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Dana White’s Contender Series 11 results: Antonina Shevchenko, Te Edwards get contracts

A week after handing out a record four UFC contracts, president Dana White added two more fighters to the roster at Dana White’s Contender Series 11 and a third to the next installment of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

For the second straight week, all five fights on the card ended in stoppages – and 14 of the 15 bouts so far this season have been finishes.

Antonina Shevchenko will join her younger sister Valentina in the promotion, making them the first sister duo in UFC history. The two share a weight class in the women’s flyweight division. In addition, featherweight Te Edwards got a contract after a 28-second one-punch knockout and heavyweight Josh Parisian got a spot on this fall’s edition of “The Ultimate Fighter” for a spinning backfist KO.

In the featured bout, Shevchenko (6-0) had very little trouble against Jaimee Nievera (7-4) for a second-round TKO in their women’s flyweight bout. She got the finish at the 3:22 mark of the middle frame after leveling Nievera with a constant barrage of knees against the fence. It was the first time in the short DWCS history that a women’s bout was the featured fight of a card.

“We were training so hard for this fight to have this opportunity to sign with the UFC,” Shevchenko said. “I’m glad to get this win. I saw she didn’t want the Thai clinch (in the first round), so in the second round I knew what to do.”

Shevchenko connected with a clean shot right way after Nievera wanted a takedown. She dropped Nievera to the canvas, but let her back up. A few moments later, Shevchenko got a Thai plum on and landed some big knees. Nievera dropped for a takedown, but Shevchenko wound up on top in Nievera’s guard. Shevchenko worked some heavy punches and elbows near the mdiway point. Then she postured up and dropped more punches down.

Nievera got back to her feet with two minutes left, but Shevchenko kept her tied up to look for knees. They weren’t fight-enders, but they came in bulk. With 70 seconds left, Shevchenko brought Nievera back to the canvas and dropped some huge punches down. She opened up a big cut over Nievera’s left eye, and referee Herb Dean called time to have a doctor look at the cut. He cleaned it up with 50 seconds left, and on the restart Shevchenko landed a clean right hand. But after they tied up again, Nievera was able to get Shevchenko to the canvas late in the frame, and it allowed her to survive to reach the second.

Shevchenko landed some heavy punches just past a minute into the second round and reopened the cut near Nievera’s eye. But midway through, Shevchenko got a Thai clinch on and started leveling Nievera with knees. They were brutal and nonstop. Dean took a close look and when it was obvious Nievera wasn’t going to be able to get off the fence and continued to absorb the blows to the body, he shut things down.

In the co-feature, Edwards (6-1) didn’t even break a sweat against Austin Tweedy (10-2). Edwards landed a huge right hand that didn’t require a follow-up and knocked Tweedy out just 28 seconds into the fight.

Edwards went to the outside early and ducked away from a Tweedy kick. He fake a right hand shortly after, but the first real punch he threw was the one that put Tweedy away. Edwards mock-signed a contract on his hand while looking for White at cageside.

“I’ve got a nasty right hand, and people don’t seem to get their faces out of the way,” Edwards said. “Unless you’ve got good head movement, that’s kind of the result. I don’t intentionally try to finish fights. I’m just heavy-handed. I just throw punches and people seem to go down.”

* * * * *

On just four days’ notice, Parisian (7-2) took a heavyweight fight against Greg Rebello (24-9), and he made it pay off.

Just 91 seconds into the fight, Parisian got the finish after he landed a massive right spinning back fist that caught Rebello flush.

Parisian kicked high, then low early, then tried some spinning kicks. He kept feeling things out until out of nowhere, 90 seconds into the round, he caught Rebello flush with a spinning back fist. Rebello dropped to the canvas immediately. Parisian followed him to the canvas with quick punches, and the fight was over.

Rebello announced his MMA retirement after the loss.

* * * * *

UFC and “TUF 22” veteran Julian Erosa (22-5) picked up a huge upset win over Jamall Emmers (13-4) with a pretty head kick at featherweight. Emmers was a 3-1 favorite in the fight, but it was two-fight UFC veteran Erosa who shined – despite being dropped in the first round.

Emmers kicked to the body, then looked for more openings while Erosa kept his hands low and circled in flashy ways early in the fight. Midway through, Erosa landed a left hand, and moments later tried to get a Thai clinch on. He couldnt’ get it, and Emmers returned with a big kick to the body, then a right hand that pushed Erosa backward and caused him to gesture to bring it – usually a sign it landed clean. Erosa landed a solid knee to the chin with 30 seconds left, but Emmers stayed on his feet. Emmers dropped Erosa late and ended the round on top.

Both men stood in the pocket and traded leather in the opening minute of the second. But just past a minute into the middle frame, Erosa launched a left kick that was partially blocked by Emmers. But it was hard enough to knock him to the canvas. There, Erosa dropped a few quick punches down and it was all over at the 1:10 mark.

White said though Erosa didn’t get a contract, his effort was worthwhile.

“Julian looked incredible,” White said. “Obviously the guy’s been around. He looked good against a real good fighter. We’re going to keep our eye on him. You have anybody drop out, you have anything happen, this is a guy we’re going after immediately.”

* * * * *

Jordan Williams (8-2) had very few problems with Tim Caron (9-2) in the opening fight of the night and ultimately picked up a third-round TKO in their middleweight bout.

Williams came forward immediately and punched Caron to the cage, where the two clinched up. Caron threw a knee, but missed and caused him to slip to the canvas. Williams went to the mat with him and settled into Caron’s guard to look for ground-and-pound. Caron looked for a kimura two minutes in, but Williams defended it. Caron finally got back to his feet with 30 secodns left after he ate a bunch of elbows. He landed one of his own late, but got taken down toward teh end of the frame and ate big punches before the horn.

Williams landed seeral combinations in the first 30 seconds of the second, then settled in to a clinch. When Caron tried to wrap up a guillotine choke, Williams took him to the canvas. Caron didn’t have much of anything to offer from his back and stayed defensive for nearly the entirety of the round.

Williams landed a good combo 25 seconds into the third, and Caron continued to come up short on his kicks. Williams took Caron down a minute in in a repeat of the first two rounds. Caron had a brief kimura attempt with two minutes left, but Williams escaped to side control. He dropped a few elbows down, and with Caron looking increasingly wiped out, Herb Dean shut things down at the 3:37 mark of the final round.

Official Dana White’s Contender Series 11 results include:

  • Antonina Shevchenko def. Jaimee Nievera via TKO (knees) – Round 2, 3:22
  • Te Edwards def. Austin Tweedy via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:28
  • Josh Parisian def. Greg Rebello via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:31
  • Julian Erosa def. Jamall Emmers via knockout (kick) – Round 2, 1:10
  • Jordan Williams def. Tim Caron via TKO (elbows) – Round 3, 3:37

For complete coverage of Dana White’s Contender Series 11, visit the MMA Events section of the site.

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