UFC Signs Jose Mauro Delano, Four Others on Week 2 of DWCS

Jose Mauro Delano earned a unanimous decision victory over Manuel Exposito, with all three judges scoring the featherweight bout 30-27. Delano used multi-punch combinations, targeted body strikes, head and leg kicks, elbows and knees to control the fight and bloody Exposito’s nose. Delano now sits on a four-fight winning streak and secured a UFC contract via Dana White's Contender Series. Ramiro Jimenez remained undefeated and finished Tommy Cuozzi at 2:53 of Round 1 with standing elbows and follow-up punches, marking his ninth first-round finish. Cameron Rowston, Louis Lee Scott and Josh Hokit also earned UFC opportunities.

Jose Mauro Delano already looks like a finished product. The former Legacy Fighting Alliance and Shooto Brazil titleholder was one of five competitors to net an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract on Week 2 of Dana White's Contender Series, as he picked apart Manuel Exposito ahead of a lopsided unanimous decision in their featherweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges turned in 30-27 scorecards for Delano (16-3, 1-0 DWCS), who now finds himself on a four-fight winning streak.

Exposito (13-3, 0-1 DWCS) refused to go away, but that toughness only carried him so far. Delano pieced together three-, four and sometimes five-punch combinations, zeroed in on the body with surgical precision and incorporated kicks to the head, midsection and legs. He also did damage at close range with thudding elbows upstairs and knees to the body. By the time it was over, Exposito was bleeding heavily from the nose and sporting a bright pink breadbasket.

Jimenez (11-0, 1-0 DWCS) established his superiority with repeated front kicks to the body and powerful counters. He sat down Cuozzi with a two-punch burst, pounced with punches and reset. Jimenez connected with a pair of head kicks, had the Ultimate Battle Grounds champion reeling with a clean one-two and closed the distance with a collar tie. Two standing elbows sent Cuozzi off the rails, and the punches that followed prompted the stoppage. It was the ninth first-round finish of Jimenez's brief career.

Read at Sherdog