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JP Buys was one of the four fighters who earned UFC contracts at the end of the fourth season of Dana White's Contender Series last Tuesday. The other three were Gloria de Paula, Tucker Lutz, and Victoria Leonardo.
Former UFC women's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, who is teammates with JP Buys under MMA coach Richie Quan, congratulated him on his new UFC contract.
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JP Buys joins his wife in UFC
South African flyweight JP Buys previously participated in Season 1 of Dana White's Contender Series in 2017 but lost to Joby Sanchez. This time around, he made it through in Week 10 of the tournament.
Buys is married to strawweight Cheyanne Buys, who was also signed by the UFC through the Contender Series back in August.
JP Buys earned his contract with a controversial submission over Jacob Silva in the headliner.
Buys had Silva in a guillotine choke in the closing seconds of the first round. With Silva's face hidden away from the view, referee Marc Goddard stepped in, believing Silva had gone unconscious from the choke.
The fight was waved off and JP Buys was announced the winner, but it was immediately apparent that Jacob Silva was fine.
This was JP Buys' fifth win in a row since his loss in his last appearance on the Contender Series. He has earned three of his previous four victories by stoppage, with two of them not going past the first round.
Dana White usually goes for the fighters who finish their opponents, but this time he selected two who went the distance.
Strawweight Gloria de Paula won via majority decision over Pauline Macias in a clinical performance. There was sufficient display of punches, elbows, and knees from Brazilian de Paula to impress the UFC president and secure her contract.
Lightweight Tucker Lutz also won via decision, but he caused an upset by beating a top prospect, Sherrard Blackledge, who was undefeated before Tuesday night. Lutz had appeared before on Dana White's Contender Series and defeated Chase Gibson, but was not picked up for a contract.
Lastly, women's flyweight Victoria Leonardo earned her contract with a second-round finish of Chelsea Hackett via TKO by punches.
Dana White's Contender Series has previously picked up fighters who went on to make name for themselves in the company, such as Sean O'Malley, Dan Ige, and Maycee Barber.
Alex Perez, another Contender Series graduate, will challenge Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight title in the main event of UFC 255 this weekend.
