Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series 6 results: Grant Dawson, Charles Byrd earn UFC contracts
The sixth edition of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series was likely the most lackluster event in the show’s short history.
Yet, despite the lack of action in the majority of the fights, which took place on Tuesday night at The Ultimate Fighter Gym in Las Vegas, there were two notable bouts that had the winners walking out with UFC contracts. Middleweight Charles Byrd and featherweight fighter Grant Dawson each earned a four-fight deal with the promotion after scoring rear-naked choke finishes in their respective bouts.
Byrd took on veteran middleweight Randall Wallace in the main event of the card. It was a fairly competitive bout early in the first round, but as the fight evolved, Byrd looked to be the more dominant fighter. In the second round, the 33-year-old Byrd landed some heavy combinations, and followed that up with a well-timed throw. From there, Byrd landed ground-and-pound, worked his way to the back from turtle position, and sinked in a rear-naked choke to stop the fight at the 2:03 mark.
With this win, “Kid Dynamite” is now on a three-fight win streak and 9-4 in his MMA career. This bout was Byrd’s second fight in DWTNCS, as he submitted Jamie Pickett in the inaugural event back in July.
Dawson, who won the other UFC contract, had by far the most dominant performance of the night. The 23-year-old prospect took down his opponent Adrian Diaz with ease early in the first round, worked from inside the guard, landing ground-and pound, and was able to get back mount and sink in a choke just to run out of time. In the second, the fight didn’t go much differently, as Dawson took down Diaz, landed solid shots from the top, took his back, but this time was able to finish the rear-naked choke.
Dawson, who trains out of Glory MMA and Fitness with UFC fighter James Krause, is now 12-1 in his fighting career.
Additionally, three other fighters picked up victories on the card, but failed to earn UFC contracts.
Former King of the Cage women’s strawweight champ Jamie Colleen had an unexpected comeback, as she submitted Tiffany Masters after dropping the first two rounds of their bout. Light heavyweight Cameron Olson defeated Karl Reed via unanimous decision in a lackluster fight, and former TUF 24 contestant Jaime Alvarez topped Martin Day in unanimous decision. Alvarez, who’s 7-1 in MMA, won the first round, dominated in the second, but gassed in the third, allowing the Hawaiian to finish on top.
