here we're right at the beginning of the fight montenegro lands a nasty right hand and spends
05:23the majority of the first round there's a head clash to cause the cut on montenegro and she spent the
05:28the majority of the first round looking like she was sprinting her way to a finish she gets the
05:33she dropped chavez here the chavez just never went away she took this knee on the way up montenegro
05:39timed it perfectly chavez just continued to work her way back in she was landing
05:43big right hands she landed big left hooks and and just would never go away she seemed to
05:49she seemed to be a woman on a mission what an incredible fight in the third round we have
05:54montenegro with that outside trip i've seen her hit it a bunch in her previous fights and it worked
05:58again here tonight uh what an incredible performance from both ladies both ladies these
06:04are two of the toughest fighters that we have seen on contender series it looked early in the
06:09second round like montenegro was gonna finish chavez and she weathers the storm what an impressive
06:15performance listen two of her six opponents fought against her and never fought again she hasn't
06:22fought high level competition she did tonight and now for the official decision brought to
06:27you by bud light official beer sponsor of the ufc here's justin ladies and gentlemen after three
06:33rounds we go to the judges score cards for decision judge bell scores about 29 28 montenegro
06:40judge the model scores about 29 28 chavez and judge camillo scores about 29 28 for the winner by split
06:49decision decision chesla chavez wow what a win what a performance by chesla chavez a plus 205 underdog
07:05a former ring girl could be finding a home in the ufc in the very near future
07:10she improves to seven and oh weathers the storm in the second round a bloody war with sofia montenegro
07:28what what what a performance she ended up with to find herself with a w after the beginning of the
07:34first round that she had after the adversity that she had in the first round some of the adversity she
07:38had in the second round with her stuck on the bottom and then to come out in the third round
07:42still continue to chase the finish to continue to push forward and not and not just go away it would
07:47have been so easy at the beginning of this fight for her to say ah this isn't for me i had a bad start
07:51i've never been in a fight this hard in my entire life what what a performance you know she said she
07:56loves the process of fighting the travel the cutting weight the stare down feels like she thrives on
08:04intensity and pressure and i'll be honest i looked at her resume and who she had fun i'm like oh that's
08:10cool like but you haven't really fought somebody of this caliber of montenegro's caliber yet now i
08:16believe it well when you read that you're unsure you're unsure because you don't because she's never
08:21been there before but here we are she's landing big right hands i was unsure if she was going to be
08:25able to deal with the pressure of montenegro but after being pushed up against the fence for an entire
08:29round you see her land a big right hand there what an incredible performance and here she is
08:34with more central jace la chávez congratulations what an absolute war you remain undefeated against
08:43your toughest opponent of your entire career but did you know that you would get the judges scorecards
08:49jace la chávez a brava que lutão tremenda você continua uma guerra você continua invicta contra talvez
08:56o oponente mais difícil que já teve agora chegou no final você sabia que decisão era tu
09:01é primeiramente eu quero dizer que poções e cotovelo na no na boca e joelho no bucho é
09:10eu quero dizer que eu não não eu não sabia né porque assim quando está lá em cima tudo pode
09:18acontecer né eu também já trabalhei com árbitro então eu sei que cada um tem uma visão e naquele
09:24momento eu só sabia que a gente tinha traçado uma guerra e eu quero parabenizar né a sofia que ninguém luta
09:29sozinha né e naquele momento eu sabia que eu tinha entregado o máximo de mim né é feito que eu mais
09:36gosto de fazer que é trocar porrada e graças a deus né e a oportunidade que eu tive eu a adversária
09:41minha foi uma que veio também para porrada então fico muito feliz mas naquele momento eu não sabia
09:46poderia ir para qualquer lado e eu queria parabenizar minha adversária também que ninguém luta sozinha né
09:52mas foi uma guerra e aquele momento eu não sabia eu sabia que podia ir para qualquer uma mas independente do
09:57resultado eu ia sair muito feliz porque eu sei que eu traçei uma guerra e sempre que a braba entra no
10:01octógono é para traçar uma guerra
10:02um
10:03um
10:03first and foremost i want to say that poções where i'm from is elbows to the face and and knees to
10:09the good that's what we do back there um i for i don't i don't know we never know actually have
10:14worked as a rep before so i i you don't know what happens when it when it's there it could go either
10:19way so you never know what happens but i i really first of all it's a war i came in for a war and we
10:24got a war and that's what you're gonna get from me and also i want to thank my opponent because she gave me
10:30a war and that's and that's the war that i came for and i got but again you never know what's going
10:35to happen but i really wanted to thank her um because you never know what's happening but out
10:39regardless of of the result i know one thing that i came in for a war and when the badass la brava
10:47comes in it's a war and that's what you get absolutely a war tonight but you know this was
10:52the toughest fight you've ever had in your entire life talk to me about the mindset what was going
10:58through your mind as this fight went on you never gave up on yourself and essa foi definitivamente a
11:04luta mais difícil da tua vida um lutão uma guerra mas a cabeça a tua mentalidade como é que você
11:11continuou e assim você não existiu em nenhum momento é primeiramente foi uma guerra não só pelo a luta
