Dana White’s personal runner is now a UFC fighter. Salhahuddin “Sal” Everett (5-0) flattened Ozzy Martin with a combination capped by a right hook at 1:57 of Round 1 on Tuesday’s Week 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series Season 10, and White awarded him a contract, one of four handed out at Meta Apex in Las Vegas after four straight finishes.
The Everett backstory is the kind the Contender Series rarely gets. According to Bloody Elbow, he was hired onto the UFC’s security team three years ago and worked his way into White’s inner circle. White admitted before the fight that he was pulling for his employee, and Bloody Elbow reported he stepped away from cageside to stay impartial while he celebrated. Martin, a New Hampshire-based welterweight who came in unbeaten and leaves 4-1, was no gift. White said his friends from Boston were texting him that his guy was in trouble against a real fighter. Then Everett needed 117 seconds.
“This could not have happened to a better person,” White said, before landing on the awkward part: “It’s kind of weird cause you’re already in the UFC, but Sal, welcome to the UFC…” He also hinted the day job is probably over, saying he highly doubted Everett would need to show up at headquarters daily unless he was training at the Performance Institute. White added that he wasn’t sure the Apex had ever been as loud, title fights included.
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The other three
Bantamweight Mateus Soares (12-2) needed only 1:03 to knock out Ryuho Miyaguchi (7-2) with a single punch. White’s verdict was blunt: “You’re an absolute killer at 22 years old.”
Flyweight Roque Conceição Moreira Jr. (12-3), back on the show for a second try, traded kicks and exchanges with Alexander Chavez (9-1), got slammed, and turned it straight into a triangle choke that forced the tap at 3:37 of Round 1. White said he loved everything about it, from the striking to the submission.
The closer belonged to light heavyweight Preston LaGrange (7-1), a +400 underdog against Nell Ariano (6-1). LaGrange was winning the early exchanges, Ariano decided to make it a brawl, and a right hand ended it at 2:24 of Round 1. White said he’d felt sorry for LaGrange backstage. “I feel bad for Preston now that they have to come out after Sal just did what he did,” he recalled saying. His reaction after the knockout: “holy sh*t, 4-1 underdog, that’s all I have to say.”
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The only fight to go the distance was the opener. Alivia Bierley (6-1) beat Summer Onley, who arrived 6-0, by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) at women’s bantamweight, but White had it level after two rounds and said neither fighter imposed herself in the third. “So unfortunately, not tonight,” he said. The winners all spoke at the post-fight press conference, MMA Weekly reported.
My take: Bierley and Onley had the slot and the division begging for new names, and they gave away a contract by playing it safe in Round 3. Everyone after them got it. Four first-round finishes, a 4-1 dog walking off with a deal, and a guy who used to fetch things for the boss putting a prospect to sleep in front of the loudest crowd the Apex has heard. That’s the Contender Series at its best, and there’s still one episode left in Season 10.
