After a mouthwatering two weeks of action on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, expectations were high for the third installment. Of course, the fans were not left disappointed as UFC President White handed out two UFC contracts on the night to both kickboxer Karl Roberson and late replacement Geoff Neal.
Roberson, who previously fought under the GLORY Kickboxing banner, had a significant height and reach disadvantage coming into the evening’s featured bout against Legacy Fighting Alliance’s Ryan Spann and was seen as the underdog. However, Roberson would go on to upset the odds with a showstopping speedy finish.
In the very opening exchanges, Spann went for an aggressive takedown which Roberson defended well. He then landed numerous close range elbows to the head of Spann, forcing the referee to intervene, and giving him a knockout victory in just 15 seconds.
Roberson competes in the light-heavyweight division, a division that is crying out for another contender in the UFC. Time will tell if Roberson is the man to breathe some life into the stagnant 205lb division.
Elsewhere on the show, the night’s other big winner, Geoff Neal, bizarrely took his fight against Chase Waldon on short notice after fighting just 11 days prior to this appearance on the Contender Series.
After Waldon landed an early takedown, Neal managed to get back to his feet and land a blistering combination. He then managed to finish the fight and in the process, impress the UFC president enough for a contract.
In rather unfortunate events, two fighters that had their performances cut short included Alonzo Menifield and Kyle Stewart, both of whom were awarded victories by TKO but weren’t allowed to showcase their talent to the fullest.
Menifield landed numerous barrages of punches on his opponent, former UFC 205lb’er Daniel Jolly, but after a knee to the eye of Jolly, he was forced to retire at the end of the first round, much to the dismay of UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber and Menifield himself.
Meabwhile, Stewart was seen as an underdog coming into his fight against Jamaican Jason Jackson but after surviving the first round and landing a vicious right hand in the second, Kyle Stewart dislocated his ankle upon impact and the fight was forced to be stopped.
Dana White’s Contender Series week 3 results:
Karl Roberson def. Ryan Spann via KO (Elbows) – (Round 1 – 0:15)
Kyle Stewart def. Jason Jackson via TKO (Ankle injury) (Round 2 – 0:21)
Geoff Neal def. Chase Waldon via TKO (Punches) – (Round 1 – 1:56)
Alonzo Menifield def. Daniel Jolly via TKO (Retirement) – (Round 1 – 5:00)
Dan Ige def. Luis Gomez via submission (Rear-naked choke) – (Round 3 – 3:23)
