Julian Marquez punched his ticket to the UFC with a brutal head-kick knockout over one of Jon Jones’ training partners.
Marquez earned a four-fight UFC contract by putting away JacksonWink fighter Phil Hawes in a middleweight contest that served as the main event of the fourth installment of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. The event took place on Tuesday at The Ultimate Fighter gym in Las Vegas.
Marquez, who is now 6-1 in his MMA career, came back to finish his opponent after getting dominated in the first round. Hawes, a skilled wrestler, controlled Marquez and landed heavy ground-and-pound for the majority of the first round. In the second, Marquez wobbled Hawes early and followed him to the ground where he threatened with submissions. Hawes then managed to get back on his feet, but in the process took a brutal head kick that immediately put him to sleep. The official stoppage came at the 2:20 mark of round two.
With arguably the best finish in the short history of DWTNCS, Marquez is now on a four-fight win streak that includes a win over former UFC fighter Matt Hamill at Combate Americas 9. Marquez is 27 years old and trains out of Syndicate MMA.
Marquez wasn’t the only one from the card walking away with a UFC contract, as featherweight Brandon Davis also earned a spot on the UFC roster.
Davis, 27, didn’t get a finish, but managed pick up a unanimous decision in a back-and-fourth striking war against promising prospect Austin Arnett. For the most part of every round, Davis appeared to land the cleaner and more significant strikes of the fight. But despite having a slight edge in every round, it was no walk in the park for Davis, as Arnett remained competitive by landing solid shots and even threatening with a tight guillotine in the second round. With this win, Davis is now 8-2 in his MMA career and was able to extend his win streak to seven fights in a row.
Additionally on the card, Kyler Phillips stopped James Gray in the first round to remain undefeated; Carlos Candelario outpointed Ronaldo Candido in a flyweight bout; and John Castañeda picked up a unanimous decision win over Cheyden Leialoha to improve his win streak to nine in a row. Castañeda, who is now 14-2, has a notable win over former UFC fighter Chris Beal.
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