Nick Galanti, Ronald Humphrey claim UFC contracts with Dana White's Contender Series wins
Reigning CFFC middleweight champion and recent promotional standout open show with back-to-back spectacular finishes to make leap to sport's biggest stage
Week 3 of Dana White's Contender Series delivered a full house of UFC contract winners, with each of the night's five winners finishing the night with a contract from UFC President and CEO Dana White.
The featured bout of the night saw the biggest upset in Contender Series history, as bantamweight Alex Apodaca defeated -6000 favorite Bella Mir to earn herself a UFC contract as she capped off another remarkable night of fights at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Joining Apocada on the UFC roster are fellow victors Nick Galanti, Ronald Humphrey, Sean Clancy Jr. and Guilherme Uriel, with each of that quartet earning their respective contracts with big finishes.
Week 3 kicked off with a bang, courtesy of Cage Fury Fighting Championships middleweight champion Galanti, who needed just 35 seconds to get the Meta APEX crowd off their seats as he flattened Carlos Petruzzella to claim a huge first-round knockout victory.
Galanti didn't waste any time as he came out of his corner and, after reacting to a Petruzzella body kick, shot in for a takedown. Petruzzella defended well to keep things standing, but Galanti had something for him on the feet, too.
With Petruzzella backed up against the fence, Galanti switched from wrestling to striking as he unloaded a massive right hook that sent his man crashing to the canvas.
And, with referee Keith Peterson trying to get a good angle to view the state of Petruzzella, Galanti didn't stand on ceremony. Instead, he moved in and unloaded a blistering barrage of ground strikes to finish the job and claim a stunning first-round knockout victory.
The fighting son of former Strikeforce athlete Ron "Abongo” Humphrey, Ronald Humphrey showcased his own brand of high-octane offense as he beat up, then submitted, Alexis Miranda in vicious fashion in the first round of their welterweight matchup.
Miranda promised to lean on his boxing skills during the contest, and opened up with a quick double-jab-right-hand combination, but Humphrey answered immediately by stepping in, picking him up and slamming him powerfully to the mat.
Miranda managed to fight his way to his feet, and was immediately punished with a knee to the head, but eventually the pair separated and started to throw strikes.
Miranda let his hands go from range and connected with a couple of solid shots to the body, but Humphrey took him back down, then hit Miranda with successive knees as he battled to his feet once again. Miranda stood, arms outstretched, as if to say, "Is that all you've got?" If that was the question, Humphrey had an emphatic answer.
He busted up Miranda with a nasty elbow, then dropped him with a stiff shot. Then, after getting his hands on him, Humphrey picked Miranda up and slammed him to the mat again. And with the fight on the mat, Humphrey worked his way to the back of his battered and bloody opponent and locked up a tight rear-naked choke to force the tap for a violent, statement-making, first-round submission victory.
This story first appeared at UFC.com.