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)

Kody Steele finally got his opportunity to fight in front of the UFC brass and he made the most of it.

At Dana White’s Contender Series 75, Steele (7-0) finished Chasen Blair (6-3) with a body shot to end the fight at 4:07 of Round 2. The lightweight bout took place Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The fight was somewhat competitive while it lasted. Blair landed some strikes, but Steele’s seemed to go a lot further in the damage department. That proved to be the case when a short left punch caused a delayed shutdown on Blair, who crumpled to the canvas. Steele then landed a big bomb of a punch that Dan Henderson would be proud of, and pummeled away until the referee dove in.

The liver shot was enough to seal the victory for Kody Steele 👊 #DWCS pic.twitter.com/CWmyebiTjY

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 9, 2024

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Steele, 29, was supposed to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series on Sept. 24. However, opponent Quemuel Ottoni decided he no longer wanted to fight Steele, and during much confusion, withdrew from the bout (twice). Steele was then rebooked for Tuesday’s bout.

Steele is a decorated grappler, but has four knockouts in his pro MMA career.

A Cage Warriors staple, Blair stepped into the opening after a Sept. 20 win over Florin Pirtea.

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

Ben Tollitt scored twice as Morecambe won a six-goal thriller against Nottingham Forest Under-21s to qualify for the EFL Trophy knockout stages.

The Shrimps, who are rooted to the bottom of League Two without a win, were among five teams to confirm their progression from the group stage after they ran out 4-2 winners against Forest at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium.

Fin Back put the visitors in front midway through the first half before Tollitt levelled three minutes ahead of the break.

Morecambe’s Paul Lewis turned into his own net shortly after half-time but Charlie Brown and Hallam Hope struck twice in 11 minutes to complete the turnaround. Tollitt then scored his second and the hosts’ fourth late on to seal victory.

League Two AFC Wimbledon scored a dramatic 96th-minute winner away at League One Crawley Town to win 4-3 and go through from Southern Group B.

The Wombles were leading 3-0 with 20 minutes remaining but were remarkably pegged back before Joe Pigott struck with almost the last kick of the game.

A Jordan Hugill double and a goal from Esapa Osong saw Rotherham United beat Newcastle United Under-21s 3-1 to make it out of Northern Group H with two wins.

Wrexham cruised through with a comfortable 3-0 win over Wolves Under-21s thanks to goals from Lewis Brunt, Paul Mullin and Modou Faal.

Victory for the Red Dragons means Port Vale also qualify from the same group without kicking a ball on Tuesday night.

Crewe Alexandra will also be in the hat for the last 32 of the competition after Calum Agius netted in the 30th minute as they beat fellow League Two side Harrogate Town 1-0.

Anthony Smith doesn’t think the UFC light heavyweight division is as thin on title contender options as some might think.

With champion Alex Pereira further solidifying himself as a dominant force with a fourth-round TKO of Khalil Rountree on Saturday at UFC 307, many are wondering who will be next to take on “Poatan,” who reiterated his desire to stick at 205 pounds following his win.

Magomed Ankalaev is being anointed as a prominent candidate, but the Russian must first get through Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi. Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) is currently riding a divisional-best 12-fight unbeaten streak, but lackluster performances in key moments have hurt his standing, including when he fought Jan Blachowicz to a split draw in a vacant title bout at UFC 282 in December 2022.

Smith, a former light heavyweight title challenger, ESPN analyst, and podcast co-host, thinks Ankalaev needs to be spectacular against Rakic (14-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) at UFC 308. Anything short of that in a winning manner, however, could open the door for someone else.

“I wouldn’t count on it because there’s a good chance Volkan Oezdemir and Carlos Ulberg could have a conversation, or at least some sort of a case to make for that fight,” Smith said on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn. “Especially if Ankalaev does what he kind of tends to do sometimes, and that’s kind of lay an egg and still win. He’s already been punished for that. He’s already done it once before in the Jan Blachowicz fight and Dana (White) was absolutely furious.”

Oezdemir (20-7 MMA, 8-6 UFC) and Ulberg (9-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) meet at UFC Fight Night 248 on Nov. 23 in Macau. Oezdemir has won three of his past four and is coming off a first-round knockout of Johnny Walker at UFC on ABC 6 in June, while Ulberg is riding a six-fight winning streak with his most notable result being a 12-second knockout of Alonzo Menifield at UFC on ESPN 56 in May.

Smith has his own history with Ankalaev in the form of a second-round TKO loss at UFC 277 in July 2022. His analysis is not skewed by hard feelings, though, and Smith thinks it’s simply the reality that the UFC brass are not keen to put him back into a championship contest.

Ankalaev can control his own fortune by doing something dazzling later this month, but if he doesn’t, Smith sees more than one option in play.

“They’re not rushing Ankalaev into a title fight for a reason,” Smith said. “I think if that fight lays an egg and Volkan Oezdemir goes in there and finishes Carlos Ulberg, I think Volkan Oezdemir has a great case to make for a title shot. I wouldn’t just count on that fight (with Ankalaev).

“If Rakic wins, I think Rakic goes right into a title shot because Alex Pereira’s already shown a little bit of interest in Rakic. I think that style and his body type and kind of the way he fights interests him. I don’t think the UFC is really going to hold the Jiri Prochazka loss against (him) too badly.”