Dana White’s Contender Series Season Six Week Eight Recap
Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) Season Six Week Eight saw ten UFC hopefuls compete for a UFC contract. This week, five of those ten fighters left as UFC fighters. Of the five contract winners, each enters the UFC with a different level of potential. Let’s take a look at which fighters impressed the most on this week’s episode of DWCS starting with the most impressive fighter and working towards the least impressive.
Farid Basharat — Bantamweight
Farid Basharat, brother of UFC fighter Javid Basharat, was unable to get a finish but he looked good in his DWCS bout against Allan Begosso. Basharat is a well-rounded fighter that looks good on the feet or ground. Basharat is only 25 years old, but he fights like an experienced 30-year-old. In this bout, he controlled the fight by landing takedowns and controlling the fight on the ground. The ground-and-pound of Basharat pulled the fight in his favor. While it was standing, he looked to be the better striker as well. He consistently landed in the pocket and landed some good picks as well.
Basharat is clearly a UFC-caliber fighter. You could place Basharat on the prelims against an entry-level bantamweight and there is a good chance that he would be the favorite. At his age, he still has a lot of room to improve. With an already balanced skillset and no clear holes, Basharat is a tremendous addition to the UFC roster.
Ikram Aliskerov — Middleweight
Ikram Aliskerov earned a quick finish against Mario Souza on DWCS as he landed a kimura in the first round. Aliskerov was struggling to get the fight to the ground at first, but when he landed his first takedown it was only a matter of seconds before he finished the fight.
Aliskerov is UFC caliber and deserved to leave DWCS with a UFC contract. On the regional scene, Aliskerov was 12-1, two of those fights coming against eventual UFC fighters. The first was a bout against Khamzat Chimaev while the in the second he faced Denis Tiuliulin. Aliskerov finished 1-1 in the pair of fights, beating Tiuliulin and losing to Chimaev. His win over Souza on DWCS just solidified the fact that he deserved a UFC contract.
Aliskerov is obviously a great grappler and will hold a grappling advantage against most UFC fighters. I am slightly concerned about his striking, but if he can successfully take opponents down, that will not matter. Aliskerov is a name to watch as he enters the UFC. I would also like to see him fight someone that has better defensive grappling. In all honesty, Souza struggles in that area and he was an easy stylistic matchup for Aliskerov.
Bruna Brasil — Women’s Strawweight
Bruna Brasil proved that she deserved to be a UFC fighter on DWCS as she knocked out Marnic Mann with a head kick. With this result, White had no choice but to give Brasil a UFC contract. Brasil’s head kick finish put a cherry on top of an already impressive performance. Before earning the finish, Brasil was dominating the fight as she out struck Mann. She did this by managing the distance while picking Mann apart.
Brasil, 29, is clearly a UFC-caliber fighter. Despite striking being her calling card, she can clearly grapple as well. Mann looked to get the fight to the ground on several occasions, but Brasil’s takedown defense held up. In the few times that Mann was able to land a takedown, Brasil was either able to stand up or land a sweep that put her on top. She even landed several takedowns of her own when presented with the opportunity. Overall, Brasil appears to be a well-rounded fighter that can compete in the UFC right now.
Daniel Marcos — Bantamweight
Daniel Marcos is a 29-year-old Muay Thai striker. In his DWCS bout, he impressively dismantled his opponent, Brandon Lewis. Marcos’ game plan was centered around landing leg kicks. At times, it seemed like he would be able to land a finish via leg kick, but he was never able to land the leg kick TKO, still landing a lot of big strikes, though. Most notably, he landed a front kick in the first round that earned him a knockdown. Throughout the three-round contest, Marcos looked to be the better fighter. He stayed in control by managing the distance. This allowed him to consistently out strike Lewis while staying out of danger.
Marcos has a few flaws that could come to haunt him in the UFC. His cardio seemed slightly lacking. I will not hold that against him too much. After all, he was tired from beating his opponent up. In the future, I would like to see that aspect of his game improve. In addition, Lewis was able to control Marcos in the clinch at times. That is concerning as Lewis is not known for his grappling. In the UFC, Marcos will struggle against above-average grapplers. On the flip side, his striking is UFC caliber.
Trevor Peek — Lightweight
Trevor Peek and Malik Lewis went to war at DWCS. The first round was all Lewis after he landed an early onslaught of strikes that hurt Peek badly, including a strong knee to the body that was followed up by a flurry of strong shots to the head. Despite being hurt, Peek never quit. He fought through the early adversity to reach round two. When the second round began, it was clear that Lewis was tired while Peek showed no sign of fatigue. Peek came out the gate strong in round two as he pushed the pace. Eventually, he landed a knee that put Lewis on the ground. From there, he continued to push the pace with ground-and-pound and eventually earned a stoppage victory.
Peek’s power, cardio, and toughness will immediately translate to the UFC and will make him a tough fighter to beat. However, I am concerned by how much he gets hit. I am not willing to say that Peek can climb to the rankings at lightweight if he does not improve his striking defense. At this point, Peek looks like a fighter that will provide entertaining scraps for the prelims. Unless he makes vast improvements, I am not convinced that he will be a high-level UFC fighter. However, the baseline traits are present.
