Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series is upon us, with another 10 hopefuls entering the octagon.
The opening two weeks have saw 8 contracts awarded to new stars, with a large majority of those that have competed so far leaving it all inside the octagon in order to get their hand raised.
The first bout of the night will see two unbeaten prospects square off in an all-American affair between Jack Duffy and Nick Piccinini. 2024 marks 28-year-old Duffy’s 12 year as a professional mixed martial artist, having made his professional debut in November 2012. Following the debut, he had a three year hiatus and but struggled to compete regularly, having only fought four times between 2015 and 2019. It would be four years before he would then make the walk again when he faced Narek Avagyan at Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat 10 in April of 2023, where he was taken into the second round for the first time in his professional career but still picked up the win. ‘The Fury’ has already competed once this year, as he claimed a unanimous decision against Devon Jackson at Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat 17.
Piccinini has been a lot more active, since turning professional in 2021. The 27-year-old has only gone the distance in his six bouts thus far, picking up 5 submission wins along the way. With 9 submission wins between them, fans could be in for a grapple heavy affair as the two battle it out for a UFC contract.
The second fight of the night will see Bantamweights face off as Malcolm Wellmaker compete against Adam Bramhald. The unbeaten Wellmaker is currently 7-0 with 5 stoppage wins and comes into the bout fresh off the back of a second round TKO at the start of the year. In his 9 years as a professional, Bramhald has spent a large majority of his career competing on the UK domestic scene, having fought 11 times under the Caged Steel banner. ‘Samurai’ is currently riding an 11-fight win streak, having not been beaten since 2017. However, Wellmaker is undoubtedly the Brit’s toughest challenge to date and will pose problems he likely hasn’t seen in his 13 previous contests.
Middleweight talent will be on display in the third contest when Marco Tulio meets Mattieu Duclos. Tulio returns to the Contender Series following a unanimous decision win against Yousri Belgaroui on last year’s season. The Brazilian was not awarded a contract following the win but will be hoping he can join teammates Charles Oliveria and Ian Machado Garry on the UFC roster at the second time of asking. After a loss to Youcef Ouabbas at Bellator 280, Duclos signed with Hexagone and claimed their Interim Middleweight championship in his fourth bout under the banner. Tulio will be Duclos’ most experienced opponent to date and will be the biggest name on the Frenchman’s resume, with a win.
The co-main event Fury FC Featherweight champion Michael Aswell and Bogdan Grad will fight it out for a UFC contract. Aswell has been in fine form of late, going 4-1 in his last five contests. The 23-year-old currently bolsters a 9-1 record and is the perfect age White will be looking to for a young, developing star. Alongside Tulio, Grad also returns to the Apex for a second shot at signing with the promotion. The first time Grad fought for a contract on last year’s season but came up short and found himself on the wrong side of first round finish.
The main event is a Middleweight affair between Andrey Pulyaev and Liam Anderson. The judges have only been called upon three times between the pair’s 18 professional bouts, with an abundance of highlight finishes coming from both men in previous contests. Pulyaev had an extremely busy 2023, competing five times and picking up four wins, three by way of stoppage. LFA standout, Anderson, is in a similar vein of form to Pulyaev, going 4-1 in his last 5. The 29-year-old is a slick grappler with four of his six wins coming by way of submission.
