Modestino Rodrigues Makes Short Work of Brandon Holmes in DWCS 90
The middleweight was one of five contract winners on DWCS 90 Tuesday.
Modestino Rodrigues (8-1 MMA, 1-0 DWCS) went into DWCS 90 on Tuesday night having not set foot inside an MMA cage since June of last year. That night, he stopped Virgino Ailton (5-1 MMA) with ground and pound inside the second round of action.
While Rodrigues competed in a kickboxing tournament last fall, DWCS 90 served as his first MMA competition in 14 months. He'd be squaring off against a man who's familiar to ardent Contender Series viewers.
Brandon Holmes (6-2 MMA, 0-2 DWCS) was making his second walk to the cage in the midweek MMA promotion in as many seasons. Last year, he was defeated by way of first-round knockout from Cam Rowston (15-3 MMA, 1-0 DWCS) in DWCS 78. Rowston secured a UFC contract by night's end that evening.
Modestino Rodrigues Scores Explosive KO at DWCS 90
Right from the command to fight by referee Chris Tognoni, Modestino Rodrigues scored with a brutal combination. Althought Brandon Holmes tried to back up to avoid Rodrigues' attacks, it proved to be too little, too late for him. Rodrigues landed another vicious punch to put Holmes down and out in 15 blistering seconds.
"Modestino Rodrigues wastes no time!", exclaimed Brendan Fitzgerald, who was working DWCS 90 as the blow-by-blow commentator. Another win inside of two minutes. He's used to that, this one inside of 30 seconds!"
With the victory, Rodrigues has now gotten his hand raised five times in succession under MMA rules and has maintained his 100 percent stoppage rate.
"All gas, no brakes for the Brazilian," said Fitzgerald as he led the DWCS 90 broadcast to a commercial break after Modestino Rodrigues finished the fight.
Rodrigues Lands UFC Deal After DWCS 90
With Modestino Rodrigues' fight against Brandon Holmes serving as the co-main event for DWCS 90 on Tuesday night, he had a short wait to find out if he'd become one of the latest additions to the UFC's active roster at the close of Tuesday night's activities. Upon UFC CEO Dana White returning from backstage to deliberate over which fighters would be getting a UFC deal, he met with Laura Sanko for the official announcement.
"You were doing your job and doing what you're supposed to do," White said. "You were all over this guy! Come on over here!"
All told, Modestino Rodrigues was one of five fighters to receive a contract on DWCS 90 Tuesday night.
Dana White Takes Chris Tognoni to Task over Quick Stoppage
As mentioned earlier, Chris Tognoni was the arbiter of this middleweight fight during DWCS 90. Before officially awarding Modestino Rodrigues his UFC deal, Dana White criticized the decision by Tognoni to end the fight in 15 seconds.
"One of the worst stoppages I've ever seen on the Contender Series," he said. "Horrible stoppage by the ref."
White's comments were in contrast to what Michael Chiesa thought of the move to call the fight.
"Some might say it maybe wasn't the best stoppage," Chiesa began. "I don't think it could have gotten much better for Holmes because Rodrigues was on the gas and he wasn't going to let Holmes off the hook."
