Dana White’s Contender Series Week 6

Yusaku Kinoshita vs Jose Henrique Souza – Welterweight Fight

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In the final fight of the night we have a welterweight war between two young fight finishers with no intention of going to the judges scorecards.

Yusaku Kinoshita started off his amateur MMA career with a first round knockout in just six seconds before earning himself four first round arm bar submission finishes in a row at JMMAF Kansai.

After turning pro, Kinoshita would earn himself another five first round finishes, including three knockouts and two submissions, while his only loss was due to Kinoshita grabbing the cage and being disqualified during his only fight at Rizin.

His opponent, Jose Enrique, skipped the amateur leagues and went straight to pro with his debut taking place at “Open Extreme Manaus” where he won the fight by second round retirement.

After stacking up four wins in a row, Henrique went on to make his LFA debut vs Pedro Oliveira in a three round fight which he won via split decision.

Overall Yusaku Kinoshita has much more experience and has faced tougher opponents than his current rival has faced in the past.

Our Picks

Yusaku Kinoshita to win by KO/TKO/DQ in round one

Matej Penaz vs Sedriques Dumas – Light Heavyweight Fight

A Lot on the line in this fight with both of these athletes risking their undefeated 6-0-0 records for a shot at a UFC contract.

Matej “Money” Penaz originally started off his career as a kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter before making the switch to mixed martial arts in 2020.

“Money” finished his first five pro MMA fights at OKTAGON by knockout and only went the full fight distance in his most recent fight vs Gianni Melillo which he won by unanimous decision.

Sedriques “The Reaper” Dumas went 9-1 on the United States regional scene during his amateur days before turning pro and putting together a six fight winning streak.

He has made appearances at “Gamebred Fighting Championship”, “iKon Fighting Federation” as well as “AKA”, earning himself four knockout finishes as well as a submission before earning his shot at a spot on this contender series card.

Dumas has fought mostly inexperienced competition so far and that is what will give Matej Penaz the edge in this fight.

Our Picks

Matej Penaz to win by KO/TKO/DQ in round one

Rodrigo Lidio vs Mateusz Rebecki – Lightweight Fight

Rodrigo “The Dynamis” Lidio is an all around entertaining knockout artist who has won most of his fights on the south american regional scene by way of first round KO.

His current four fight winning streak includes two first round knockouts and a fifth round flying knee at “Future MMA”, topped off with a second round knockout over Arthur Lima at LFA: 111.

His opponent, Mateusz “Chinczyk” Rebecki defines Polish power and has earned eight of his wins by knockout with two of those ending with elbows from the crucifix position.

Don’t sleep on Rebecki’s ground game though! He started off his pro mixed martial arts career with three first round heel hook submissions in a row with a total of five submission wins on his record so far.

Both of these fighters are prolific fight finishers who don’t hesitate to get things going early in a fight so we expect a first round finish in this one.

Our Picks

Mateusz Rebecki to win by KO/TKO/DQ in round one

Viktoriya Dudakova vs Maria Silva – Women’s Strawweight Fight

Viktoriya Dudakova made her mixed martial arts debut in her home country of Russia where she put together a six fight winning streak before making the switch to pro competition.

In her pro debut, Dudakova defeated her opponent by third round armbar submission and followed this fight finishing trend with two more submissions via rear naked choke in her next two fights.

Dudakove then signed a two fight deal with “Open Fighting Championships” and earned a promotional debut victory via first round doctor’s stoppage, before winning her next and most recent fight by rear naked choke in the second round.

However Brazilian Strawweight Maria Silva is on an impressive winning streak of her own, having won all eight of her fights so far.

Silva has four first round finishes to her name including two knockouts and two submissions and also won her most recent fight vs undefeated (6-0-0) Ewelina Wozniak at Ares FC 4 via rear naked choke in the third round.

Maria Silva is not new to the contender series as she faced Kathryn Paprocki on the show during the 2021 season of the show.

Silva’s unanimous decision win over Paprocki was not enough to impress the UFC brass and she will be looking for a finish this time around.

Our Picks

Maria Silva to win by submission in round one

Alex Morgan vs Blake Bilder – Featherweight Fight

Fighting in mixed martial arts ever since 2010, Alex Morgan AKA “The Chess Master”, is a veteran of the sport who spent the entirety of his career fighting on the Canadian regional scene.

He has a plethora of wins on his record with most coming by way of knockout, and his most recent of his four losses came at the hands of current UFC featherweight prospect Charles “Air” Jourdain, who defeated Morgan by guillotine choke submission in the first round of the main event fight during TKO 45: Jourdain vs Morgan.

On the other side of the cage we have another undefeated fight finisher with five first round submissions to his name.

Blake Bilder fights out of Minnesota and has honed his skills at Spartan Martial Arts for many years in preparation for this huge opportunity.

What caught the UFC’s eye was Bilder’s most recent fight at CFFC 107 where he faced and defeated Regivaldo Carvalho by third round knockout in the main event.

Both fighters are veterans of the sport and have had a taste of high level competition throughout their careers, but Blake Bilder’s consistency should see him get his hand raised one way or another at the end of this bout.

Blake Bilder to win by submission in round two