\n<\/p>\n
Las Vegas \u2014 It\u2019s not often that a losing fighter on Dana White\u2019s Contender Series<\/em> earns a UFC deal. This past Tuesday, on Week 7 of Season 10, it happened twice.<\/p>\n Jaden Ortega won a deal off a decision loss to Alvi Dasuyev, while England\u2019s Callum Connor went the distance with Piero Guaylupo, losing a decision in the lightweight bout yet winning a UFC contract nonetheless.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to see why: Guaylupo vs. Connor set a striking record for the Contender Series, one that would have broken the UFC record set by Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier for strikes thrown (Guaylupo and Connor threw over 800, and landed roughly 400 significant strikes). The bout is being called a Fight of the Year contender.<\/p>\n Speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press after the bout, Connor (8-1) admitted that \u201cthis is not a scenario I envisaged, where it would happen like this. I\u2019d seen myself going out there and winning in spectacular fashion, maybe going to the camera, going up to Dana. But it doesn\u2019t always go like that in this game. He was a tough hombre, South American. I feel like I hit him with everything and the kitchen sink, and he was just going nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHad a good start to the fight, got dropped with a shot, and I had to find myself in there,\u201d Connor added.<\/p>\n The British lightweight had to overcome plenty of adversity, especially after being dropped early. There was no thought of looking for a way out, however.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no way I wasn\u2019t dragging myself off that canvas. My legs might have gone a little bit, but I\u2019d have died in there. People say they want it, I need this. I remeber being a 10-year old boy, watching UFC for the first time, being magnatized towards it. And ever since walking into an MMA gym six years ago, I knew that the Contender Series would be the route in. It\u2019s not how we wanted to do it, but here we are, and I\u2019m so pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n