Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 8, Episode 10 Recap
By James Herrick,
4 hours ago
Four fighters earned UFC contracts on the finale of Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 8. Here is what you can expect from each. (David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports)
Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 8, Episode 10 Recap
Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 8, Episode 10 marked the conclusion of this year’s DWCS run. The finale was slightly disappointing, however. From an entertainment perspective, it was a solid night of fights. The issue is that it did not produce elite UFC prospects. Still, we will look at the newest UFC signees and project each future. The most promising prospects will be listed at the top.
Yadier del Valle- Featherweight
The most promising prospect from this episode of DWCS was Yadier del Valle. The 28-year-old featherweight picked up a decision win over Antonio Monteiro.
The headline from this fight was Monteiro’s durability and cardio. del Valle had a sensational second round, hurting Monteiro with hooks in tight boxing exchanges. del Valle kept his foot on the gas and swarmed Monteiro with knees to the body and elbows to the head. It wasn’t just a brief storm. del Valle was landing hard shots and hurting Monteiro for several minutes, although Monteiro managed to survive.
del Valle had to stop his offensive flurry and attempt a takedown. It is hard to blame him. He threw over 100 strikes trying to find the finish.
The craziest part about this fight is that Monteiro came out in the third round hunting a finish. The amount of sting in his punches was impressive considering he was coming off a round where a judge awarded del Valle a 10-8. Still, del Valle got the better of the striking and grappling exchanges and won the round.
In the UFC, there is reason for interest in del Valle. This is a physical fighter that threw a bunch of strikes without gassing out. Plus, he has power. At the same time, there are flaws. I do not think his boxing is very technical. I do expect him to have some UFC success, but his overall upside is limited. Eventually, quality featherweights will have success against him.
Luis Gurule- Flyweight
The second most promising prospect to get a contract on this episode of DWCS was Luis Gurule. The 30-year-old flyweight defeated Division I Wrestling All-American Nick Piccininni.
This is a strange fight to recap. That is more because of Piccininni. The former wrestler fights like a wrestler. Unfortunately, he has a long path of development ahead. The wrestling is great, but his BJJ and striking are lacking. In turn, that made it possible for Gurule to find success. Gurule was a good enough wrestler to survive and work back to his feet. This was partially because he was a Division II wrestler, but his grappling was also more adapted for MMA. On the feet, he was consistently landing because of Piccininni’s striking flaws.
Gurule has some skills that could make him problematic in the UFC. That begins with his ant-grappling. In fights against strong wrestlers, he should be able to defend the grappling and outstrike them. Plus, his striking skills are not bad. The issue is that he is small. At five-foot-five, he is short and has a little bit of fat on his body. Hypothetically, he seems like he could make strawweight if it were a male weight class. Those size limitations hinder his upside. That is present while being a 30-year-old without elite skills.
Jonathan Micallef- Welterweight
Jonathan Micallef earned a contract on DWCS with a first-round submission victory over Mohamed Ado.
This fight was largely a grappling matchup. The pair engaged in clinch exchanges. In those moments, Ado was the fighter landing a takedown. The tide of the fight eventually turned when Ado went for a front choke. This allowed Micallef to escape and transition to mount. Ado tried to go back door to get out of mount, but Micallef beautifully transitioned into a triangle choke that he used to finish the fight.
The best aspects of Micallef’s game are his size and submissions. He is massive for the welterweight division. This is paired with strong submission skills. In grappling exchanges, his physicality will help him find success.
Micallef is worth keeping an eye on. I do not view him as an elite prospect, but there is a reasonable path to success. If he stays at welterweight, shows solid striking, and continues to develop his grappling, it is not unreasonable that he could be a solid UFC fighter.
The final contract winner from this episode of DWCS was Nick Klein. The 29-year-old middleweight picked up a contract with a 36-second submission victory over Heraldo Souza.
I always hate to spoil the party for fighters like Klein. The guy just took a fight on DWCS on a week’s notice, won in 36 seconds, earned a contract, and changed his life. After all that, I have to be the guy who steps in and says he probably will not win many UFC fights. Unfortunately, I believe that is the truth.
I am just not sure how Klein wins fights in the UFC. On DWCS, he landed a submission. The catch is that it was sloppy BJJ. Klein went for the rear-naked choke before he had hooks in. If he is going to be a grappler, when was the last time you saw an elite BJJ practitioner do that? Never. It just is not the proper order of operations. If he does win fights with grappling, he will have to have elite grip strength, cardio, and an ironclad chin. Maybe, he has those things. I have serious doubts, however.
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