Manchester lightweight Callum Connor has received a UFC contract despite suffering the first professional defeat of his career against Piero Guaylupo on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Guaylupo beat Connor by unanimous decision in Las Vegas, with all three judges returning 30-27 scorecards in the Peruvian’s favour. UFC’s official Week 7 report said that, despite the clear scoreline, both fighters were awarded contracts after a high-output lightweight contest.
Connor, 26, leaves the bout with an 8-1 professional record. The English fighter had arrived at the series on a four-fight winning run with UK promotion Full Contact Contender, according to the BBC.
The contract gives Connor an opening in the UFC after a bout in which the result did not ultimately prevent the promotion from backing him. UFC’s report said White wanted Connor competing in the organisation rather than elsewhere, while describing the contest as a possible Fight of the Year candidate. Those were White’s assessments, reported by UFC, rather than an independent evaluation of the bout.
A unanimous decision, but contracts for both fighters
UFC said Guaylupo and Connor fought at its 22 September Contender Series event at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Its account described Connor using compact kickboxing, including straight punches, elbows and attacks to the legs and body, while Guaylupo looked repeatedly for a decisive power shot.
The official report also said Connor fought from a peek-a-boo stance, while Guaylupo repeatedly sought to change the contest with his power. Those descriptions were UFC’s account of the action, alongside the official decision in Guaylupo’s favour on each of the three scorecards.
The promotion reported that the pair combined for almost 200 significant strikes. The BBC reported that White said the contest had produced more significant strikes than any three-round UFC lightweight fight, and that he considered it capable of being a Fight of the Year contender. That comparison was White’s claim, not a result independently established in the supplied reports.
UFC’s account of White’s remarks said both fighters continued to come forward and were trying to win. It also recorded his view that Connor should not be competing for another organisation. Those comments represented White’s post-fight judgement, while the official result remained Guaylupo’s unanimous-decision victory. Connor’s contract was announced alongside that result and did not alter the judges’ scorecards.
Guaylupo, who was 21 at the time of the contest according to the BBC, also secured a UFC contract. Connor’s signing therefore came alongside that of the fighter who beat him, rather than as a reversal of the decision.
Connor was one of two defeated fighters awarded contracts from the five Week 7 contests. UFC said six fighters received contracts: winners Damian Piwowarczyk, Guaylupo, Marcos Degli and Alvi Dasuyev, plus defeated fighters Connor and Jaden Ortega.
Contrast with Novenyi’s missed opportunity
Connor’s deal also contrasted with the outcome for London-based middleweight Norbert Novenyi Jr. The BBC reported that Novenyi defeated American Theo Haig by unanimous decision to improve to 11-1, but was the only winner on the card not to receive a contract.
White told Novenyi that he had not seen enough in the performance to make him feel compelled to sign the middleweight, according to the BBC’s report. He nevertheless indicated that the promotion would be willing to consider Novenyi again in future.
That outcome does not establish a wider selection rule from one card, but it underlines that the contracts reflected the promotion’s assessment of individual performances rather than results alone. For Connor, the immediate significance is that his first defeat has not halted his progression to the UFC roster; for Guaylupo, the same fight delivered both the decision win and his own contract.