- William Knight extending an intimidating knockout record Tuesday when he finished Cody Brundage in 143 seconds.
- The performance was enough to earn the American striker a UFC contract, joining two other fighters at the leading MMA firm.
- It all went down during an episode of “Dana White’s Contender Series,” a show designed to funnel talent into the UFC.
- Aside from Knight, White said he was impressed with the elite grappling which was on display at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
- See the highlights from Tuesday’s show below.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
This is Dana White’s Contender Series. It may look like a similar, behind-closed-doors, coronavirus-era production, but it is a separate entity to the UFC.
The purpose of the series is to find new talent. Should a fighter impress White, then he will reward them with a UFC contract on the spot.
William Knight has never gone the distance in a pro MMA fight — he’s finished every opponent he’s faced bar one by knockout.
The one blemish on his record is a knockout loss.
As Knight was fighting Cody Brundage, who has also finished most of his opponents early, it was clear the judges would not be needed in this light heavyweight match.
Knight scored a first round knockout when he dropped Brundage to the floor with elbows, then finished him with ground-and-pound.
Watch it here:
VICIOUS ground and pound!
👊 William Knight with the absolute POWER to end it.
We're LIVE on #ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/LF30vGwXqn
— UFC (@ufc) September 2, 2020
Jimmy Flick also impressed the UFC boss Dana White as he had his flyweight opponent Nate Smith in trouble with multiple submission attempts.
Flick eventually beat Smith in the third round with an arm-triangle choke, advancing his record to 15 wins (13 submissions and two decisions) against five losses.
Watch the finish here:
Gets the submission...FINALLY.@JimmyFlick gets what he's been hunting for all night.
Tune in now on #ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/v0eqSm6Upt
— UFC (@ufc) September 2, 2020
Elsewhere, Ronnie Lawrence overcame wild underdog status to topple Jose Johnson with multiple takedowns to earn a decision win and a UFC contract.
"I thought everybody fought their hearts out, and everybody was talented," White said after the event.
Tuesday's broadcast was the fifth week of the fourth season of Dana White's Contender Series.
At the post-event press conference White said: "More than likely we're going to Fight Island" soon, and so the Dana White's Contender Series show will go on hiatus until November.
Read more:
An American striker threw 22 unanswered punches in a brutal, fight-ending sequence that earned him a UFC contract