Unbeaten Jhonata Diniz Among Five UFC Recruits Signed on Week 6 of DWCS

Jhonata Diniz can be described in one word at this stage of his career: upside.

The Santa Fe Team export was one of five competitors to book spots on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster during Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he buried Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Eduardo Jose Neves with punches in the first round of their heavyweight showcase. Neves (7-2, 0-2 DWCS) succumbed to blows 3:15 into Round 1, his path to the UFC cut off for a second time.

The 32-year-old Diniz (6-0, 1-0 DWCS) weathered some early adversity, as he met with jabs, front kicks to the body and a few combinations from his aggressive countryman. He eventually pushed Neves to the fence before uncorking a right hook and a plunging right cross upstairs. It proved to be the beginning of the end. Neves marched forward and walked into a searing one-two that leveled him where he stood in the center of the cage. No follow-up shots were required.

Diniz has finished all six of his opponents inside one round.

Lightweight James Llontop, featherweight Steven Nguyen, women’s strawweight Julia Polastri and bantamweight Jean Matsumoto are set to join Diniz in the UFC.

A Fusion Fighting Championship titleholder, Llontop called upon violent creativity in a unanimous decision over Malik Lewis in their three-round lightweight attraction. Llontop (14-2, 1-0 DWCS) swept the scorecards with 30-27, 30-26 and 30-26 marks from the cageside judiciary.

Lewis (6-2, 0-2 DWCS) had no answer for the utter relentlessness his adversary brought to bear. Llontop dazed him with a stabbing right hand in the waning seconds of Round 1 and never looked back. He racked Lewis’ body with a painful kick in the second and put the impressive depth of his tool box on display with shovel uppercuts, takedown-deterrent elbows to the side of the head and close-range knees. Llontop made even more progress on the ground, where he hammered away with knees and elbows before threatening with a late face crank to close the third round.

Llontop, 24, has rattled off 12 consecutive victories.

Meanwhile, Fortis MMA’s Nguyen took care of Attitude MMA titleholder A.J. Cunningham with punches in the second round of their featherweight clash. Cunningham (10-3, 0-1 DWCS) met his end 4:06 into Round 2, his three-fight winning streak having run its course.

Nguyen (9-1, 2-1 UFC) controlled much of the action with a potent jab. Cunningham inflicted some damage of his own—he split open the bridge of his opponent’s nose—but ran aground at the end of the first round. Nguyen floored him with a devastating left hook-right hook combination and swarmed with punches for a potential finish. The bell saved Cunningham but only prolonged the inevitable. Nguyen stayed patient in the middle stanza, staggered the Law School MMA product with a chopping right hand and let the power punches fly to prompt a standing stoppage from referee Mark Smith.

The 30-year-old Nguyen has won three fights in a row.

Not to be outdone, Polastri put away Patricia Alujas with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their women’s strawweight battle. Polastri (12-3, 1-1 DWCS) drew the curtain 4:05 into Round 2, putting her third straight victory in the books.

Alujas (9-3, 0-1 DWCS) fought fire with fire initially—windmilling punches were her weapons of choice—but the Paraguayan prospect ran out of steam in a hurry. Polastri unleashed push kicks to the body, clean combinations and collar-tie knee strikes at close range throughout a competitive first round. The CWB Fighter rep stepped into a few sharp right hands to start the middle stanza, then surprised Alujas with a takedown. It was all one-way traffic from there. Polastri slipped behind her kneeling counterpart, softened her with ground-and-pound and applied maximum pressure. She eventually climbed to the back, cut loose with punches and slid her arms into place for the fight-ending choke.

The setback snapped a five-fight winning streak for Alujas.

Finally, Inside Muay Thai’s Matsumoto kept his perfect professional record intact and did so in impressive fashion, as he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Kasey Tanner in a three-round bantamweight pairing. All three cageside judges scored it for Matsumoto (14-0, 1-0 DWCS): 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

Tanner (6-1, 0-1 DWCS), the B-side in one of the season’s best fights, executed takedowns in the second and third rounds, proved effective at close range and punched well in combination. However, Matsumoto overwhelmed him with variety and output. The 24-year-old Fight Pro Championship titleholder dug repeated kicks into Tanner’s lead leg, giving the Fight Ready rep pause and leaving him with a compromised base. Matsumoto backed them up with crisp four-, five- and six-punch volleys.