LAS VEGAS – Amanda Nunes’ crypticness has been firing on all cylinders recently, but Dana White thinks it’s easy to decode.

During and after Saturday’s UFC 307, a card that featured two important women’s bantamweight title fights, Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) said both a little and a lot. First, it was some emojis on X. Then, a video of herself dancing with White’s handle tagged.

“She looks good,” White laughed at a Dana White’s Contender Series 75 post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex. “She looks great. It looks like she’s still in shape. You know where her head is at and I love that about her. There are a lot of things I love about her – and I love that about her. She’s keeping an eye on who wins the title next and I think she’s teasing that she might be interested in coming back.”

Nunes, 36, retired in June 2023 after a title win over Irene Aldana. She cited the desire to spend more time with her wife, former UFC fighter Nina Nunes, and their young daughter.

Since Nunes’ departure, there have been two title fights. The first was for the vacant strap at UFC 297 in January, during which Raquel Pennington claimed gold through a decision win over Mayra Bueno Silva.

Then, at Saturday’s UFC 307, Pennington lost the belt in a highly controversial split decision to Julianna Peña, a fighter who is 1-1 lifetime vs. Nunes.

Olympic gold medalist and former PFL champion Kayla Harrison also won a unanimous decision Saturday vs. Ketlen Vieira, establishing herself as potentially the next challenger for Peña.

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Artem Vakhitov hasn’t even had a UFC fight yet, and the promotional wheels are already turning for an Alex Pereira showdown.

Two days after his UFC 307 title defense, Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) boarded a plane from Connecticut to Las Vegas to witness in person Vakhitov (3-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) earn a UFC deal at Dana White’s Contender Series 75.

Vakhitov was patient as he waited for his moment to significantly attack French heavyweight Islem Masraf (3-1) with a flurry for a TKO stoppage at 4:23 of Round 1.

After the fight, UFC CEO Dana White said he debated what he should do with Vakhitov but consulted Pereira, who gave a resounding “absolutely, positively.”

THE RIGHT HAND FROM ARTEM VAKHITOV 💥 #DWCS pic.twitter.com/9f379qJMX0

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 9, 2024

Vakhitov, 33, is a two-time Glory light heavyweight champion, who defended the title five times. He is the last man to defeat Pereira in kickboxing.

The two fighters are tied 1-1 in their lifetime series. Pereira won the first fight by split decision and Vakhitov won the second by majority decision.

Vakhitov told MMA Junkie prior to the bout that while he really wants to fight Pereira again, the two are friendly and respectful without bad blood.

He transitioned to MMA in June 2023 and suffered an injury in the bout. After back-to-back finishes, he earned his DWCS shot and maintained his 100 percent finishing rate.

Dana White said that Alex Pereira told him to sign Artem Vakhitov after his knockout win on #DWCS 👀 pic.twitter.com/ByV4mdcJIS

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 9, 2024

Up-to-the-minute DWCS 75 results include:

Phillips represented nine clubs during his 20-year playing career, including Watford, Sunderland, Southampton, West Brom, Aston Villa and Birmingham.

He scored a total of 287 goals, won eight caps for England and in 2000 became the first English player to win Europe’s Golden Shoe award. Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane became the second English winner last season.

Since retiring in 2014, he has held coaching roles with Leicester City, Derby County and Stoke City before a 15-month stint at South Shields, who he led to promotion into the National League North in his second season in charge in 2022-23.

Phillips had expected to remain at Hartlepool this season but claimed the club had withdrawn a contract offer in order to appoint former Woking boss Darren Sarll instead.

Phillips will be assisted by Wess Brown, who he worked with at South Shields.

Alex Pereira’s nemesis is now in the UFC, with a little help from the champ himself.

On Tuesday night, the eighth episode of season eight of Contender Series took place in Las Vegas at the UFC APEX, and after five fights, UFC CEO Dana White handed out contracts to four of the five winners.

But the biggest story of the night was the main event bout between Artem Vakhitov and Islem Masraf — and the audience it garnered.

Vakhitov is a former two-time Glory Kickboxing champion and best known for a pair of bouts with current UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. In fact, Vakhitov is the last man to beat Pereira in kickboxing, so with a potential UFC contract on the line, Pereira flew out to Las Vegas to sit cageside for his fight.

That turned out to be a good decision for both men as Vakhitov overcame a slow start to knock out Masraf in the first round. Despite the finish, it was still and up-and-down performance from Vakhitov that left Dana White on the fence. Ultimately, White said he brought Pereira back to speak with him and it was “Poatan” who vouched for his former Glory foe, leading White to offer him a UFC contract.

Steele breaks Blair

In the penultimate fight of the evening, Kody Steele finally got his shot on Contender Series and he made the most of it with a brutal body shot knockout of Chasen Blair.

Steele was supposed to compete earlier this season on Contender Series until his opponent withdrew from the fight moments before their bout. No such thing happened tonight though as Blair not only made the walk, but made Steele work for it, stuffing takedowns and landing good combinations on the feet. In the second round though, Steele landed a short hook to the body that leveled Blair and earned him a shot in the UFC.

Pinto demolishes Camacho

In the third bout of the evening, undefeated prospect Mario Pinto obliterated Luis Camacho in under two minutes to punch his ticket to the UFC.

Just 26 years old and 8-0 in his career, Pinto was a heavy favorite over Camacho and he showed the composure of a fighter with many more years of experience, taking his time to find the range before flooring Camacho with a short left hook. Some follow-up punches finished the job and Pinto moved to 9-0 and into the UFC.

Dulatov ices Antunes

In the second bout of the evening, Islam Dulatov destroyed Vanilto Antunes with a brutal first-round knockout.

Dulatov entered Contender Series as a big-time prospect and the part-time male model delivered, putting it on Antunes right from the opening bell. Antunes did his best to hand tough but ultimately Dulatov found a home for a nasty right elbow behind the ear that floored Antunes instantly and earned Dulatov a UFC contract.

Gauci outworks Drilich

In the opening bout of the evening, Sean Gauci defeated fellow Australian Anthony Drilich with a workmanlike performance.

Both Gauci and Drilich showed advanced skills in a nip-and-tuck battle that lasted the full 15 minutes. Gauci was unable to score takedowns early and Drilich made him pay with combinations, but as the HEX Fight Series champion began to settle in, he started landing good strikes of his own and mixing in enough takedowns to outlast his fellow Australian fighter.

At the end of the evening, White praised both Gauci and Drilich for their skills saying they have a bright future but that he will not offer either of them a contract right now.

Check out the DWCS week 9 results below.

Artem Vakhitov def. Islem Masraf via TKO (punches) — R1, 4:23

Kody Steele def. Chasen Blair via TKO (punches) — R2, 4:07

Mario Pinto def. Luis Camacho via TKO (punches) — R1, 1:43

Islam Dulatov def. Vanilto Antunes via knockout (elbow) — R1, 2:44

Sean Gauci def. Anthony Drilich via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)