Baraniewski, Chovancek thrill on Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series

Spanish bantamweight Hecher Sosa fought with a heavy heart in the featured Week 6 matchup of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Sosa was informed while he was in the process of cutting weight on Monday that his father, who had been battling cancer, had died. On Tuesday night at the UFC Apex, the 30-year-old training partner of UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria was able to overcome the odds and defeat Mackson Lee to earn a UFC contract. 

Brazil’s Lee, 26, is one of the taller 135-pounders in the sport at six-foot-one and Sosa nullified Lee’s reach advantage early by taking the fight to the ground several times in Round 1 and fought out of a guillotine choke attempt from Lee.

Sosa continued to press forward as the aggressor and landed the more effective strikes in Round 2, and in Round 3 spent nearly the entire time in top position on the ground looking for a rear-naked choke and landing strikes.

Although he didn’t find the finish, Dana White said the fact Sosa had an impressive performance while overcoming the loss of his father was admirable and he wished him the best of luck in his UFC career.

Sosa improved to 14-1 and extended his active winning streak to 11 in a row. Lee, meanwhile, fell to 9-1 after losing for the first time in his career.

Iwo Baraniewski is an accomplished judo and submission wrestling practitioner, however, it was his punching power that helped him improve to 6-0 in professional mixed martial arts.

Baraniewski was the biggest betting underdog on the card, yet he needed only 20 seconds and a couple punches to earn a knockout victory over Mahamed Aly in light-heavyweight action.

The 26-year-old from Poland has finished all six of his opponents in the first round. Aly, 31, is an accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist who had never previously lost in MMA.

Canada’s Cody Chovancek ended his bantamweight bout with Raphael Uchegbu with an exclamation mark, earning a third-round technical knockout win to earn a UFC contract.

The 27-year-old from Ontario improved to 9-0 as a pro after landing a beautiful slip right hand early in the final round of a fight that saw him perform admirably through the opening two rounds. It was the sixth stoppage win of his career.

UFC president Dana White could be seen mouthing, “That’s how you do it, kid,” after Chovancek put away Uchegbu, who entered the matchup 10-1.

Chovancek trains out of Niagara Top Team and is a teammate of UFC stars Mike Mallott and Jasmine Jasudavicius, both of whom earned their shot in the UFC with wins three weeks apart on the Contender Series in 2021. 

Chovancek is the second Canadian fighter this month to earn a stoppage win on the Contender Series after lightweight Mandel Nallo picked up a first-round knockout in Week 4.

Thomas Gantt handed fellow lightweight Adam Livingston his first loss and made it look easy.

Gantt was a touted collegiate wrestler out of NC State who trains under former two-weight UFC champion and frequent cageside commentator Daniel Cormier.

The 32-year-old from Raleigh, N.C., put his wrestling and grappling skills to use early and often. He pressured Livingston along the fence and eventually landed a huge takedown that led to a guillotine choke submission midway through the opening round.

Gantt is relatively new to the sport. He debuted in 2023, going 5-0 as an amateur and has since picked up 11 pro wins within the past year and a half. All but one of his wins have been by KO/TKO or submission.

Cormier was in attendance and could be seen and heard celebrating Gantt’s win.

Ireland’s Paddy McCorry got his hand raised against South Korea’s In Su Hwang in middleweight action, but said afterwards he wasn’t happy with his performance. McCorry, a veteran of Season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter, out-landed Hwang and swept the scorecards but was unable to find a finish in the 15-minute contest at 185 pounds and did not walk away with a contract.

DWCS Season 9, Week 6 Official Results:

— Hecher Sosa def. Mackson Lee by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

— Iwo Baraniewski def. Mahamed Aly by knockout at 0:20 of Round 1

— Thomas Gantt def. Adam Livingston by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:47 of Round 1

— Paddy McCorry def. In Su Hwang by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

— Cody Chovancek def. Raphael Uchegbu by TKO at 0:10 of Round 3

UFC contract recipients: Cody Chovancek, Thomas Gantt, Iwo Baraniewski, Hecher Sosa

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