Zachary Reese, Two Others Book UFC Roster Spots on Week 3 of DWCS

Zachary Reese thrives on the quick finish.

The undefeated War Training Center prospect was one of three competitors to earn an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he disposed of Eli Aronov with an armbar in the first round of their middleweight headliner on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Reese (6-0, 1-0 DWCS) brought it to a close 74 seconds into Round 1.

Faced with a six-inch height and five-inch reach deficits, Aronov (6-1, 0-1 DWCS) unleashed a multi-punch burst, tripped his adversary to the floor and pressed his advantages with ground-and-pound. Reese kept his composure, isolated the Israeli’s right arm and drew him deeper into his guard before activating his hips to force the tapout.

Reese has stopped all six of his opponents inside one round.

Featherweight Luis Pajuelo and welterweight Oban Elliott completed the latest crop of UFC signees, bringing the season total to 13.

Contacto Livre’s Pajuelo put away the previously unbeaten Robbie Ring with a grounded knee strike to the body and follow-up punches in the first round of their featherweight pairing. Ring (6-1, 0-1 DWCS) succumbed to blows 3:43 into Round 1.

Pajuelo (8-1, 1-0 DWCS) walked through some heavy fire and managed to turn the tide with a pair of chopping right hands that doubled over his counterpart. Ring secured a takedown but failed to corral the Peruvian on the mat and resorted to pulling guard once the two men returned to an upright position. It was not a wise move. Pajuelo applied his ground-and-pound from top position, unleashed a crushing knee to the body and closed it out with unanswered punches.

The 28-year-old Pajuelo has won five fights in a row.

Shore MMA’s Elliott outlasted Oktagon MMA champion Kaik Brito to a majority decision in a three-round welterweight affair. Two of the three cageside judges struck 29-28 scorecards for Elliott, while a third ruled it a 28-28 draw.

A closely contested first round gave way to a frenetic final 10 minutes. Brito (16-5, 0-1 DWCS) had the Welshman reeling in the middle stanza, where he dazed him with a clean right hand and a sweeping left hook, pinned him to the fence with punches and connected with a knee up the middle. He scrambled to Elliott’s back late in the period, trapped him in a backside crucifix and threatened with an armbar as the horn sounded. Brito had little left in the gas tank in Round 3. Elliott backed up the Brazilian with jabs, thudding left hands and a devastating body kick. The situation grew even more perilous for Brito after he slipped while throwing a wild spinning backfist. Elliott moved into top position, at which point he slashed away with elbows and punches in pursuit of a finish

Elliott will carry a five-fight winning streak into his next assignment.

Finally, Allstars Training Center prospect Josefine Lindgren Knutsson kept her perfect professional record intact with a unanimous decision over Isis Verbeek in a three-round women’s strawweight affair. All three cageside judges submitted 30-27 scorecards for Knutsson (6-0, 1-0 DWCS), the lone winner not awarded a UFC contract.

Verbeek (5-2, 0-1 DWCS) failed to exploit her four-inch reach advantage. Knutsson staggered her with a lead-leg head kick in the first round, bullied the Dutchwoman in the clinch and excelled in limited exchanges on the ground. Verbeek rallied in Round 3 behind strategic punching blitzes but saw her momentum stymied when she slipped on an attempted kick and allowed her opponent to pump the brakes from top position.

The setback was Verbeek’s first in nearly five years.