Outside Source
Michael Oliveira carries the kind of through-the-roof upside promoters covet.
The undefeated Brazilian prospect on Tuesday was one of five competitors signed to Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts during Week 10 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he turned away Victor Valenzuela with punches in the second round of their welterweight showcase. Valenzuela (12-4, 0-1 DWCS) succumbed to blows 3:56 into Round 2.
A closely contested first round gave rise to the decisive middle stanza. Oliveira (9-0, 1-0 DWCS) tuned up the Fury Fighting Championship titleholder with overhand rights, sharp leg kicks and right hooks to the body, all while calling upon a damaging jab. He decked Valenzuela twice with one-twos, allowed him to stand and continued to chip away at the Chilean’s considerable resolve. Oliveira connected with a sweeping left hook and delivered a follow-up right for yet another knockdown. He then hovered above Valenzuela and cut loose with hammerfists to prompt the stoppage.
Oliveira, 27, has stopped eight of his first nine opponents.
Bantamweight Juan Diaz, featherweight Marwan Rahiki, middleweight Wesley Schultz and light heavyweight Levi Rodrigues are set to join Oliveira on the UFC roster in the days, weeks and months ahead.
A Lux Fight League champion, Diaz vaporized former ONE Championship contender Won Il Kwon with a sensational spinning back elbow in the second round of their bantamweight feature. Kwon (14-6, 0-1 DWCS) crashed and burned 4:58 into Round 2.
Diaz (15-1-1, 1-0 DWCS) seized the reins across the first five minutes, as he nearly turned around the South Korean with a right hook and later jumped to his back, secured his position with a body triangle and piled up points with ground-and-pound. Kwon appeared to settle into a rhythm for much of the second round. He zeroed in on the body with hooks from both hands, leaned into his jab and incorporated a few front kicks to the midsection. In the waning seconds of the period, Diaz countered a left hook with a devastating spinning back elbow. Kim hit the canvas supine and semi-conscious, leaving referee Keith Peterson no choice but to intervene.
The 27-year-old Diaz now finds himself on an eight-fight winning streak.
Meanwhile, Rahiki withstood two knockdowns and rallied to dispatch Ananias Mulumba with a pair of standing elbow strikes and a right uppercut in the second round of their featherweight firefight. Mulumba (9-3, 0-1 DWCS) bowed out 2:13 into Round 2.
After a wild first round in which he was nearly finished on multiple occasions, Rahiki (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) emerged for the middle stanza as the fresher man. The Hex Fight Series champion threatened with an early ninja choke, then rattled a visibly weary Mulumba with a partially blocked head kick. Rahiki pushed the Elite Training Center export to the fence, fired a knee up the middle and followed it with two elbows over the top. Mulumba was already teetering when he was met with a right uppercut that flipped his off switch.
Rahiki, 23, has finished all seven of his fights, six of them inside two rounds.
Further down the card, Schultz put away the previously unbeaten Mario Mingaj with a Suloev stretch kneebar in the first round of their middleweight encounter. Mingaj (7-1, 0-1 DWCS) conceded defeat 1:51 into Round 1.
A Pure Vida BJJ rep and Bam Margera doppleganger, Schultz (8-2, 1-1 DWCS) floored the Italian with a left hook, executed a takedown and applied his ground-and-pound. Mingaj managed to scramble to his feet but found no refuge there. Schultz jumped to his back, isolated the left leg and extended the kneebar. Mingaj struggled briefly, then tapped to the pain.
The 29-year-old Schultz has won four of his past five bouts.
Finally, Inside Muay Thai’s Rodrigues disposed of Serra-Longo Fight Team product Freddy Vidal with a close-range knee strike and follow-up punches in the first round of their light heavyweight clash. Rodrigues (6-0, 2-0 DWCS) shut the door 3:20 into Round 1.
Vidal (4-1, 1-1 DWCS) closed the distance but went nowhere with his takedown game and stalled out along the fence. Rodrigues stayed patient under duress, created some space and launched a crushing knee into his adversary’s exposed face. Vidal collapsed to the mat, where he was met with a series of hammerfists that sent him packing.
It was Rodrigues’ fourth first-round finish.
In other action, Jovan Leka (11-2, 1-0 DWCS) took a unanimous decision—29-28, 29-27, 29-27—from Azamat Nuftillaev (13-2-1, 0-1 DWCS) in a three-round heavyweight slog. Neither man was awarded a contract.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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