Lone’er Kavanagh knows how to make an entrance.
The Great Britan Top Team prospect was one of four hopefuls to nail down an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he punched out An Tuan Ho in the first round of their flyweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Kavanagh (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) froze the MMA Lab export with a wicked left hook 2:35 into Round 1.
A brief feeling-out process gave way to a series of leg kicks and a few standup exchanges between the two men. Kavanagh stepped into a lightning bolt of a lunging left hook midway through the first round, connected with surgical precision and separated his previously unbeaten counterpart from his senses. Ho (6-1, 0-1 DWCS) remained prone and motionless for several tense moments before exiting the cage.
Featherweight Jose Delgado, middleweight Mansur Abdul-Malik and light heavyweight Bruno Lopes are set to join Kavanagh on the UFC roster.
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MMA Lab’s Delgado buried A1 Combat champion Ernie Juarez with a savage knee strike and follow-up punches in the second round of their featherweight attraction. Juarez (7-1, 0-1 DWCS) succumbed to blows 1:25 into Round 2, suffering his first professional defeat in crash-and-burn fashion.
Delgado (8-1, 1-0 DWCS) set the tone right out of the gate, as he overwhelmed the Gracie Fighter rep with merciless pressure, multi-punch volleys, knees to the body, intermittent kicks and a pair of takedowns in the first round. Juarez answered with a few overhand rights and hooks from both hands. Delgado was unmoved. He forced Juarez to the fence and uncorked a crushing knee upstairs less than 90 seconds into Round 2. The Californian collapsed downward and ate a burst of punches from Delgado before referee Chris Tognoni could arrive on the scene.
The 26-year-old Delgado has rattled off five straight victories, all of them finishes.
Meanwhile, Xtreme Couture’s Abdul-Malik disposed of Wesley Schultz with elbows and punches in the second round of their middleweight feature. Abdul-Malik (6-0, 1-0 DWCS) drew the curtain 3:55 into Round 2, as he posted his sixth stoppage in as many outings.
Schultz (6-2, 0-1 DWCS) acquitted himself well in defeat. He kept Abdul-Malik at bay for a time by initiating scrambles and stringing together kicks. However, those efforts put a strain on Schultz’s gas tank and ultimately cost him midway through the bout. Abdul-Malik powered into top position, shed an attempted armbar and got his ground-and-pound in gear. He then progressed to full mount and finished the exhausted Schultz with a hellacious volley of elbows and punches.
The loss closed the book on a three-fight winning streak for Schultz.
Further down the card, Lopes weathered some early adversity and put away Spitfire Gym standout Mikheil Sazhiniani with punches in the second round of their light heavyweight pairing. Sazhiniani (13-3, 0-1 DWCS) checked out 4:14 into Round 2, losing for the first time in more than two years.
Lopes (3-1, 1-1 DWCS) hit the deck on the end of an overhand right from the Georgian late in Round 1, recovered almost immediately and proceeded to wear down his adversary with thudding leg kicks and bulletproof takedown defense. Sazhiniani was winded and visibly compromised at the start of the middle stanza. Lopes denied his repeated bid for takedowns, let fly with a few close-range elbows and battered the body with knees. A straight left to the breadbasket doubled over Sazhiniani and prompted him to retreat to the fence, where he was met with follow-up punches that necessitated the stoppage.
The setback snapped Sazhiniani’s six-fight winning streak.
Finally, Rami Hamed (13-3, 1-0 DWCS) outpointed Meng Ding to a unanimous decision in their three-round welterweight tilt, drawing 30-27, 29-27 and 29-27 marks from the cageside judges. Ding (34-9, 0-1 DWCS) was docked a point in the third round for multiple low blows.
