Dana White’s Contender Series 18 took place Tuesday in Las Vegas, and we’re grading the winners from the four-fight card, which streamed on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
With a refreshing but digestible format that has had the MMA fanbase responding, this series has shown to have legs in multiple ways while serving as a crockpot for contenders whom the UFC matchmakers can use for future events. So, with that trend in mind, I will once again be taking a look at the winning fighters regardless of whether or not they won a UFC contract, grading their performances in regards to their probability of returning to a UFC stage.
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Miguel Baeza
Weight class: Welterweight
Result: Miguel Baeza def. Victor Reyna via unanimous-decision
Grade: B
Summary: In what was my favorite fight of the night, Miguel Baeza put on a show with a willing dance partner in Victor Reyna that earns about the highest grade you’ll see me give a decision in this series.
Despite taking the fight on short notice (and missing weight in the process), Reyna proved to be as durable as the scouting reports stated. Baeza, who was a sizable favorite heading into the contest, showed exactly why in the first round when he dropped Reyna emphatically, following up on the floor with a sweet wrist-feed that set the Floridian fighter up for a back-take that almost followed with a rear-naked-choke.
Reyna was able to survive and compose himself enough to stage successful southpaw pressure in the second round, but Baeza – a staple at MMA Masters – was able to take direction from his corner and firmly retaliate toward the end of the round, dropping Reyna with a brutal body shot that sent the Texan to the floor.
Although Reyna appeared to turtle away as the bell sounded (which arguably may have saved him), he was able to somehow scoop himself off the mat and return to his corner. Even more impressively, Reyna was able to put together his best round in the third, keeping a pressure that forced Baeza to dig deep, as he threw every submission in his toolkit at Reyna down the stretch.
I’m glad Baeza’s well-rounded game got him a contract despite not getting the finish, and expect to see him in some fun action-fights in the lower welterweight tier to start off his UFC career. As for Reyna, I wouldn’t mind seeing the UFC take him up on his offer to make his weight-miss right with another shot on the show (perhaps with a full camp, of course).
Miles Johns
Weight class: Bantamweight
Result: Miles Johns def. Richie Santiago via unanimous-decision
Grade: B
Summary: With Miles Johns coming in as the biggest favorite on the card, I admittedly found myself grading with a curb at times.
Don’t get me wrong: Johns is arguably the fighter with the highest athletic ceiling that we saw last night, and his fight with an incredibly-game Richie Santiago (a stylistic matchup that both John Morgan and I forecasted as fireworks in the pre-show) delivered as one of the more exciting matches of the evening. However, if I have to be critical, Johns showed somewhat questionable fight IQ at times, shooting for takedowns against a submission artist against his chief corner’s wishes.
Sure, Santiago was a tough stud from the New England area who was able to eat everything thrown his way, and – in Johns’ defense – he re-aggravated an injury in the second round that surely didn’t help his efforts, but seeing a bantamweight gas come the third round isn’t exactly something you come across every day.
Still, as Dana White said in the post-fight scrum, running out of steam when it’s your first time under the big lights is understandable. Furthermore, Johns comes from a fantastic camp in Fortis MMA who knows when a fighter is UFC-ready, so I hope he’s matched appropriately going forward in what I believe is currently a banging bantamweight division.
Kyle Daukaus
Weight class: Middleweight
Result: Kyle Daukaus def. Michael Lombardo via unanimous-decision
Grade: B
Summary: Kyle Daukaus may have come up short in regards to finding the stoppage against Michael Lombardo, but I believe his performance may have been contract-worthy given both the context of the card he competed on and the weight class he resides in.
Although all of Daukaus’ previous wins came via submission, he showed some slick striking from the southpaw stance that I could see frustrating the likes of some UFC middleweights, forcing them to shoot and play into the Philly fighter’s submission game (something we saw play out here). Lombardo may not officially be UFC-level opposition, but he trains with the best over at American Top Team and was a solid test for Daukaus.
Sure, Daukaus failed on a few different submission attempts throughout the contest and perhaps got greedy in regards to how he wanted to finish, but I believe that those are holes that can be adjusted given that the fighter is only 26.
A long frame can be either be your best friend or your worst enemy in this game, but with a few adjustments, I could easily see Daukus making a much more definitive statement should he get another crack in this series (something I hope the UFC considers).
Justin Gonzalez
Weight class: Featherweight
Result: Justin Gonzalez def. Zach Zane via unanimous-decision
Grade: C
Summary: Before anyone raises any eyebrows or gets upset at me for giving this level of a grade to a young fighter with a solid resume like Justin Gonzalez, I should probably remind the readers that my grades are not only subjective, but primarily based upon the sole performance on the night and within the existing context of the show.
Gonzalez’s fight with Hawaiian prospect Zach Zane looked like it was going to be a war from a stylistic standpoint on paper. That said, after an emotional walkout from Zane, the 29-year-old from Maui seemingly had a hard time re-composing himself – especially after getting dropped early by a storming Gonzalez.
The problem, however, is that whenever Gonzalez would gain ground or even stun Zane from then on, he almost-always elected to crash into the bodylock position against the cage, arguably doing very little in regards to advancing toward a finish outside of the occasional takedown attempt or burst of strikes off the break.
I’m actually more of a fan of grinding, wrestling styles than some might expect (and hope that Gonzalez continues to stay with/sharpen his strengths), but he can’t afford to be less active than a prime Jon Fitch if he means to get the UFC president’s attention. The good news for Gonzalez is that he has both the time and athletic ceiling to develop his game and career further (in or out of the organization).
Tony Johnson
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Result: Tony Johnson def. Alton Cunningham via unanimous-decision
Grade: D+
Summary: Again. Before anyone takes this grade as an insult to Tony Johnson, I ask you to read my grading context provided on the previous page.
If a controlling decision earned Gonzalez a C grading, then I found it hard to justify awarding Johnson (who also won by decision, but did so in a not-so-controlling way) the same grade. Johnson, who is an American Kickboxing Academy product with deceptive experience, tagged Alton Cummingham early with a crashing counter.
Cunningham, a fighter that was on his second stint with the series, came out hot looking to right his wrongs from his last outing on the show. Unfortunately for Cunningham, the initial shots he ate from Johnson caused an uncomfortable looking (understatement, I know) hematoma over his right eye. And from that point on, Cunningham appeared to want nothing to do with Johnson on the feet, forcing into what was the most inactive clinch of the night – whenever possible.
Making matters worse, Johnson – whether it be by his self-admitted stamina shortcomings or other technical issues – couldn’t seem to find his separations all while seemingly backing himself into the cage whenever space became available.
Though not opposed to the decision, I, like color-commentator Michael Bisping, was surprised to see Johnson get the nod from the judges. Nevertheless, the heavyweight veteran will likely need to put together something more consistent than 2 fights in 6 years if he means to show his best on the big show in the future.
For complete coverage of Dana White’s Contender Series 18, visit the MMA Events section of the site.