11:18em si né eu vim aqui hoje sem meus dois cornes principais né meus dois treinadores na minha equipe
11:25só tem eu e esses dois treinadores agora tá chegando mais gente mas só só nós três e eu nunca fui para um
11:32para uma luta sem um dos dois meus cornes né que eu tava comigo desde o início e para mim quando eu
11:39recebi a notícia que o visto deles não não tinha sido tinha sido negado meu chão caiu né eu falei agora que eu
11:46eu acho que minha luta mais importante da minha vida sem um dos dois comigo né meu chão caiu mas é eu fiz uma
12:02oração né pra deus e foi assim ó senhor me deu um sinal e ele falou assim filha você vai com seu principal
12:09corner eu vou estar do seu lado e a partir daquele momento eu sei que eu tô aqui graças a deus né e
12:16o empresário da patera e mestre cong do galpão da luta que pode vir comigo mas se não fosse eles eu
12:24talvez estaria sozinha aqui mas graças a pessoas maravilhosas do meu lado que me apoia então essa
12:29luta não foi só uma guerra pelo fato da minha adversária de regina adversária a sofia mas por tudo que eu
12:36enfrentei e tem que saber que eu vim a ser os meus dois cornes que tá comigo desde o meu jeb direto me
12:40ensinou desde o andar no octógono e tá aqui hoje sem eles foi uma acho que uma luta mais importante da
12:48minha vida e a mais desafiadora mas quando eu conversei com deus ele falou assim filho eu vou ser o principal
12:53corner vai estar contigo independente de nesting cong ou meu empresário leopatera você vai estar com o seu
12:59maior corner que sou eu então tranquiliza seu coração fique em paz que eu já preparei sua vitória
13:03um i wanted to say that the fight started long long before this this was way more challenging than
13:10you think i've throughout my career for all my entire life i've had two corners where my main
13:15trainers those are my two coaches and they've been with me since my first jab my first cross
13:19they've been with me since i started walking into the doctor on any any other capacity and they
13:26they were supposed to be i've never had a fight they've been to every single step of the way in
13:30every single fight and they couldn't be here because when i found out that their visas didn't
13:34get approved that they couldn't come here and i realized god just sent me a sign just tell me
13:40something tell me that everything's going to be all right and said don't you worry because your
13:45biggest corner is going to be with you i'm going to be on your corner and i i he was there and he
13:51was with me and i want to say you know leopon there mr conga they're there they're there they're
13:55they're here they've been with me they've been taking care of me and if it wasn't for him
13:58if it wasn't for them i wouldn't be here so that they put these wonderful people next to me and um
14:04that at the end of the day like again they have always been with me in every single fight every
14:09step of the way and they weren't with me but my biggest corner was my third corner who was here
14:14with me so i'm very happy for it incredible heart shown tonight i hope i get a chance to talk to you
14:19again congratulations guys we'll send it back to you all right thank you very much all three judges
14:25gave round two to montenegro round three to chavez so round one was the swing round and chavez won on
14:32two judges scorecards from ring girl to the ufc that could become complete tonight for jesla chavez
14:41dana white's contender series is presented by bud blight
14:48dana white's contender series also known as the most violent and entertaining job interview on the planet as
14:53you just saw and you have a front row seat two more to go having spent multiple camps in dagestad with
14:58islam mahachev and his team mexico's brian searcher will try to apply that same kind of pressure and
15:04pace to murtaz ali magomera
15:06my record 9 0 and they all finished finish up in each of the games i try to win those
15:20soon and try to win those days and try to win those days and try to win those days i have a style of
15:25these days so i can win those days and this game i think i will win those days in the game i think i win those days
15:28that I will win all my fights for a long time.
15:32And I think I will win all my fights for a long time.
15:36My name is Murtazali Magomedov.
15:38I'm from Kyrgyzstan.
15:40My goal is to get a contract with UFC.
15:42I started fighting for a fight for 8 years.
15:47I trained for a fight for a fight.
15:50I slowly went into more fights.
15:53First, kickboxing.
15:55Then, when I learned about MMA, I started doing this kind of sport.
16:01I came to Vegas in February.
16:03I came here.
16:05For the first time, it was difficult.
16:07I thought it would be less time.
16:11It was not easy to stay so long from home.
16:15But I decided to stay and wait for my chance.
16:18I was ready for everything.
16:20And so I got my chance.
16:23And now I'm here.
16:24And I'll do everything to get a contract with UFC.
16:27My professional record is 9-0.
16:33I've finished seven of my new opponents.
16:36Four knockouts.
16:37Three submissions.
16:38I'm ready for UFC because I've trained with the best in the world.
16:44And I know I can compete with them.
16:46My name is Bryan Surcher.
16:48I represent the team Cobriña in Las Vegas, Nevada.
16:51And I'm here tonight to win a contract with UFC.
16:54To change my life and my family.
16:58I started training when I was 15 years old.
17:02The Muay Thai was my first class.
17:05It was my introduction to martial arts.
17:08I was in love with.
17:09Then, when I was 17, I could go to the United States legally.
17:14I've been with the vision of continuing my path as a martial artist.
17:20I've been with the vision of someday being in the UFC.
17:24I've been with many years.
17:26I've done many sacrifices, many years of discipline.
17:30And to get to the UFC would be a big step.
17:34To get to the UFC would be a big step.
17:36The UFC would open many doors and many opportunities
17:39to change my life financially and my family.
17:44But that's what you have to do.
