Dana White's Contender Series 74: Grading the winners

Week 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series (2024) took place on Tuesday in Las Vegas, and we’re grading the winners from the five-fight card, which streamed on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex.

With a simple 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 the UFC matchmakers can use to fill their roster for future events. With that trend in mind, I once again will be taking a look at the winning fighters, regardless of whether or not they won a UFC contract, and grading their performances in regard to their probability of returning to a UFC stage.

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Jacobe Smith

Weight class: Strawweight
Result: Jacobe Smith def. Christien Savoie via TKO (ground and pound) – Round 2, 2:55
Grade: A

Summary: Setting the tone for the night was Jacobe Smith, who earns an easy A for his destruction of Christien Savoie.

Considering that Smith was already on my radar as one of my prospects to watch in 2023, I can’t say I was surprised to see him come away with the win here. That said, I was impressed with Smith’s continued strides in his transition game.

Whether we’re talking about his comfortability taking a back or the fact that he seems to naturally find strikes in transition, Smith showed everything you’d want to see in a welterweight prospect.

Even though Smith may be a bit on the smaller side for the division, the former two-time NJCAA champion has the correct foundation to thrive in a division that carries the unofficial nickname of “wrestle-weight” given its history of successors.

Signing Smith was a no-brainer, so don’t be shocked to see him back in the cage sooner than later. I believe that Smith can already swim with the middle of the pack at 170 pounds, but I suspect that the UFC will start him off with a name like Charlie Radtke for his first official assignment.

Torrez Finney

Weight class: Middleweight
Result: Torrez Finney def. Abdellah Er-Ramy via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:10
Grade: A

Summary: Making quick work of Abdellah Er-Ramy, it was hard to deny Torrez Finney both an A and UFC contract.

In what was Finney’s third swing at bat on the Contender Series, the pressure was certainly on for the undefeated fighter to leave no doubt this time around. And after grounding Er-Ramy right in front of Dana White and the UFC matchmakers, Finney went right to work with both strikes and positional advances, eventually mounting his opponent off of some solid wrist rides.

Despite Er-Ramy being incredibly outmatched in this spot, I’m happy that the UFC finally awarded Finney a contract. Don’t be surprised to see him booked by year’s end against someone like Zachary Reese or Sedriques Dumas.

David Martinez

Weight class: Bantamweight
Result: David Martinez def. Xavier Franklin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Grade: A

Summary: Despite being the only winner to not find a finish, I hard time denying David Martniez anything less than an A for arguably being the most UFC-ready fighter of the night given the skills that were on display, as well as the opponent at hand.

Not only did Martinez demonstrate some solid ring awareness and sharp counters, but the Mexican fighter almost turned Xavier Franklin into “Professor Xavier” with the number of crushing leg kicks he was landing on him.

Credit to Franklin, who displayed a lot of promise for such a young fighter. Although Franklin was getting tagged early, the American was able to find Martinez with some solid counters in Round 2.

That said, you could argue it was too little too late for Franklin given that the damage had already been done regarding his leg condition and ability to explode. I’m glad that Martinez got signed and hope we see Franklin again in the future.

Although Martinez looks like he’s already primed to swim with the sharks, I suspect that the UFC brass matches him up with someone like Lee Chang-ho.

Alberto Montes

Weight class: Featherweight
Result: Alberto Montes def. Carlos Calderon via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 2, 2:38
Grade: A

Summary: Even though Alberto Montes got a little too positionally wild for my liking, I had a hard time denying him an A for hitting his special move in style over Carlos Calderon.

After stunning Calderon early with the counter right hand, Montes found himself fending off an opponent who was intent on making this a sticky affair. After some entertaining scrambles (and botched submission attempts prior), Montes was able to make some serious hay from a failed Peruvian necktie attempt by transitioning right into his patent anaconda choke.

I believe that Montes will make for a solid action-fighting addition to the weight class, so I’m glad to see Dana White sign the Venezuelan fighter. I hope that the matchmakers pair Montes up with someone like Hyder Amil for some guaranteed fireworks.

Diyar Nurgozhay

Weight class: Light heavyweight
Result: Diyar Nurgozhay def. Bartosz Szewczyk via knockout (head kick) – Round 2, 3:32
Grade: A

Summary: Although this fight felt dangerously close to falling victim to a slow-paced slogfest, Diyar Nurgozhay ends up earning an A for beautifully paying off his previous work to earn an emphatic knockout to close out the show.

Despite Bartosz Szewczyk doing his best to keep Nurgozhay honest with some hard returns of his own, the Kazak fighter showed some savvy striking from his southpaw stance.

Establishing the threat of the left hand (as well as the occasional body kick), Nurgozhay was able to get Szewczyk to eventually bite hard on anything coming from said side. And after Nurgozhay drew a strong reaction from a left-sided feint, he smartly followed up with a cross to a same-side head kick that sent the Pole falling to the floor half-conscious.

Nurgozhay is a solid light heavyweight signing for the UFC. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the next United Arab Emirates card opposite someone like Magomed Ghadzhiyasulov.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 74.