UFC newcomer Joe Pyfer earned himself a contract with the promotion following a brutal knockout on Dana Whiteâs Contender Series.
While The Ultimate Fighter may serve as a great route into the UFC, itâs no longer seen as the best way of proving yourself on the biggest stage - even if the concept may still be entertaining.
Thatâs largely due to the introduction of the Tuesday Night Contender Series which, over the course of the last few years, has allowed a whole host of big names to come up through the ranks, including Sean OâMalley and Kevin Holland.
Dana White has been at the forefront of the operation since it was first conceived with the boss regularly being found in the front row for every single event.
Heâs essentially looking for the next big thing but instead of every single winner on the card receiving a contract, he instead picks out those who were able to impress him the most.
The Contender Series returned last night with four fights that we hoped would be explosive, and in the end, it was the main event that produced the goods.
Joe Pyfer went up against Ozzy Diaz in a fight that you could tell was going to be explosive from the word go. âBodybagzâ looked slick, efficient and as focused as heâs ever been, following on from his first appearance on the Contender Series that unfortunately ended in an arm injury-related finish for his opponent.
This time around, however, he wanted to make a statement, and he did just that with a nasty left hook knockout in the second round.
The hyped-up 25-year-old immediately went over to White and let him know how grateful he was for the opportunity.
The rest of the card
In a somewhat unusual move, Pyfer was the only fighter on the card who received a contract.
Thatâs because the other three contests of the evening ended in somewhat anticlimactic decisions with Dana White making it known in the post-fight press conference that he wasnât pleased with what he saw.
Hopefully, next week will see everyone come out firing on all cylinders.