Roque Conceicao Moreira Junior got picked up and slammed on Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday night, and it was the best thing that happened to him all year. The Brazilian flyweight already had a triangle choke wrapped around Alexander Chavez when the slam came. The impact cinched it tighter, Chavez tapped at 3:37 of Round 1, and White gave Conceicao a UFC contract.
The finish came in the swing bout of DWCS Season 10, Week 9 at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. According to MMA Fighting’s recap, Conceicao came out fast with quick right hands and hard body kicks, backing Chavez up. After Chavez ate a big punch, he shot for a takedown. Conceicao jumped on a guillotine, and when Chavez defended it, he rolled through a kimura sweep and locked up the triangle. Chavez stood up with him and tried to slam his way out. Physics had other plans.
White, quoted by Yahoo Sports, loved the whole thing. “Nasty kicks, great exchanges, then the slam right into the triangle,” he said while awarding the deal. “What I loved about your fight was everything.”
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This was Conceicao’s second trip through the Contender Series. Yahoo lists him at 12-3. He lost on the show in 2025 to Imanol Rodriguez, who has since gone 2-0 in the UFC with two Performance of the Night bonuses, so that loss has aged about as well as a loss can. Yahoo Sports’ betting preview pointed out that Conceicao was defending well and landing in that fight before he slipped on a kick, which set up the finishing sequence. He bounced back with a first-round knockout of a 14-6 opponent in Shooto and earned the callback.
Chavez walked in 9-0 with six knockouts, every fight under the Inka FC banner. That promotion is run by Ivan Iberico, who also happens to be Chavez’s head coach. The Yahoo preview openly questioned whether all of those fights were on the level, while allowing that Chavez looked like a patient, solid striker. The oddsmakers couldn’t split them, with both men at -110 on DraftKings. The preview took Conceicao at -108 on FanDuel and predicted a knockout. Close enough.
Conceicao was one of four fighters signed Tuesday, joining bantamweight Mateus Soares, light heavyweight Preston LaGrange (a +400 underdog who knocked out Nell Ariano) and Salhahuddin Everett, White’s personal runner, who flattened Ozzy Martin in 1:57 and, per White, had the Apex louder than some title fights. Alivia Bierley beat Summer Onley by unanimous decision and went home without a deal after White said neither woman imposed her will in the third round.
My take: getting a second Contender Series shot is rare, and the guy who earns it usually shows up with something to prove. Conceicao proved it at the exact moment most fighters let go. He got lifted over a man’s head and just kept squeezing. Chavez found out on the way down that the UFC doesn’t let your coach pick your opponents, and Conceicao now heads to the flyweight division with a highlight White already narrated for him.
