Contender Series S9 finale delivers finishes Diaz earns UFC contract

The final episode of Dana White's Contender Series season 9 delivered a night of finishes and dramatic moments on October 14 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, highlighted by Michael Oliveira's second-round stoppage of Victor Valenzuela and a string of sudden, highlight-reel endings across the card. The show closed out the season with several decisive victories, an extremely rare submission, and a spinning-back-elbow knockout that prompted an exclamation from the UFC president.

Oliveira, a 27-year-old Brazilian coming off a six-fight run in the regional scene, wore down Valenzuela before closing the fight in Round 2 with a barrage of strikes that produced multiple knockdowns and forced the stoppage. Peruvian bantamweight Juan Díaz scored a cinematic finish over Won Il Kwon with a spinning back elbow late in the second round, a strike that White singled out afterwards and compared to a notorious elbow knockout from several years earlier, saying, "Yeah, Koreans have a rough time with those elbows, man."

One of the evening's most unusual moments came early when Wes Schultz secured a Suloev stretch submission 1 minute 51 seconds into the opening round against Mario Mingaj. The Suloev...