17:46You have to do it.
17:48You have to work.
17:49I've done it.
17:50I've done the hours.
17:51I've done the sweat.
17:52I've done the blood.
17:53I've done the blood.
17:54So, to get my contract with UFC,
17:57it's just to close that.
17:59I've done that.
18:06They call him the highlight.
18:07Murtaz Ali, Magomedov,
18:09fighting out of Central Asia for the first time in his career.
18:12But he's been here in Vegas for a minute.
18:14Moved here eight months ago,
18:16was looking for a gym to train in,
18:18and ended up at Extreme Couture.
18:20Of course, Anthony, a lot of high-level guys there
18:23that he's training with.
18:24Well, yeah, and he's got a lot of high-level experience as well.
18:26He's fought a lot of really tough people on the regional scene.
18:29And I really like this guy's style.
18:31It's a really tough style to deal with
18:34because he doesn't make a lot of mistakes.
18:36He doesn't get super fancy and get outside of himself
18:38and leave himself open,
18:39much like another Magomedov that I know very, very well.
18:42But it does remind me of him.
18:43He has great wrestling.
18:46He has great jiu-jitsu.
18:47But he wants to strike.
18:49But when things don't go his way
18:50or it's not going the way that he thought it was going to go,
18:53he has no problem checking down to the wrestling,
18:55and he's absolutely proficient there.
18:57He's got straight punches, good power, great wrestling.
19:00He has zero holes in his game.
19:03Yeah, he can really do it all.
19:04And I think it's interesting that he said, you know,
19:06when he started wrestling at eight years old
19:08and then transitioned to kickboxing,
19:10he was doing it all with MMA in mind.
19:13He's, you know, took a lot of inspiration from Khabib Nurmagomedov,
19:16who he ended up training with quite a bit in anticipation of this fight.
19:21So you'll see a lot of those Dagestani thumbprints,
19:24those fingerprints in his style.
19:26Brian Searcher, born and raised in Mexico, came to the U.S. at 17 years old,
19:36got linked up with the guys from Khabib Nurmagomedov's team
19:40and has been training with him for the last five years.
19:43was Islam's main sparring partner for his fight with Armand Saruqi,
19:47and before it was canceled, actually spent the first nine weeks of this camp in Dagestan
19:52with Islam and Umar and that whole team.
19:55Yeah, it's pretty interesting that both of these guys kind of have that Dagestani tie,
20:00and yet neither of them is from Dagestan.
20:03You know, of course, Magomedov spent this last camp in Extreme Couture,
20:06and as you just said, Searcher spent quite a bit of this camp training with Khabib and those guys,
20:12and you definitely see that influence in his style as well.
20:16He calls it the Russian-Mexican mix, which when you think about it, Anthony,
20:20that's a pretty dangerous combination if you can put those two together.
20:23Yanni, what you got on this fight?
20:25Well, the betting market reflects just how competitive this fight should be.
20:28He got two 9-0 fighters, and Searcher opened as the favorite.
20:32Magomedov went the favorite, and now Searcher's going to close the favorite.
20:35So it shows you there's a difference of opinion.
20:38I got to go with the Searcher side.
20:40I like that he's fought in the PFL.
20:42I like that he's gone the distance more than once.
20:44He's seen more rounds, and BJJ Black belt that's trained with Khabib and Islam,
20:49at minus 130 or better, I'll take the small favorite.
20:52His uncle, Cesar Meggo Palermo, a former world Muay Thai champion,
20:58is in Searcher's corner tonight.
21:00Started training under Palermo when he was 15 years old in Puerto Vallarta.
21:04Had to take three separate buses each way just to get to the gym.
21:08Let's take a look now at the tail of the tape.
21:10Makomedov and Searcher through here separate these two men in age.
21:15Searcher is one inch taller, and the reach nearly identical.
21:19A slight half-inch reach advantage.
21:21Both men coming in undefeated at 9 and 0.
21:24Frank Triga referee.
21:29Ready?
21:30Ready?
21:31Fight!
21:36All right, 5-4 underway.
21:37Searcher in the red.
21:38Makomedov in the blue.
21:40You know, it's really interesting that for just a little bit, it sounds like it's just some wrestling practices,
21:47but these guys have trained together before.
21:49Yeah.
21:50Very small sample sizes, but it is different coming to a fight being a little more comfortable with somebody.
21:56If I remember correctly, it was Makomedov who brought it up, which I think sometimes will tell you who felt maybe like they got the better of those exchanges.
22:10He didn't tell too many secrets, but he said he felt like it would give him a bit of an advantage understanding what he was looking at across from him and Searcher.
22:19Heavy low kick there from Searcher finding a home.
22:23Says a lot about him as a person that Habib let him train with the guys.
22:28He's the first Mexican that Habib has ever allowed in the camp to train with his guys.
22:33He's really protective of his crew and obviously a lot of respect here for Ryan Searcher as a fighter and a person.
22:39Yeah, it's a tight group.
22:42They don't let a lot of people.
22:44No.
22:45So to be invited says a lot about the potential that Searcher has.
22:50This is the fight with the quickness.
22:51I almost didn't see the first shot.
22:55It was maybe a jab.
22:56It was a jab.
22:57It didn't look super sharp, but apparently it was.
22:58Wow.
