RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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It was a night of brutal finishes -- and one massive upset -- at the Meta Apex. Dana White's Contender Series concluded it's third week of fights on Tuesday night with a wild final bout featuring the daughter of a former UFC champion.
Bella Mir was expected to walk through Alex Apodaca in the main event on her way to the UFC. Except nobody told Apodaca. Mir was anywhere from a -2000 to -3000 favorite heading into the fight with Apodaca expected to make her look good. But Apodaca stuffed many of the Mir takedown attempts throughout the fight and then bloodied Mir's nose as well. She controlled the action from the opening bell and earned one of the biggest upsets in Contender Series history.
"That's crazy, I didn't look at the odds before, I knew it was bullshit," Apodaca said after the fight. "I just truly believe that if I stay present and in the moment that nobody's going to beat me because I'm technical and I'm strong."
HUNGRY DOGS FIGHT HARDER 🗣️ Alex Apodaca earns the UD win for the BIGGEST UPSET EVER on #DWCS ! [ LIVE on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/v4c0Dc5unF
White was so thoroughly impressed that, despite his admitted bias towards Mir coming into the fight due to his relationship with her family and former heavyweight champion Frank Mir, he awarded her a contract for her outstanding performance. That marked the fifth winner of the five fights to earn a contract on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Guilherme Uriel made the most of his second chance on Contender Series by locking in a nasty standing guillotine choke in the first round against Mario Piazzon. Uriel, who was stopped by rising heavyweight star Josh Hokit last year, did not disappoint in this opportunity by taking Piazzon's neck almost instantly up against the cage. He never let go and forced Piazzon to tap out.
Plus, Ronald Humphrey put on an incredible show in his bout with Alexis Miranda. Humphrey dropped Miranda with a jab before unleashing brutal ground-and-pound that opened up his opened. Before long, Humphrey had taken his back and locked in a rear-naked choke for a violent finish.
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