Two elbows end it in the main event
Quentin Pasley knocked Arlind Berisha out cold overnight in the main event of Week 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series. The finish came in the first round and left no room for debate.
Pasley took the fight to the mat, worked into side control and opened up Berisha’s guard around the head. Two flush elbows landed and Berisha went limp on contact. The referee did not need a second look.
The light heavyweight from Connecticut walked in with two professional fights on his record. He walked out with a UFC contract, which White awarded before the broadcast moved on.
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Four contracts on a violent card
Three of the five bouts ended in finishes. White responded by handing out four deals rather than his usual smaller allocation.
Isaac Moreno took the long route. The 28-year-old welterweight ground out a unanimous decision over Reginaldo Junior, 29-28 on all three cards, after arriving on the back of two TKO wins in the regional promotion Fury FC. The judges agreed and so did White.
Martin Kozak stopped Christian Echols in the second round. The 6-foot-4 middleweight used his frame to push Echols around the cage and battered him until the referee stepped in. That earned the third contract of the night.
Christian Natividad closed his business faster. The flyweight nicknamed “The Hawaiian Punch” pressured Colton Loud from the opening bell and overwhelmed him for a first-round TKO. Natividad has nine professional fights and already looks capable of testing the upper half of the division.
One fight without a prize
Apollo Gomes beat Kwon Won by unanimous decision, 29-28 across the board, in the only bout of the night that produced a winner but no contract. Decision wins on the Contender Series rarely move White unless the fighter forces the issue, and Moreno was the exception this week rather than the rule.
The series has now delivered five weeks of prospects into the UFC pipeline. Pasley, with a highlight knockout and a two-fight professional record, arrives as the least experienced and the most talked about of them.
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