22:59Magomedov's got to carry a ton of power.
23:00That was impressive.
23:01Wow.
23:02Magomedov's got to carry a ton of power.
23:03That was impressive.
23:04That happened so fast.
23:05I thought it was a slip.
23:07I did too.
23:08But it turns out it looks like a little more like a little.
23:09I thought it was a slip.
23:10It was hard.
23:11You know, just like a little, it's hard.
23:12It was hard for him.
23:13That's the fight with the quickness.
23:14Yeah.
23:15I almost didn't see the first shot.
23:16It looked like it was maybe a jab.
23:17It was a jab that didn't look super sharp, but apparently it was.
23:20Wow.
23:21Wow.
23:22Wow.
23:23Magomedov's got to carry a ton of power.
23:25That was impressive.
23:26that happened so fast i thought it was a slip i did too but turns out it looks to me like it was
23:37a jab a real tight jab on the inside let's take a look at it because i'm on the same boat i wasn't
23:43entirely sure yes nice stiff jab yeah right through the guard of zurcher just kind of wobbles him
23:49takes his equilibrium away and then he's able to follow it up i mean a couple of strong left hands
23:54there another look here yeah stiff jab as searcher was looking to land that big wide left hook lands
24:01the uppercut another left that left hook there right there really put him on his butt as well
24:07just perfect follow-through on the on the part of magomedov i'm so impressed with how short those
24:12shots are it was a really short jab and a really tight short uppercut the power this guy must carry
24:20well his nickname is the highlight because they say fights like justin gaethje that's certainly a
24:26gaethje like performance and it did not take long let's send it to justin bernard ladies and gentlemen
24:33after one minute 37 seconds into round number one referee frank trig calls a stop to the fight for
24:39the winner by tko murtazali magomedov well that 100 finish rate stays intact as murtazali magomedov improves
24:55to 10 and 0 undefeated as a pro and an amateur now a 17 fight win streak yeah it seemed like he had a
25:04lot of confidence from the very beginning and that's what i was talking about where they had small sample
25:08sizes of training but when you're that comfortable you've already been around someone there's not
25:11the unknown you don't know how fast they are you're unsure of a lot of things until you're in there
25:16you got to work your way into that there's none of that when you have a little bit of training with
25:19someone so you could tell he was comfortable right away and seemed very sure of himself that's
25:24it's an amazing performance and i'm still so impressed with the shortness of those shots and the
25:29damage they were able to do against such a tough opponent well and he saw that he stung him and had him
25:34hurt and he just went for the kill which you think everybody would do but not everybody does that
25:38no no not everyone and he he was all gas no breaks he he didn't hesitate at all he knew he had him
25:43hurt he knew he landed a good shot uh and chased the finish here we are we're going to see the jab
25:49right there that puts him down throws a right hand and a nasty little uppercut right there the shots
25:55are so short it's so hard to get finishes right there and he jumps like uh he smells the blood and and
26:01gets the finish and now we have laura with the with the big winner thank you so much guys
26:06we're tazali congratulations still undefeated still a 100 percent finish rate intact but you did it
26:14on the biggest stage tonight congratulations congratulations
26:17so um thanks thanks a lot i'm very happy to be here i am in las vegas for nine months and i
26:47waited a lot for this moment i was uh training a lot and i'm so happy that today i could won and make
26:53everyone happy it was the jab that started off that finishing sequence did you know when you landed
26:59that jab and you wobbled him that you would be able to finish the fight
27:02i got it that the job was done right and i just had to keep going and he was shocked and i just had to keep
27:23it 18 years working to get to this spot what would it mean to you to represent kyrgyzstan in the ufc
27:30for me it's very important i want to represent kyrgyzstan here in the ufc for me it's very important i want to
27:42represent my republic for kyrgyzstan and my country and my country for me it's very important i hope that
27:54i get a chance to talk to you again congratulations guys we'll send it back to you
28:21the sixth first round finish in 10 fights for mertazali magomedov and it took all of 97 seconds
28:31to get it done virtually assured of earning a ufc contract after that performance our final fight
28:38of the night is on the way croatian striker johnny barbier has finished every win of his career and
28:43after dominating the regional scene in europe he knows it's time for himself to test his skills against
28:48the best in the world the only thing standing in his way is this man mantas kadra tavisius the first
28:56lithuanian male to compete on the contender series is made for the stage his 100 finish rate is
29:01highlighted by a six second flying knee knockout don't blink the featured fight is coming up this
29:09is one of those fights where chaos is almost guaranteed two guys who traveled halfway around
29:13the world to get here are prepared to leave their souls in the octagon our final matchup of the
29:19night has arrived on dana white's contender series but first we need to know where things stand and for
29:25the first time ever we get to see the anthony smith power rankings my man what do you have what a night
29:32man yeah it's been an incredible night of fights and so far uh i'm blown away but number one i have to go
29:38murtazali magomedov an amazing performance the power he had in such a short distance and i'm so
29:44impressed with him with his ability to get searcher out of there so quickly number two i have to go
29:50javier tobias the middleweight division could or the light heavyweight division rather could really use
29:56someone with the type of power that he carries you know obviously through this entire fight i thought
30:01that he really made a big advancement and a big adjustment from his last fight to this one which tells
30:05me he's only going to continue to get better number three i have javier reyes for a guy that i said was
