William Knight, Jimmy Flick and Ronnie Lawrence earn UFC contracts at DWCS Season 4: Week 5

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Photo by Chris Unger/DWCS LLC/Zuffa LLC Three more tickets were punched to the UFC at DWCS Season 4: Week 5 on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
William Knight, Ronnie Lawrence, Jimmy Flick are all heading to the UFC, Dana White confirmed following the event at the UFC APEX.
Melsik Baghdasaryan took on Dennis Buzukja in the featherweight main event. Using his well established striking, Baghdasaryan set the tone with a barrage of knees, elbows, kicks and punches and had his counterpart in early danger. After a clinch against the fence, Baghdasaryan landed four to five hard elbows and a nasty head kick, while Buzukja showed his toughness. The Armenian fighter continued to pour it on throughout the first round with a variety of power strikes, but Staten Island’s Buzukja resident was able to end the round with some momentum after landing a takedown and controlling the clinch.
Baghdasaryan’s standup advantage continued on into the second round, though his pacing slowed down to a more calculated pace. Buzukja landed a beautiful throw at the halfway point of the round and took his opponent’s back momentarily before landing a clean knee to the jaw. Buzukja began to dictate a more grinding pace and was landing a lot more frequently on the feet as the clock ticked down.
In the final round, Baghdasaryan was able to get back on track as he made his shots count. Much like the first round, Baghdasaryan was able to land a consistent left hand and kicks to the body. With just under two minutes to go in the fight, Buzukja nearly finished the fight with an armbar, but Baghdasaryan was able to survive and ride out the round after getting a second wind to earn the unanimous decision.
Flyweights battled it out in the co-main event as Jimmy Flick took on Nate Smith. The LFA champ had his opponent in trouble on the mat through most of the fight, but the gritty Smith was able to survive countless submissions that would’ve ended the fight for most in his position.
Finally, “The Brick” had Smith mounted in the third round and worked his way to an arm-triangle choke that led to Smith being forced to tap.

Gets the submission...FINALLY.@JimmyFlick gets what he's been hunting for all night.

Tune in now on #ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/v0eqSm6Upt
— UFC (@ufc) September 2, 2020​

In a bantamweight bout, Ronnie Lawrence entered the APEX as a big underdog against Jose Johnson. Using a slew of takedowns over 15-minutes, Lawrence was able to pick up a clean sweep from the judges en route to a unanimous decision win.
New England’s top ranked light heavyweight William Knight made the most of his second Contender Series appearance with another finish—this time in the first round. “Knightmare” overcame some early adversity to earn a nasty first-round TKO win over the previously unbeaten Cody Brundage.

VICIOUS ground and pound!

William Knight with the absolute POWER to end it.

We're LIVE on #ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/LF30vGwXqn
— UFC (@ufc) September 2, 2020​

Tucker Lutz picked up a unanimous decision win over Cody Gibson in the opening contest. Although he didn’t earn a contract, White revealed that another season of the Contender Series will kick off in November and Lutz—along with Baghdasaryan, Buzukja, and Smith—will be invited back to get another shot.
Check out DWCS Season 4: Week 5 results below:
Melsik Baghdasaryan def. Dennis Buzukja via decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Jimmy Flick def. Nate Smith via submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 3, 3:15
Ronnie Lawrence def. Jose Johnson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
William Knight def. Cody Brundage via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:23
Tucker Lutz def. Cody Gibson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)


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