Carol Foro reacts to Dana White entering cage to praise contract win
DWCS 81 winner Carol Foro talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters after earning a UFC contract from Dana White for her unanimous decision victory
Week 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series (2025) took place on Tuesday in Las Vegas, and we’re grading the winners from the five-fight card, which streamed on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex.
With a simple but digestible format that has had the MMA fanbase responding, this series has shown to have legs in multiple ways while serving as a crockpot for contenders the UFC matchmakers can use to fill their roster for future events. With that trend in mind, I once again will be taking a look at the winning fighters, regardless of whether or not they won a UFC contract, and grading their performances in regard to their probability of returning to a UFC stage.
Carol Foro
Weight class: StrawweightResult: Carol Foro def. Shanelle Dyer via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)Grade: A
Summary: Kicking off the night in spectacular fashion was an entertaining scrap between Carol Foro and Shanelle Dyer that saw both women get awarded contracts from Dana White (who gave the girls the old Joe Silva treatment by coming into the cage to shake both of their hands).
Foro seriously impressed me with not only her power, but also her natural aptitude when it came to spatial awareness and operating at boxing range. From excellent instincts to bodywork, I can see Foro having a lot of success bullying fellow strawweights going forward (even based on her power and durability alone).
Although Dyer didn’t have the firepower to win the war, she displayed the skills and toughness that earned her a spot on my prospects to watch list for 2024 last year.
Dyer did well when working behind her front teeps and straight punches, but she’ll need to incorporate more framing elbows to help cover any of her holes at boxing range. Dyer will also need to keep working on her wrestling and grappling – areas that I hope we see Foro tested in more in her near future.
Foro already appears to be more than UFC-ready and could easily be plugged in against anyone ranging from Fatima Kline to Yazmin Jauregui. As for the younger and the lesser-experienced Dyer, I suspect we’ll see her paired up with Shi Ming on an upcoming international card.
Samuel Sanches
Samuel Sanches determined to make UFC debut in Abu Dhabi or Qatar
DWCS 81 winner Samuel Sanches talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters after earning a UFC contract from Dana White for his first-round KO victory
Weight class: LightweightResult: Samuel Sanches def. Chasen Blair via Knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:01Grade: A
Summary: Although we didn’t get to see much, it was hard to deny Samuel Sanches an A for his highlight-reel finish alone.
Credit to Chasen Blair for being able to get to Sanches’ back so quickly, but the Brazilian was able to stay composed until finding his moment to escape and capitalize. I’m sure training with Jailton Almeida certainly helped Sanches stay keen on his defensive grappling, but I’d still like to see more from Sanches in that area.
Nevertheless, it’s impossible not to be impressed with Ilia Topuria-like finish against the fence with the body-head combination Sanches unloaded with.
Considering that Dana White already verbally granted Sanches’ request to fight on the upcoming UFC 321 card alongside his stablemate Almeida, expect to see the Brazilian booked in Abu Dhabi opposite someone like Mark Choinski or Dennis Buzukja.
Freddy Vidal
Weight class: Light heavyweightResult: Freddy Vidal def. Felipe Franco via TKO (submission) – Round 3, 4:48Grade: C+
Summary: Despite Dana White calling this fight horrible and UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard visibly crying in laughter during the conclusion of this contest, I still somehow found myself being won over by Freddy Vidal’s short-notice slopfest and subsequently gave him a bump in the grading because of it.
Most light heavyweight fights, at least on paper, are meant to play out like those parallel ship-to-ship cannon battles that you see in films like “Master and Commander.” However, if a superior cannon doesn’t emerge or a glass cannon doesn’t crumble, then these fights often turn into heavyweight slopfests full of cage hugging and sweaty meat slaps.
To Vidal’s credit, he showed some excellent half-guard work for a big man and does well when it comes to funneling fighters into his mat wrestling-based reversals (as you can tell Matt Serra has trained his pupil well).
I don’t blame the UFC president for not signing him on the night due to both the weight miss and his lack of experience. I’m not sure if another fight in roughly five weeks will be enough to fix that, but I was happy to see Vidal stay in the proverbial UFC pipeline as far as potential signings go.
Lerryan Douglas
Lerryan Douglas handled business with 36-second KO to secure contract
DWCS 81 winner Lerryan Douglas talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters after earning a UFC contract from Dana White for his 36-second knockout victory
Weight class: FeatherweightResult: Lerryan Douglas def. Cam Teague via Knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:36Grade: A
Summary: Although we didn’t get to see much from Lerryan Douglas in what was officially tied for the second fastest finish in Dana White’s Contender Series history with his 36-second disposal of Cam Teague, it was hard to deny him an A for his efforts.
Clearly passing the eye test, Douglas is a talented and deceptively experienced Brazilian prospect who has really turned a corner since moving out to Southern California to train with Cub Swanson and company. Douglas and his newfound boxing coaches have also talked about him recently learning how to unlock his power and potential, with both of those being on full display this past Tuesday.
Although Douglas is probably good enough to stay afloat at multiple levels of the UFC’s talent-rich featherweight division, I’d love to see him booked in a guaranteed action fight against someone like Bogdan Grad.
Steve Asplund
Steven Asplund still willing to suck Dana White’s toes after KO win
DWCS 81 winner Steven Asplund talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters after being awarded a UFC contract from Dana White for his 16-second TKO victory
Weight class: HeavyweightResult: Steve Asplund def. Anthony Guarascio via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, :16Grade: A
Summary: Akin to not all 10-9 round scores being equal, not all A gradings I give out are equal, as this fight between Steve Asplund and Anthony Guarascio was a perfect example of that.
Not only did we not have a lot of experience or on-paper accolades coming into this affair, but what we were able to see in what was ultimately a limited sample size wasn’t great. That said, it was hard not to be won over by Asplund’s former fat kid schtick – which I’m sure spoke to a lot of us in some way or another whether you’re comfortable admitting it or not.
And considering that the UFC already signed a “Make Heavyweight Great Again” gimmick guy in week 3 of this series, it’s nice to see a little effort for variety (or at least as much variety as you can get in what was essentially a battle between Jelly Roll dopplegangers).
Although Sean Sharaf appears to be the most logical on-paper choice for Asplund’s first bout with the promotion, I’m kind of hoping that the UFC keeps Chris Barnett around regardless of the results of his upcoming UFC 321 matchup so that we can get the ultimate fat guy-overachiever fight in the octagon.
If I compared light heavyweight fights to “Master and Commander” ship battles in a previous section, then heavyweight is for sure the “Idiocracy” division if I’m sticking to film analogies here (with middleweight, of course, being “The Island of Dr. Moreau”).
