Back for week five, Dana White’s Contender Series pits ten of MMA’s best prospects against each to see who is worthy of a UFC contract. All five winners of last week’s episode received contracts, bringing the total competitors to receive contracts on fight night this season to fourteen. Stay tuned here for live Dana White’s Contender Series 51 results.
Names to Watch on Week Five of DWCS
The main event this week sets 5-0 against 5-0, with Brazil’s Eduardo Neves fighting England’s Michael Parkin. Both heavyweights are fairly untested thus far in their MMA careers but have impressed with a perfect finish rate between the two. Parkin has fought in relative obscurity for the Rise and Conquer promotion in the UK. He’s won all his pro fight by knockout after going unbeaten in eight amateur fights.
His opponent, Neves, is exceptionally young for heavyweight at 22. His path has been much more recognized, fighting his last two for the LFA on their trips to Brazil. In his last outing, he took out another 5-0 prospect in Andre Viera by knockout in just over a minute. Unless this fight becomes a stinker, it’s likely that the winner receives a contract based on how young they both are and the UFC’s constant need for heavyweights.
By far the most experienced matchup of the evening is the co-main event between Darrius Flowers (11-5-1)and Amiran Gogoladze (14-2). Gogoladze is the welterweight champion of Georgia Fighting Championship and is still just 24 years old. Given the excellent talent that Georgia’s been putting out the last few years, Gogoladze is likely the biggest favorite to earn a UFC contract this week.
Another exciting matchup on the card is Josh Wang-Kim (5-1) against Cameron Saaiman (5-0). Wang-Kim has been a name floating around in the MMA media for a long time, given his extensive amateur career. Of course, the other peculiarity of his story is that he has a twin brother, John, who holds an identical amateur record to him at 15-1. Josh has been practically perfect in his pro career if not for a DQ loss in his LFA debut last March. Josh is fun, flashy, and holds Bruce Lee as his hero – this fight should be good.
Full results for Dana White’s Contender Series 51 are below.
DANA WHITE’S CONTENDER SERIES 51 RESULTS
ESPN+ (8pm EST / 5pm PST)
Michael Parkin def. Eduardo Neves via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:57 of round 1– Michael Parkin earns a UFC contract
Darrius Flowers def. Amiran Gogoladze via TKO (Shoulder Injury) at 1:13 of round 1 – Darrius Flowers earns a UFC contract
Jesus Aguilar def. Erisson Ferreira da Silva via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:56 of round 3 – Jesus Aguilar earns a UFC contract
Cameron Saaiman def. Josh Wang-Kim via KO (Left Hook) at 2:52 of round 3 – Cameron Saaiman earns a UFC contract
Denise Gomes def. Rayanne Amanda via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3) – Denise Gomes earns a UFC contract