30:10a slow starter and that he was going to have to work his way into a good performance he was going to
30:15have to weaponize his conditioning to get a win over someone as tough as justice torres he went in
30:20made me look really stupid and was able to get a finish he pressed the he pressed it right away
30:24pressed the action and was able to get that finish uh and number four might surprise you guys i have
30:29i have montenegro total respect to her i thought she had an amazing performance and absolute respect
30:34to to chavez but i thought montenegro won that fight i thought that she earned she earned the ability
30:41to get the win i thought that she earned a contract in my opinion not that i give them out uh but if i was
30:46i would actually give her but jasela chavez i think that she deserves one too i think that the sample size
30:51of fights that we have seen with her in them is small but i think she impressed everyone and i believe
30:56that she impressed herself i don't think that she was 100 positive that she can compete at this level
31:00i think now that she has that confidence moving forward i think they're only going to continue
31:03to grow but i believe the division needs both of these ladies in it well it's just the second female
31:08fight of the year last time out both fighters earned the contract perhaps we could see that again
31:14going to be uh very interesting to see we're going to find out shortly what dana thinks
31:18about that list and if we're going to add another name or maybe two
31:21two all-action finisher montaz kondratavis rides a cage warriors knockout into the apex but croatia's
31:30undefeated johnny barbeer plans to keep his 100 finish rate intact on his way to a ufc contract
31:41i had this dream since i saw the ufc first time i was 14 years old i knew it back then that one day i
31:49will get it my name is johnny barbeer i'm coming from croatia i'm 28 years old i'm fighting out of
31:56att zagreb and i'm here to win the contract and follow my dreams to get the ufc belt
32:03i grew up in a small town called ploče when i was kid i liked all the sports but fighting was always
32:10something that i was looking for i fell in love with mixed martial arts because i was good from the
32:17beginning and from the first day at the gym i knew that i was born for it it means a lot to me to
32:23represent croatia we are known to be the craziest fans on the football so i hope i'm going to bring
32:32that in the mma i want to show to the world that we have one of the best genetics for the sports and
32:40that we are true warriors i believe my country is going to be very proud of me because mma scene
32:48back home is crazy right now and we need the guy in the ufc to represent us i'm fighting mantas
32:56contra davidius is tough but tough is not going to be enough so i just need to be me and everything's
33:03going to fall into place i do a bit of everything it's aggressive style i like to go forward i like
33:14action i always try to finish my opponent my name is mantas contra davidius i'm fighting from conas
33:21lithuania and my goal is to get to ufc and fight with the best i fight because i love it i don't want
33:29to go to work construction or somewhere i like to fight them that's my job i had the dream to be in
33:35ufc i think from 15 years old 16 years old even before i was training kickboxing and boxing
33:49i like boxing i like kickboxing everything i had street fights and it was normal in lithuania to have
33:57street fights as a kid trying to show each other who's the better and i think it was good childhood
34:03for a fighter and i got the call on the contender series i was happy i was super motivated i'm very
34:10proud to represent my country lithuania to get here is a bit of history making it's not many lithuanians
34:17here i want to show the world that i can do it the younger guys who see me from lithuania that they
34:23can do it as well i'm fighting danny barber i think i'm faster than him my striking better than him
34:31i will fight it's definitely not gonna be three rounds i hope you're gonna give everything because
34:36i'm giving everything tonight
34:43mantas kandratavishis the first male fighter from lithuania to compete on dana white's contender
34:49series very proud of his homeland a training partner with current ufc fighter julia stolia renko
34:55a big inspiration for him always wants action looking for the finish says if he doesn't get a
35:00knockout then he doesn't feel like he's done his job if you're gonna fight if you're gonna be fighting
35:05this guy right now is probably the time you want to do it because the gains that he's making in between
35:09fights is absolutely insane he's been a striker essentially his entire life and then at 18 years old
35:14he makes his transition to mma and he's he's really developing this really well-rounded game
35:19where he's able to strike freely without worrying about the takedown as much as he did early in his
35:23career he's got crazy power in his hands he establishes distance and range he's really an
35:29all limb or all eight weapons type of striker i'm no betting genius but i'm sure yanni has something for
35:35us well not tonight i've been ice cold it's been a nice season anthony but i this is as close to a
35:41point flip i think is you're going to get with these two guys and i agree with you uh with the
35:45aggressiveness of kondra davisius him being the the dog side i have to look there he's got the power
35:52he's also vjj purple belt national champion there well-rounded give me plus money i'll take montis
36:01competed in amateur boxing kickboxing and muay thai he's also fought all over the world lithuania
36:07england france and finland
36:14johnny barbeer coming in as a minus 140 favorite grew up in a small city in croatia playing all
36:21kinds of sports soccer basketball handball growing up did some boxing refocused on mma but
36:26has had a lot of layoffs where he's gone back into boxing told me he really wanted to focus
36:31on his stand up one of the things that impressed mcmaynard the most undefeated croatian barbeer is
36:38another athlete coming into contenders with a hundred percent finish rate with all but one
36:42coming in the first round 7-0 barbeer is very athletic very fast he utilizes his long limbs very
36:48well to set up the strikes mixing it in with flying knees head kicks and power on his hands it's like mick
