Malcolm Wellmaker dropped the hammer.
Faglier’s MMA rep was one of four prospects who earned UFC contracts during Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, and he defeated Adam Bramhard with punches in the first round of Tuesday’s bantamweight showcase at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Bramhard (13-3, 0-1 DWCS) was crushed at 2 minutes, 29 seconds into the first round, seeing his 11-fight winning streak snapped.
Wellmaker (8-0, 1-0 DWCS) landed a heavy jab, blocked a few leg kicks and waited for his chance to strike. The Augusta, Georgia native countered Bramhard’s jab with a powerful right hook, dropping the Asylum Vale Tudo on the spot with no follow-up shots needed.
Middleweight Marco Tullio will join Wellmaker on the UFC roster, along with featherweight Bogdan Grad and middleweight Andrey Plyaev.
Shoot Boxe’s Tullio took down Hexagon MMA champion Mathieu “Leso” Duclos with a spinning back kick to the body and a follow-up punch in the second round of their middleweight bout. Duclos (6-3, 0-1 DWCS) was eliminated at 2:38 of the second round, suffering his first defeat in more than two years.
Tullio (12-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) was patient, softening the Frenchman’s lead leg with kicks before moving forward to launch his attack. Midway through the middle rounds, the Diego Lima protégé punctuated a multi-striking volley to the stomach with a spinning back kick that turned the tide of the fight. His heel connected with Duclos’ liver, sending him collapsing to the canvas in a defensive position and leaving him helpless against the next punch.
The 29-year-old Torio achieved eight consecutive wins.
Meanwhile, a determined Grad used his multi-pronged stand-up attack to defeat Fury Fighting Championship titleholder Michael Aswell via split decision in a hard-fought three-round featherweight bout. All three cageside judges scored the bout 29-28, with two of them in favor of Grad (14-2, 1-1 DWCS).
Azwell (9-2, 0-1 DWCS) relied on clean one-two punches for most of the 15-minute bout. Grad responded with a flurry of aggressive punches, kicks to all levels and relentless forward pressure. Grad opened a gash on Azwell’s eyelid with a sharp elbow in the second round and continued to target the wound in the third. By the end of the bout, the gash was well over an inch long. Still, Azwell stayed busy, dominating the Austria-based Romanian with a barrage of strikes over the final five minutes. Azwell, a protégé of Saul Solis and Daniel Pineda, appeared to unsettle Grad at one point with a flurry of close-range body shots, but he fell just short on the scorecards.
The 28-year-old Grad has won three straight bouts.
Meanwhile, Storm Shlemenko Fight Team’s Plyaev used his high-powered striking and solid takedown defense to earn a unanimous decision victory over Liam Anderson in a three-round middleweight bout. Plyaev (9-2, 1-0 DWCS) swept the scorecards with scores of 30-27 from the judges.
Anderson (6-3, 0-1 DWCS) made progress with some ground attacks but just couldn’t find a way to consistently get the Russian to the mat. In the stand-up, Plyaev pounded the Team Empire star with hard kicks to the body and legs, took him down with a jab and landed some elbows from close range. Anderson got his chance and advanced to full mount late in the second round but couldn’t capitalize.
The 26-year-old Shlemenko is currently on a five-fight winning streak.
Finally, Fortis MMA prospect Nick Picchinini relied on takedowns and positional advances to barely win a controversial split decision over Jack Duffy in a three-round flyweight undercard bout, with all three cageside judges turning in scorecards of 29-28, with two of them favoring the unbeaten Picchinini (7-0, 1-0 DWCS).
Duffy (7-1, 0-1 DWCS) deployed a very active guard and dominated the stand-up offensive and defensive play. He repeatedly pounded away at Piccinini’s lead leg, probing with his jab and incorporating a few spinning strikes when the opportunity arose. Piccinini, a three-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University, scored multiple takedowns in the second and third rounds, worked his way back with a body triangle and racked up points with a moderate amount of ground-and-pound. Duffy used standing elbow strikes, occasional front kicks to the face and spinning back kicks to the body late in the bout, but the wrestling and grappling play was never enough to completely counter his opponent’s offense.
Neither Mr. Piccinini nor Mr. Duffy signed a contract.
