Advances in DNA testing might someday reveal Andreas Gustafsson to be part brown bear.
The Vasteras Fight Club product was one of four hopefuls to secure an Ultimate Fighting Championship during Week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he mauled Pat Pytlik in close quarters and buried him with a volley of knee strikes to the head in the second round of their welterweight showcase. Pytlik (9-2, 0-1 DWS) bowed out to an accumulation of punishment 3:20 into Round 2.
Gustafsson (11-2, 1-0 DWCS) crashed into the clinch, showed no regard for his own well-being and systematically dismantled the Canadian with merciless pressure and short-range strikes. Pytlik managed to create some space with his dirty boxing but could not keep the Swedish brute at bay. Gustafsson closed the distance in the middle stanza, chipped away with elbows and ultimately broke his opponent with three knees to the head.
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Heavyweight Rizvan Kuniev will join Gustafsson on the UFC roster, along with bantamweights Cody Haddon and Cortavious Romious.
An Eagle Fighting Championship titleholder, Kuniev cut down Tata Fight Team’s Hugo Cunha with a knee to the body and follow-up punches in the first round of their heavyweight feature. Cunha (8-2, 0-1 DWCS) succumbed to blows 4:59 into Round 1.
Kuniev (12-2-1, 2-0 DWCS) pestered the Brazilian with his jab, held his own in the clinch and targeted all levels—the head, the body and the legs—with close-range knee strikes. Late in the first round, the Gorets Fight Club rep backed up Cunha with punches, connected with a devastating knee to the midsection and drove him to the canvas with follow-up shots. Unanswered punches prompted the stoppage with just one second left on the clock.
It was the fourth first-round finish of Kuniev’s career.
Meanwhile, Pure Vida BJJ’s Romious leaned on fast-twitch striking and opportunistic ground-and-pound, as he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Michael Imperato in a three-round bantamweight attraction. All three members of the judiciary scored it the same: 30-27 for Romious (9-2, 1-1 DWCS), who won for the fifth time in six outings.
Imperato (12-7, 0-1 DWCS) pulled guard on multiple occasions but usually wound up in a disadvantageous position, eating punches and elbows from the top. Romious floored him with a liver kick in the first round, battered him with ground-and-pound late in the second and even managed to make passes at a few triangles and armbars before settling for the decision.
The 34-year-old Imperato has lost three of his last four fights.
Further down the card, Haddon put away Billy Brand with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their bantamweight pairing. Haddon (7-1, 1-0 DWCS) drew the curtain 3:09 into Round 1, extending his winning streak to five fights. All five of those victories have resulted in finishes, three of them inside one round.
The two 135-pound hopefuls traded at the start. Forced onto his back foot, Brand called upon a crisp jab and occasional leg kicks. Haddon pressed forward and unleashed a devastating left hook that dropped the Team Alpha Male rep where he stood and left him vulnerable to the sustained attack that followed. The former Hex Fight Series champion pounced on Brand with punches, progressed to the back and cinched the choke for the tapout.
The setback was Brand’s first since his ill-fated encounter with Payton Talbott on Feb. 12, 2022.
Finally, Agoge Combatives prospect Torrez Finney kept his perfect professional record intact with a unanimous decision over Cameron Rowston in a three-round middleweight clash but failed to procure a contract. A former two-way football player for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Finney (9-0, 2-0 DWCS) swept the scorecards with 29-28 marks from all three cageside judges.
Rowston (8-3, 0-1 DWCS) excelled in the standup exchanges but failed to stay upright long enough to make those skills count. Finney executed repeated takedowns—he completed 11 of them across 15 minutes—and remained unmoved by the City Kickboxing export’s effective get-up game. Rowston threatened with submissions on occasion and stayed competitive off his back, though the onetime Shuriken Fight Series champion’s considerable efforts went for naught.
The loss snapped Rowston’s five-fight winning streak.