36:54read my notes that's almost exactly what i was going to say he is he's super aggressive he's got this high
36:59pressure high volume style of striking and mixes his weapons really well you know you again you don't
37:05know if he's gonna throw a flying knee or a front kick to the face and i don't know that necessarily he
37:11he knows that you know he's out there flowing he's got such a variety of weapons really good
37:15opportunistic submission game as well so watch for that if he knocks a guy you know gets him wobbled
37:21he will snatch a submission very very quickly we saw that not that long ago one of the fastest anaconda
37:26submissions i've ever seen excited for this fight guys
37:32here's tail of the tape barbeer two years older an inch and a half taller and has
37:39a significant reach advantage as well undefeated and coming in as the minus 140 favorite carrie
37:44hatley our referee for our featured battle
37:50brad de la cruz thank you very much all your hard work pays off right here you ready let's go to work
37:56you ready let's go to work
37:59well not wasting any time right away barbeer was looking for that spinning back elbow but kondratavich
38:09is trying to get this to the mat a lifelong striker with a takedown to side control
38:13oh barbeer is going to try to reverse it that was gorgeous right back
38:26watch your cup
38:30kondratavich is going to have to he's going to work for this underhook here
38:33yeah kondratavich is going to look to get that left hand in between but barbeer so far keep it nice
38:43and tight see who has the better uh judo game or trip game here in a second that's interesting that's
38:49an interesting way to get off the fence if you can't if you can't get the inside ties you just walk
38:53forward to the middle nice front kick by kondratavich is you make it stop stop stop stop stop
39:01kondratavich is with the knockout in the first hold up hold up hold up
39:11that right hand was filthy
39:18wow
39:18we gotta lock this back and take another look at it throws the one puts the two right over the jab
39:35side of barbeer i mean it just does not get cleaner than that the one two when you open the textbook
39:42and you look up one two that is the the picture that they're going to show you
39:45you lands that right hand right to the jaw of barbeer and that was all she wrote ladies and
39:51gentlemen a couple of strikes for the road but that fight was done as soon as that right hand
39:56landed beautiful work by montez kondratavich is and how about the the wrestler right or the how
40:01about the striker working into an early takedown to side control a lot happened in a short amount
40:06of time in this fight but i really the striking of montez really came through you can absolutely see
40:11who the who the who the better more powerful striker is in these exchanges what a performance by the
40:17lithuanian here's justin ladies and gentlemen after one minute six seconds into round number one
40:24referee carrie hatley calls a stop to the fight for the winner by tko montez kondratavich
40:33so he came in with two finishes in under a minute including a six second flying knee knockout and he takes
40:46care of business here on the contender series in 66 seconds what a performance yeah he's exactly what
40:56we advertised him to be he's calm and he was ready to fight right away i love when when these guys
41:02that come in guys and girls when they come in and they just come together right away immediately start
41:07throwing heavy leather immediately start just letting everything fly and he believed in himself
41:12there was big exchanges landed he took a couple big shots early and it didn't it didn't dispel him at
41:18all there's a one that is a picture perfect one if you're going to teach it to someone who doesn't
41:23know what a what a jab cross is that's exactly what you want you want them to react to the jab to
41:27slip their head come back with the two i know that he was arguing barbeer was arguing the finish there i
41:33i don't know that the result would have changed i think he would have just landed more shots yeah he
41:39was rocked dana heading back to discuss with the guys who's getting a contract i have a feeling there's
41:46going to be a lot handed out tonight laura's with our winner thank you so much guys montez congratulations
41:52that my friend is what everyone comes on this show to try to do absolutely sensational finish
42:00thank you very much this is what we came for we work for this that's our style we explosive
42:06we always try to try to go to for the finish from the beginning and we got it so we're happy
42:12that 100 finish rate continues you landed the most picture perfect one two i think i've ever seen put
42:20him out did you know that the straight shots and the boxing would be what it would get it done for
42:24you tonight uh didn't know exactly that this shot but from the beginning i saw that he's one to connect
42:31me with the right hand very much and he's going forward so my went right went too and it was perfect
42:38yeah i know you've had a family supporting you the entire way here and you've had a country supporting
42:43you as well lithuania what would it mean to you to represent lithuania in the ufc yeah it means a lot
42:50can i say a few words in lituania tell us what you said yes so i thank for my family for my team that
43:06they already in the morning watching the fight so without them i'm nothing so thanks to them
43:13absolutely an entire country behind you i have a feeling i will be talking to you again very soon
43:18but for now go enjoy this win thank you so thank you so much guys we'll send it back to you
43:25kondra tavish's last fight was a 47 second knockout tonight he gets a 66 second knockout yanni you called
43:33that one right we caught that one
43:41montas making the walk back to try and find out if he will be getting a contract and i think there's
43:48very little doubt yanni that uh he's going to be getting one tonight how'd it go what about the props
43:52that paid i hope so we got some good props that paid out tonight a lot of finishes those usually pay
43:58well uh start off with reyes came in with 20 pro finishes did it again with a knockout and that
44:04played plus 450 and then chavez she had won two fights by decision coming in make that three now
44:11three finishes three decisions that win got paid plus 400 and finally magl medal by knockout he came in
