Contender Series 12 results: Lewis and Espinosa win contracts

Check out what happened at Dana White’s Contender Series 12, where Bevon Lewis and Jordan Espinosa both won a UFC contract.

The fourth week of the 2018 season of Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series is in the books, and the final fight of the night saw Joey Gomez and Kevin Aguilar war it out to a decision. Each man had their moments, but it was Aguilar who walked away with the hard-fought split decision victory. Bevon Lewis did work tonight, letting his strikes go to achieve a near-flawless standing TKO of Alton Cunningham in the first round. This was the second finish for Lewis in his second appearance on the Contenders Series. Also on the card, Ricky Palacios and Toby Misech went the full 15 minutes, with Palacios turning it up late in the final round as Misech began to slow down. When the scorecards were announced, it was Palacios who walked away with unanimous nod.

Jordan Espinosa went to war with Riley Dutro tonight, and picked up another finish on the Contenders Series, this time with a buzzer-beating TKO of in the final round. Jalin Turner opened up the card by unleashing his strikes to achieve a first round doctor stoppage of Max Mustaki. The doctor stopped the bout due to Mustaki having an injured foot. At the end of the night, Dana White elected to award two UFC contracts. The first fighter brought in was Jordan Espinosa, with the second being Jon Jones’ training partner Bevon Lewis.

Kevin Aguilar def. Joey Gomez by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29): Lightweight

Gomez took the center of the cage looking to use his strikes to set up the takedown. Aguilar was able to fend off his opponent’s initial shot and land some clean punches. Gomez returned to the takedown, but this time he got it. After eating a bit of ground and pound, Aguilar scrambled up to his feet where the fighters exchanged for the remainder of the round.

Aguilar dropped his foe early in the second round, but Gomez popped right back up appearing to have recovered. The lightweights stood right in front of one another, exchanging combos before Gomez changed levels and bulldozed Aguilar to the ground. Gomez got off several ground strikes before Aguilar got back to his feet.

Gomez let the leather fly in the final round, throwing more volume than his opponent. Both men kind of just agreed to stand in front of the other man, with Aguilar landing the bulk of the strikes. When Gomez finally went for a takedown, Aguilar easily shrugged it off and continued to throw as time ran out.

Both men threw down in this one:

Bevon Lewis def. Alton Cunningham by TKO at 3:01 of round 1: Middleweight

Lewis went right at Cunningham, landing several crisp strikes on the feet. Cunningham found himself with his back to the cage, and then absorbed several hard knees from the clinch before dropping down. Cunningham hung tough and worked back to his feet, but Lewis just grabbed a hold of him and blasted his face with a series of knees that forced the referee to step in and call the standing TKO.

This performance from Bevon Lewis was down right clinical:

Ricky Palacios def. Toby Misech by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2): Featherweight

Misech was the aggressor to start the opening round, backing Palacios up to the fence. The featherweights went back and forth, with one man throwing a combo and then the other responding with a combo of their own. Palacios landed the heaviest strike of the round when he blasted Misech with a right hand.

Misech came out aggressive again in the second stanza, and Palacios tried to slow down that pressure with mean body kicks. One of those kicks got away from Palacios, landing low and causing a brief break in the action. The right hand of Palacios began to find a home, but Misech was right there every step of the way to answer right back.

Palacios came out more aggressive than he did in the first two rounds, and Misech returned the same urgency. Misech started to get pushed backwards and began looking for a takedown, but Palacios was having none of it and kept moving forward with volume.

Jordan Espinosa def. Riley Dutro by TKO at 4:58 of round 3: Flyweight

Espinosa wasted no time in getting the fight to the ground where he landed in side control. After surviving a D’Arce attempt, Dutro scrambled back to his feet where he dropped Espinosa with a left hook. Espinosa recovered quickly and dropped Dutro with a left hook of his own. Dutro returned to his feet and pressed forward with Espinosa landing a few jabs. Pretty crazy stuff!

Espinosa landed a hard right hand to start the second round, but Dutro ate it like a champ and kept moving forward. Although Dutro was the one pressing the action, Espinosa did a descent job of countering and striking on the back foot.

Dutro came out attacking the body in the final frame. The back and forth continued, and then boom! Espinosa dropped his foe with a right hand and then blitzed him with a head kick the moment he stood back up. Somehow, Dutro recovered just to get dropped again with only seconds left in the fight. Espinosa immediately went in for the kill and the referee stepped in to call off the fight.

This sequence is straight fire:

Jalin Turner def. Max Mustaki by TKO at 5:00 of round 1: Lightweight

Turner pressed forward to start the fight, but Mustaki was right there to land a few punching combinations. Then boom, Turner launched a laser-like cross that wobbled Mustaki and busted open his nose. Turner followed up with a well-timed hook to the liver, dropping his opponent, but Mustaki weathered the ground strikes and returned to his feet. Turner landed quite a few damaging strikes, but Mustaki kept throwing heat in combinations. The doctor was called in before the start of the second round to take a look at the swollen foot of Mustaki. The doc determined that the foot was likely broken and recommended that the fight be stopped.

Bas Rutten is somewhere smiling right now: