LAS VEGAS -- During Season 1 of the then-new reality series "The Ultimate Fighter," UFC CEO/President Dana White made an epic speech in which he asked the assembled crew of athletes, "Do you wanna be a f*cking fighter?"
The answer that bantamweight Cortavious Romious gave for each of the last 10 years was a resounding yes.
Through the years, Romious proved that with his actions and not simply his words. He was one of four winning fighters Tuesday on Dana White's Contender Series at Apex on the UFC campus to earn a UFC contract, but few have had a more difficult time of it than Romious.
He defeated Michael Imperato by unanimous decision by scores of 30-27 on all three cards Tuesday to get his ticket to the UFC punched. He joins fellow bantamweight Cody Haddon, heavyweight Rizvan Kuniev and welterweight Andreas Gustafsson in earning contracts.
Few, though, have a story like Romious.
Now 30, Romius been a pro for 10 years. Life on the regional circuit is not a quick path to fame and riches, and things were so tight for him that he was sleeping on the floor.
He nearly lost his apartment. He did lose his car. But he wanted to pursue the dream of making the UFC so badly that he endured.
"I'm buying me a mattress," Romious said, beaming, after his win. "I'm getting a bed. And a piece of cheesecake."
White raved about Romious' athleticism, and Romious was clearly quick and strong. He didn't always make the right decisions, but said he's only now getting professional-level coaching and that he'll develop.
His age worked against him, White said, but he showed enough to earn his spot.
"I'm never looking for 30-year-old contenders but when you see these guys who have that type of ability, it's almost like the now or never [situation]," White said. "Listen: We brought them here. We give them the opportunity. They deliver. Let's see what they can do [in the UFC]."
Haddon got the night off to a quick start. A native of Perth, Australia, he was in Las Vegas preparing for his fight last week as UFC 305 was going on in Perth. He said the same thing happened to him in 2017.
One of the most exciting fighters on the regional circuit, Haddon entered with a 6-1 record and six finishes. His only loss was in 2021 to Steve Erceg, a recent flyweight title challenger, in a bout that was voted Fight of the Year in Australia.
He showed plenty, cracking Billy Brand with a left hook, pummeling him with ground and pound before settling for a rear naked choke submission. He was thrilled with the way the night went, but would rather have gotten the KO.
"I would rather have just ground-and-pounded him unconscious, to be honest," Haddon said. "I kept hitting him and he wasn't going unconscious and I was like, 'I'm going to have to choke him now.' That was the thought process behind that."
It's the kind of attitude White is looking for and one of the reasons Haddon stood out.
Kuniev finished Hugo Cunha with vicious knees at 4:59 of the first to get his deal, while Gustafsson knocked Pat Pytlik out with a vicious knee. Torrez Finney won a decision over Cam Rowston in a ho-hum fight but didn't get a contract.
White: Blame me for Ngannou scrubbing
On the UFC Countdown show before UFC 305, a video was shown of Israel Adesanya speaking at the tickets on sale news conference in July. He mentioned former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in his answer. But when the video was in Countdown, Ngannou's name was scrubbed. Ngannou is no longer in the UFC -- he left as a free agent in 2023 and signed with the Professional Fighters League -- and so the slight seemed to be the UFC trying to erase him from its history.
At the UFC 305 pre-fight news conference, Adesanya commented on it. He wasn't happy, though he said he was confident the UFC would make it right eventually
I asked White about it at the DWCS news conference Tuesday, but he wasn't aware of what had occurred. He said he would find out and get me an answer. He called about 40 minutes after leaving the press conference.
"My production team are a bunch of rock stars and they are truly f*cking awesome," White said. "I make it so hard on them sometimes with some of the crazy shit I say and it's tough. When you asked me about that, I didn't know anything about it. But someone was editing that and made a conscious decision, thinking that was the right thing to do, that that's what we would have wanted, what I would have wanted. I didn't know about it and that was nothing that ever came across my desk. I'm in charge of everything production-related, so at the end of the day, the fact that it happened falls on me 100 percent. It's my responsibility and I accept it. Blame me for that. I put them in such a tough spot sometimes saying all this crazy shit, it's hard for them.
"Whoever was editing it, they thought that was the right decision and did what they thought I wanted. That's not what I wanted and had I known that, I would have not authorized that. But that's on me. Totally on me. I already called Israel Adesanya and apologized for it."
The first rule of UFC Fight Club: don’t mention Francis Ngannou’s name…
— AFeldmanMMA (@afeldMMA) August 13, 2024
Here’s a look at the clip from the UFC 305 Countdown episode versus what Adesanya actually said at the UFC 305 Pre-Sale Press Conference.
It’s no surprise, but the UFC’s attempt to erase Ngannou from its… pic.twitter.com/PZpA7UAtSe
Merab cut but fight remains on
Bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili, who fights DWCS alum Sean O'Malley for the bantamweight title on Sept. 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas in the main event of UFC Noche, suffered a cut around his left eye on Tuesday. He posted photos of the cut on social media, but is expected to be ready to fight O'Malley.
White, though, was baffled when asked about the cut. He referred to it as "next-level stupid," and said at least in boxing when something similar happens, the circle tightens and no one speaks about it.
"He posted it [on social media]," White said, exasperatedly. "Our guys are so dumb. It’s next-level unbelievable. All the stuff I talk about boxing, what I will give boxing credit for is when something happens in a camp, man, let me tell you what. It does not leak. Our guys can’t f*cking wait to throw it up on social media. It’s a small cut. It’s no big deal. But obviously, it needed to be posted."