44:19nine and nine and oh with nine finishes made that a perfect 10 and oh now that paid plus 600 you wrap
44:24those up 19 150 off a hundred dollars that's a nice score all right yanni thank you very much for
44:34first round finishes tonight as we take a look at the winner's room everybody waiting to hear the big news
44:40for dana to come out and find out who gets a contract let's start with murtazali magomedov who got a
44:46first round finish the slight underdog but he certainly didn't look like yeah and these guys
44:53got after it right away there was a there wasn't really much of a feeling out process they were they
44:58were a little bit familiar with each other uh magomedov landed a a sneaky little jab here it was hard to
45:04even see because it was so sure we missed it ourselves uh searcher made his way back to his feet
45:10you know trying to recover and then there it is another sneaky little uppercut the power that this
45:15guy carries in such a short distance is very very impressive
45:21javier tobias started off the night with a first round rear naked choke finish against jair de
45:29olivera tobias came in as the biggest favorite on the night and uh he kind of set the tone with the
45:35first round finish anthony yeah and he showed exactly why he was the biggest favorite i think
45:40he made a lot of advancements from his last fight to this fight he was very very patient waiting on
45:45these big shots of dale of air to come in and countering really really well anytime dale of air
45:51would kick he'd throw a big shot he would he just countered beautifully was able to drop him this is a
45:55submission win but this is all built up off of the hard strikes and punches that he landed up right
46:01before that was able to take the back quickly sinking the rear naked choke and get the verbal submission
46:06and then our featured fight of the night the lithuanian montas country tavish is taking on
46:12johnny barbeer and this was a wicked one-two combo that's it night night yeah it feels like the the
46:21the highlights of this are longer than the actual fight was right so they came together right away
46:26they both landed some big shots uh but montas just landed a nasty one-two right down the pipe it looked
46:32like barbeer was out and then broke back up and sat up i know he's going to argue this finish but i
46:37think the referee acts absolutely did him a favor by making sure that he didn't absorb any more damage
46:42than he needed to uh montas looks absolutely incredible and the power that guy carries has
46:47definitely put the entire middleweight division on standby if he gets a contract well and now it's time
46:51to find out the big news dana's with laura now thank you so much guys dana another great tuesday
46:58what'd you see yeah love it so let's start out with uh with javier uh every time you touched him with
47:05the right hand you heard him then you pull off the submission 15 fights 15 professional fights at
47:12only 22 years old i see a very bright future for you my man come on over here jafael tobias welcome to the ufc
47:21all right on the next fight let's start with torres never been finished before he had never been
47:32finished before this fight uh javier landed just about everything he threw in that combination to
47:39finish the fight he was a two-to-one favorite and you looked like it you came in you dominated and uh
47:47uh yeah congratulations you're in javier reyes welcome to the ufc all right the ladies so we've had
48:00two women's fights this season and uh they were both unbelievable i mean if you go back to my you know
48:09when i said women will never fight in the ufc and we were talking about it tonight and you look at how
48:14technical these women are now and and how just these fights are unbelievable this fight had me on
48:20the edge of my seat the entire time um you know and i'll always be honest i didn't have i didn't
48:26have what the judges had i didn't have chavez winning the fight i had sophia winning the fight
48:30but uh i'm not a judge but what i can do is sign both of you so for the second women's fight that we've
48:39had this season we're signing all four women so congratulations to both of them absolute warm
48:45much respect to both women that that were in that fight jace le chavez and sofia montenegro welcome to
48:52the ufc all right another magomedov 10-0 first round knockout against another undefeated fighter 9-0 i mean
49:05there's there's there's no drama here whatsoever come on over here congratulations mertaza lee magomedov
49:12welcome to the ufc all right mike is he back over there already hey let him know i have no headset
49:24there he is all right all right mantis underdog
49:29came in and handled business immediately you looked incredible again no-brainer what can i say
49:37come on over here welcome to the ufc montes kondrataviches welcome to the ufc
49:44dana i mean just another incredible week and you know looking forward to this weekend
49:49we have carlos olberg headlining perth right a graduate of the contender series half of that card
49:55came through the contender series what does that say to you about the depth of talent that we just
50:00continue to have on the show so when you go into the matchmaking room there's uh blue is from the
50:05contender series red is from the ultimate fighter and i don't remember what color looking for a fight is
50:10but literally the entire board is blue i mean the the contender series is is your way into the ufc and
50:19if you look at multiple world champions now guys that are ranked guys that are looking you know down the
50:24barrel of a title the contender series is where it at so it's it's the best show on tv and it is
50:29the greatest way to spend your tuesday nights no argument from me thank you so much for your time
50:33guys back to you all right laura thank you very much what a night six contracts handed out for the
50:41first time since 2023 it's only happened a handful of times in nine seasons we i think you can see
50:50it after that fight between the women that both of them were deserving of a contract and
50:55congrats dana obviously agreed with you that uh maybe he didn't have it going the same way in the
51:00judges but anyway you slice it what an unbelievable performance by the ladies yeah that was an
51:04incredible fight and to be very very honest with you i believe we sat in a meeting earlier and i said i
