Well, that's another week of Dana White's Contender Series in the books and what a week it was. Three straight first-round finishes kicked off the show, before we saw a pretty entertaining three-round battle in the co-main event, before witnessing one of the scariest knockouts in the show's history.
UFC president Dana White liked what he saw from all five winners tonight, offering four UFC contracts and offering the fifth a return place on the show in November.
Let's take a look at the four men who fought their way into the UFC this week and rank them on how well we think they'll do.
4. Drako Rodriguez
With all four contract winners looking impressive this week, it was actually hard to decide who'd be deemed the worst of the bunch. This is in no way a slight on Rodriguez, but a testament to just how good they all looked.
The bantamweight looked incredible from the get-go and quickly took his opponent down, submitting him with the triangle choke in just over two minutes. The main reason he's ranked last is the fact Rodriguez will be heading into one of the deepest and strongest divisions in the entire UFC. The bantamweight division is a murderer's row of pure killers, meaning the youngster will have the odds stacked against him almost every time he steps into the octagon.
3. Phillip Hawes
Despite his opponent towering over him, Phillip Hawes wasted no time in demonstrating his dangerous knock out power. It only took the striker 78 seconds to put Khadzimurat Bestaev to sleep and he did so in emphatic fashion.
While it was an impressive win, it's worth noting Bestaev failed to keep his hands up and his reluctance to properly protect his face likely played a part in the knockout. That being said, it was still a 78-second victory and Hawes looked great. The middleweight division is pretty stacked though.
2. Aliakshab Khizriev
Another recruitment to the UFC's middleweight division, Aliakshab Khizriev's elite level grappling will be a welcome addition to the organisation. It took Khizriev 50 seconds to secure the rear-naked choke submission and he looked fantastic.
Khizriev belongs in the UFC and the idea of him potentially sharing the octagon and engaging in some real high-level wrestling with the likes of Jacare Souza and Jack Hermansson is enough to get this fight fan pumped up.
1. Tafon Nchukwi
Holy hell, Tafon Nchukwi looks like a real dangerous addition to the light heavyweight division. The 25-year-old possesses the sort of knockout power that is likely to cause a real stir in the weight class.
Against a smaller, faster opponent, Nchukwi displayed excellent cardio as he weathered the storm Al Matavao threw at him, before showing just how much power he possessed. It seemed like every punch or kick he landed really rocked Matavao and forced the smaller fighter to really work to avoid his strikes. There was only so long he could keep it up though and two minutes into the second round we saw just how dangerous Nchukwi was.
With a savage headkick, the 25-year-old knocked Matavao out cold, leaving him stiff on the canvas in a position he wouldn't move from for minutes. One of the scariest looking knockouts in the show's history, Nchukwi could be lethal to any light heavyweight contender and has a puncher's chance against just about anyone in the division.
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