Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series Ships Four More Fighters to the UFC

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Dana White’s Contender Series in its fourth year of existence continues to infuse the Ultimate Fighting Championship with untapped talent.

Four more competitors—welterweights Louis Cosce and Orion Cosce, strawweight Cheyanne Buys and heavyweight Josh Parisian—were signed by the promotion on Week 3 of DWCS on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Since the season started on Aug. 4, a total of 12 fighters have punched their tickets to the UFC.

Lost Boys Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai’s Louis Cosce cut down Victor Reyna with punches in the first round of their welterweight showcase. Reyna (11-5), who had never before been knocked out, bit the dust just 72 seconds into Round 1. Cosce (7-0) elected to forego the feeling-out process and rushed out throwing heat with kicks and punches. He sent Reyna crashing to the canvas with a chopping overhand left, pounced on his fallen adversary and let the punches go until referee Chris Tognoni had seen enough.

Cosce has finished all seven of his opponents inside one round.

Buys Routs Overmatched Rose

Fortis MMA’s Cheyanne Buys flexed her superiority in all phases, as she laid claim to a one-sided unanimous decision over Hilarie Rose in a three-round strawweight scrap. Buys (5-1) swept the scorecards with 30-27 marks from all three judges, extending her run of consecutive victories to four.

Rose (4-2) was outmatched at every turn. Buys flurried on her with punches, opened a cut near the CES MMA mainstay’s left eye with a close-quarters elbow strike in the second round and connected with consequential counters throughout the 15-minute fight. She had Rose reeling in the third, where she clipped her with an overhand right and paired standing elbows to the head with sweeping hooks to the body. Buys even dominated the Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt in their ground exchanges.

The loss snapped Rose’s four-fight winning streak.

Related » DWCS 2020 Week 3 Round-by-Round Scoring

Resilient Cosce Stops Dixon

Team Alpha Male prospect Orion Cosce stopped Matt Dixon with punches from the mounted crucifix in the third round of their welterweight affair. Cosce (7-0) slammed the door 4:42 into Round 3, scoring the third-latest finish in Dana White’s Contender Series history.

Dixon (9-1) took charge in the first round, where he executed three takedowns, employed a frustrating clinch and pieced together punching combinations. However, Cosce found another gear in the middle stanza. He wore down Dixon with airtight takedown defense, an occasional overhand left and knees from the clinch. Cosce had more zip on his punches in the third round and exploited a rapidly deteriorating opponent. He slammed Dixon to the mat, settled in half guard and climbed to full mount. From there, the ground-and-pound flowed. Cosce continued to advance, moved to the crucifix and ended it with an endless barrage of punches.

The 26-year-old Cosce has finished all seven of his victories.

That's it!

Did @JoshParisian finally earn his spot?

Watch the rest of the card on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/SqOiKZ8eLD

— UFC (@ufc) August 19, 2020

Brutish Parisian Brutalizes Johnson

Scorpion Fighting System representative Josh Parisian put away former King of the Cage champion Chad Johnson in the first round of their heavyweight confrontation. Parisian (13-3) drew it to a close 3:43 into Round 1, moving to 2-0 on Dana White’s Contender Series.

Johnson (6-2) struggled to navigate the size and power disparity against an opponent who outweighed him by 50 pounds. Parisian pushed the Roufusport product to the canvas from the clinch, assaulted him with hammerfists and elbows, moved to side control and made a pass at a straight armbar. From there, he moved to mount, smashed Johnson with an elbow and punched him unconscious.

The 31-year-old Parisian will ride a six-fight winning streak into his next assignment.

Related » Discussion: DWCS 2020 Week 3

Cross Stymies Unbeaten Syler

Suffocating top control, positional advances and punishing ground-and-pound carried Michigan Top Team export Kenneth Cross to a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Kevin Syler in a three-round lightweight pairing. All three judges scored it for Cross (11-3): 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

Syler (10-1) was shockingly ineffective. Cross ran circles around him on the ground, denied his bids for submissions and cut through his guard with ease. He moved to Syler’s back in the second round, threatened with an arm-triangle choke and ultimately advanced to full mount before cutting loose with elbows and punches. Fatigue set in on “The Boss” across the final five minutes, but Syler could not capitalize. He scrambled to the back with roughly a minute to go in the bout, fished for openings and looked on helplessly as time ticked away.

Cross, 25, has won five fights in a row.