51:10don't know that jason chavez is going to last very long in this fight i was so high uh on sofia
51:15montenegro and she absolutely proved me wrong and probably everybody else watching this fight
51:20i thought i thought she really grew a lot again whether we believe she won that fight or not i think
51:25i think that kind of crowning a winner in that fight almost has to bring it down a little bit
51:31sometimes you wish you could have two winners this is one of those this is one of those times yeah that's
51:36that's a great point lord zanko with uh one of our new ufc contract thank you so much guys
51:43rafael soak it in the moment taking some pictures taking some selfies has it has it sunk in yet that you
51:49are a ufc light heavyweight rafael aproveitando o momento myself com chefe todo momento só dando
51:55respirado um pouquinho já caiu a ficha você agora tá nascendo agora tá caindo a ficha e como diz na música do
52:03bk eu sou continuação de um sonho e hoje eu tô podendo realizar esse grande sonho na minha vida e só
52:09tenho agradecer agora bola pra frente para treinar mais forte para chegar bem e poder mostrar para o mundo
52:16todo quem eu sou quem é minha equipe da onde eu vim just like a brasileira song says i'm the continuation
52:22of a dream i keep on that i keep that dream alive so and right now it's just kind of it's sinking in right
52:27now there and um i can't wait to put in the work to show people what i'm all about what my team is
52:33all about and to keep fulfilling this dream of the ufc absolutely congratulations on fulfilling that
52:38dream go enjoy your ufc contract we'll have javier come on in javier come on over
52:48javier congratulations uh what was it like to hear dana white talk about how impressed he was with
52:58your performance the fact that you were an underdog and now you are in the ufc
53:02uh this is historic for my country and that's what i want to say to everybody everybody in
53:25colombia everybody in bogotá where i live uh this is is historic and let's just kick in the door and
53:31let's just blow it out of the water absolutely colombia is going to be on fire for that ufc debut
53:35i look forward to it congrats go enjoy the the contract guys we'll send it back to you
53:41all right so the last time the six contracts were handed out 2023 it was an issue stay aloe vera
53:47uh ernesta carrot skita carly judice danny silva angel pacheco and danny barlow and that night
53:53there were actually two fighters that lost their fights that got contracts but six contracts
54:00handed out a record setting night or record tying night however you want to slice it here on the
54:06contender series and uh laura's with another one of our big winners thank you so much guys jace
54:11la chavez welcome to the ufc congratulations uh i don't know if someone was interpreting for
54:17you but it was so cool to see dana white talking about how impressed he has been with women's mma
54:23and you went out there and you impressed the boss tonight now you call yourself a ufc fighter
54:29parabéns pelo contrato você não teve a oportunidade de escutar o que dana falou mas ele remeteu até os
54:33tempos que ele não acreditava e ele acredita hoje ele vê as lutas das mulheres e o show que
54:38elas estão dando esse ano ele ficou muito orgulhoso de ver vocês como é que vai se escutar uma coisa dessas
54:42dele é obrigada né eu queria agradecer a oportunidade e dizer que sempre que tiver duas mulheres no
54:50octógrafo não vai ser guerra porque a caminhada é muito árdua se é para os homens para as mulheres
54:54também então sempre que a gente entra dentro vai entregar o máximo e cada vez mais as mulheres vêm
55:00crescendo né nesse mundo da luta e eu trago muito isso da gente um apoiar a outra e eu fiquei muito mais
55:05muito feliz de ter contratado as duas porque ninguém luta só né se eu entrar dentro fiz uma guerra porque
55:10tinha um oponente ali então eu fico muito feliz por esse reconhecimento de dana né e ter ouvido ele
55:16falar que tá cada vez mais surpreendendo com nós mulheres é muito gratificante
55:20first of all thank you very much i'm gonna say if you put two women in the octagon
55:23that's what's gonna happen you know men's paths are very hard but art we we blazer trail and it's
55:29really our path is really hard up this um and again i was very happy to hear that both of us got
55:35the contracts it takes two to tango and um again very happy and happy with the acknowledgement
55:41from dana and we're going to continue to surprise and we'll continue to wow
55:44so deserved and i cannot wait to see you in that flyweight division the ufc congratulations
55:48guys back to you her nickname is abraba which means fierce one because she wasn't afraid to
55:56train that makes sense when she first started and she absolutely looked a fear like a fierce
56:00one in there tonight congratulations to jesla and sophia uh for being part of a record-setting night
56:07just the second time in history that the contract six contracts have been handed out and murtazali
56:15magomedov another contract winners with lorina thanks so much guys well murtazali the ufc
56:21has a new fighter from kyrgyzstan congratulations and welcome to the promotion
56:25thank you so much thank you so much i am very happy for this i i've been here almost nine
56:38months here in the u.s and i am very happy for my victory today thank you so much how soon can we see you
56:47fighting the ufc i am ready always i can't wait to see your ufc debut congratulations go enjoy the
56:58contract thank you so much all right we'll have mantas come in congratulations mantas kondratavichis
57:05welcome congratulations on the contract i think it probably felt like a foregone conclusion but at the
57:15same time was it nice to hear those those words from dana white of course it's one of the dream
57:21come true of course now big big road again but i'm very happy yeah how soon can we see you get to
57:27work in the middleweight division i think soon it's no not much damage nothing so back to work and back
57:35to business not a mark on you i look forward to it congratulations mantas thank you so much
57:40appreciate it guys another tremendous week here at the contender series fantastic finishes abound six
57:50new ufc fighters for dan hellie anthony smith i'm laura sanko and we will see you next tuesday
58:10so
58:15you
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