Dana White’s Contender SeriesUFC Signs Jose Mauro Delano, Four Others on Week 2 of DWCS
Jose
Mauro Delano already looks like a finished product.
The former Legacy Fighting Alliance and Shooto Brazil titleholder was one of five competitors to net an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract on Week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he picked apart Manuel Exposito ahead of a lopsided unanimous decision in their featherweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges turned in 30-27 scorecards for Delano (16-3, 1-0 DWCS), who now finds himself on a four-fight winning streak.
Exposito (13-3, 0-1 DWCS) refused to go away, but that toughness
only carried him so far. Delano pieced together three-, four and
sometimes five-punch combinations, zeroed in on the body with
surgical precision and incorporated kicks to the head, midsection
and legs. He also did damage at close range with thudding elbows
upstairs and knees to the body. By the time it was over, Exposito
was bleeding heavily from the nose and sporting a bright pink
breadbasket.
Featherweight Ramiro Jimenez, middleweight Cameron Rowston, bantamweight Louis Lee Scott and heavyweight Josh Hokit are set to join Delano in the UFC roster in the days, weeks and months ahead.
Jimenez (11-0, 1-0 DWCS) established his superiority with repeated front kicks to the body and powerful counters. He sat down Cuozzi with a two-punch burst, pounced with punches and reset. Jimenez connected with a pair of head kicks, had the Ultimate Battle Grounds champion reeling with a clean one-two and closed the distance with a collar tie. Two standing elbows sent Cuozzi off the rails, and the punches that followed prompted the stoppage.
It was the ninth first-round finish of Jimenez’s brief career.
Meanwhile, City Kickboxing’s Rowston took out Brandon Holmes with a standing elbow and follow-up punches in the first round of their middleweight attraction. Rowston (12-3, 1-1 DWCS) brought it to a close 2:58 into Round 1.
Holmes (5-1, 0-1 DWCS) landed a few right hands over the top and mixed in kicks to multiple targets but spent too much time moving backwards. Rowston decked the South Carolinian with clean one-two, flurried with punches and reset. The Aussie closed the distance with a knee, scrambled Holmes’ circuits with a powerful elbow and sent him careening to the canvas. More punches followed, necessitating the stoppage.
Rowston has rattled off four straight victories, three of them finishes.
Elsewhere, Manchester Top Team’s Scott cut down previously unbeaten Ryan Hall protege Kaushik Saikumar with punches in the third round of their bantamweight clash. Scott (10-0, 1-0 DWCS) drew the curtain 2:20 into Round 3.
Saikumar (5-1, 0-1 DWCS) made several passes at low-percentage leg locks and managed to attach himself to the Englishman’s back on more than one occasion. However, he was out of his depth in the standup exchanges. Scott chipped away at his resolve with punishing kicks to all levels and finally broke him down in the third round. There, he attacked the body with ferocious punches, forced Saikumar to retreat to all fours and mopped up the rest with one final volley of strikes.
Scott, 25, has stopped eight of his 10 opponents.
Finally, Hokit disposed of Evolution Combat MMA export Guilherme Uriel with a burst of elbows in the second round of their heavyweight confrontation. Uriel (6-2, 0-1 DWCS) met his end 66 seconds into Round 2.
A two-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Fresno State University, Hokit (6-0, 1-0 DWCS) wore down the Brazilian with repeated takedowns throughout a one-sided first round. Uriel had nothing left at the start of the middle stanza. Hokit followed a jab into a takedown, briefly climbed to full mount and cut loose with ground-and-pound. Eventually, the Jackson-Wink MMA rep let fly with unanswered elbow strikes and forced referee Blake Grice to intervene.
The setback snapped Uriel’s modest two-fight winning streak.
The former Legacy Fighting Alliance and Shooto Brazil titleholder was one of five competitors to net an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract on Week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he picked apart Manuel Exposito ahead of a lopsided unanimous decision in their featherweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges turned in 30-27 scorecards for Delano (16-3, 1-0 DWCS), who now finds himself on a four-fight winning streak.
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Featherweight Ramiro Jimenez, middleweight Cameron Rowston, bantamweight Louis Lee Scott and heavyweight Josh Hokit are set to join Delano in the UFC roster in the days, weeks and months ahead.
The 26-year-old Jimenez remained undefeated and looked dominant
while doing so, as he put away Tommy
Cuozzi with a few standing elbows and follow-up punches in the
first round of their featherweight tilt.
Cuozzi (8-1, 0-1 DWCS) succumbed to blows 2:53 into Round
1.
Jimenez (11-0, 1-0 DWCS) established his superiority with repeated front kicks to the body and powerful counters. He sat down Cuozzi with a two-punch burst, pounced with punches and reset. Jimenez connected with a pair of head kicks, had the Ultimate Battle Grounds champion reeling with a clean one-two and closed the distance with a collar tie. Two standing elbows sent Cuozzi off the rails, and the punches that followed prompted the stoppage.
It was the ninth first-round finish of Jimenez’s brief career.
Meanwhile, City Kickboxing’s Rowston took out Brandon Holmes with a standing elbow and follow-up punches in the first round of their middleweight attraction. Rowston (12-3, 1-1 DWCS) brought it to a close 2:58 into Round 1.
Holmes (5-1, 0-1 DWCS) landed a few right hands over the top and mixed in kicks to multiple targets but spent too much time moving backwards. Rowston decked the South Carolinian with clean one-two, flurried with punches and reset. The Aussie closed the distance with a knee, scrambled Holmes’ circuits with a powerful elbow and sent him careening to the canvas. More punches followed, necessitating the stoppage.
Rowston has rattled off four straight victories, three of them finishes.
Elsewhere, Manchester Top Team’s Scott cut down previously unbeaten Ryan Hall protege Kaushik Saikumar with punches in the third round of their bantamweight clash. Scott (10-0, 1-0 DWCS) drew the curtain 2:20 into Round 3.
Saikumar (5-1, 0-1 DWCS) made several passes at low-percentage leg locks and managed to attach himself to the Englishman’s back on more than one occasion. However, he was out of his depth in the standup exchanges. Scott chipped away at his resolve with punishing kicks to all levels and finally broke him down in the third round. There, he attacked the body with ferocious punches, forced Saikumar to retreat to all fours and mopped up the rest with one final volley of strikes.
Scott, 25, has stopped eight of his 10 opponents.
Finally, Hokit disposed of Evolution Combat MMA export Guilherme Uriel with a burst of elbows in the second round of their heavyweight confrontation. Uriel (6-2, 0-1 DWCS) met his end 66 seconds into Round 2.
A two-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Fresno State University, Hokit (6-0, 1-0 DWCS) wore down the Brazilian with repeated takedowns throughout a one-sided first round. Uriel had nothing left at the start of the middle stanza. Hokit followed a jab into a takedown, briefly climbed to full mount and cut loose with ground-and-pound. Eventually, the Jackson-Wink MMA rep let fly with unanswered elbow strikes and forced referee Blake Grice to intervene.
The setback snapped Uriel’s modest two-fight winning streak.
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