Dana White had a tough decision to make Tuesday night.
The UFC president awarded three contracts on the eighth installment of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, which hosted several impressive performances that likely qualified to earn deals with the promotion. DWTNCS 8 took place at The Ultimate Fighter Gym in Las Vegas. This event was the final episode of the first season of the Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.
The winners of the UFC contracts were Allen Crowder, Lauren Mueller and Matt Frevola.
In the main event of the card, Frevola, 27, scored a submission win to remain undefeated and improve his fighting record to 6-0. The lightweight fighter dropped his opponent Jose Flores early in the first round and managed to win most of the grappling exchanges. Despite it being a fairly competitive bout, Frevola was able to take Flores down and sink in an arm-triangle choke to stop the bout at the 3:32 mark of round two.
Mueller, who took the fight on one-week notice, picked up an impressive and hard-fought decison over Kelly Velasco. The undefeated bantamweight fighter started off dominant, but began to fade away as the rounds went by. Despite slowing down, Mueller’s superior striking and takedown defense were able to get her a unanimous decision win. Mueller is now 4-0 in MMA.
Crowder defeated Dontale Mayes via technical knockout. The heavyweight fighter had an impressive performance throughout the fight with few rough patches here and there. Crowder used his wrestling and superior grappling to mount Mayes and stop him with ground-and-pound at the 4:12 mark of the third round. The 27-year-old Crowder is 9-2 in his MMA career, and is currently riding a four-fight win streak that includes a win under the Bellator banner.
Additionally on the card, two more fighters picked up victories.
Adam Antolin outpointed Casey Kenney in a controversial split decision. Although Antolin had some good moments, and did most of the pressuring, Kenney seemed to land more often and more effectively than Antolin. Following the event, White said that he disagreed with the judges’ call and had Kenney winning two of the three rounds. With this result, Kenny is now 7-1-1 while Antolin is 13-3.
Lastly, JacksonWink product Bevon Lewis picked up a solid TKO win over TUF 23 cast member Elias Urbina. The middleweight bout was an even contest throughout the first round. However, things changed in the second, as Lewis dropped Urbina with a straight right and followed that up with ground-and-pound, forcing the referee to stop the action.
White announced that the undefeated Lewis will be placed under a developmental program with the promotion.