LAS VEGAS -- Islam Dulatov is the middle brother in a pack of seven boys, all of whom were born in Chechnya, Russia. Each of them went on to become fighters of some sort. Four of them are models.
Dulatov earned a UFC contract Tuesday in a welterweight bout with Vanilto Antunes, putting Antunes to sleep with a vicious elbow just 2:44 into the first round of their bout on Dana White's Contender Series at Apex. Dulatov stormed out of the corner throwing punches and it wasn't long before Antunes was out cold.
"That guy's a savage," White said. "He's got 12 fights and nine first-round finishes. It's going to be interesting to see when he gets into some deeper water with a guy who can mix it up with him, but I'll tell you, he's going to be fun right out of the gate."
Dulatov said that while he overwhelmed Antunes and has been whipping up on most of his opposition, he's not the bully of the family. He insisted at the post-fight news conference on Tuesday that his brothers were all badder than he.
That seems hard to believe but Islam insists it's no exaggeration.
"My brothers are much stronger than me, and I'm not joking," Dulatov said, breaking into an embarrassed grin. "I just look good."
He fought very good in what was one of the most entertaining episodes of the season. Sean Gauci opened the show with a unanimous decision over Anthony Drilich, but White did not offer him a contract.
But Dulatov began a streak of four KOs to end the night and all four got contracts. The others were heavyweight Mario Pinto, lightweight Kody Steele and light heavyweight Artem Vakhitov.
Vahkitov is the last man to defeat UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira in kickboxing, but it took Pereira to lobby White on his behalf to give Vahkitov a contract.
"Alex said, 'This is what I think: He's talented enough and I think he deserves to be here,' " White said. " ... But he said, 'I think that the Contender Series no matter where you've fought or what you've done puts a different type of pressure on you and you might not perform."
Chris Unger/Zuffa
Artem Vakhitov eanred his UFC contract Tuesday with a first-round KO and a little bit of help from ex-rival Alex Pereira.
Complete Season 8, Week 9 results
• Sean Gauci W3 Anthony Drilich, 29-28x3.
• Islam Dulatov KO1 Vanilto Antnues, strikes, 2:44.
• Mario Pinto TKO1 Lucas Camacho, strikes, 1:43.
• Kody Steele TKO2 Chasen Blair, strikes, 4:07.
• Artem Vakhitov TKO1 Islem Masraf, strikes, 4:23.
* Bold denotes contract winners.