Akbar Abdullaev Knocks Out Ednilson Santos in 19 Seconds at DWCS
Akbar Abdullaev needed 19 seconds to end his Dana White’s Contender Series debut, knocking out Ednilson Santos with a single punch on Tuesday in Las Vegas. The lightweight stoppage moved the Kyrgyzstan prospect to 14-0 and left Santos at 14-8-1 after a short-notice assignment at the Meta APEX.
Officials listed the result as a knockout by punch at 0:19 of round one. Abdullaev landed 3 of 3 significant strikes, scored the night’s only knockdown, and never needed a follow-up shot.
UFC on Paramount+ posted the clip while the building was still reacting. “ONE PUNCH IS ALL HE NEEDED,” the account wrote. “Akbar Abdullaev UNCORKS a right hand for the clean KO!”
Season 10, Week 6 streamed live on Paramount+. Dana White leaned back in his chair after the right hand landed, then broke into a smile and signaled toward the winner, according to MMA Junkie.
Abdullaev came in as one of the most decorated names on the current Contender Series season. The 28-year-old orthodox lightweight, nicknamed “Bakal,” stands 5-foot-9 and had finished all 13 of his previous fights, 12 by knockout or TKO and one by submission.
He built that run in part under the ONE Championship banner, going 5-0 there with five knockouts. That stretch included a fifth-round TKO of former ONE featherweight champion Tang Kai in January 2025, a win that did not come with the belt because Abdullaev missed the hydration mark.
He last fought in September 2025, stopping Ibragim Dauev. Abdullaev split from ONE in the spring and used this Apex date as his first look in front of White.
Santos was not the original booking. Anthony Figueroa withdrew, and the Brazilian stepped in on about a week’s notice after preparing for an Oct. 23 LFA 244 fight with former UFC fighter Joe Giannetti.
The 34-year-old trains at Cruz MMA in Nutley, N.J., under Plinio Cruz, the same camp tied to Alex Pereira. That connection did not buy him time once the cage door shut.
Abdullaev went to the body first. Two hard punches dropped Santos’ guard, then the overhand right landed upstairs and put the Brazilian face-first on the canvas.
Referee Jason Herzog did not need a long look. Santos landed 0 of 3 total strikes and 0 of 3 significant strikes, with zeros across control time, takedowns, and submission attempts.
Abdullaev’s line was just as short the other way. He went 1 of 1 to the head, 2 of 2 to the body, and 0:00 in control, because the fight never left the feet.
The finishing rate is now 14-for-14. Thirteen of those wins are knockouts, and none of his professional fights have reached the judges.
That is the profile White has been collecting through Season 10. The series had already handed out 24 contracts across the first five weeks, and a 19-second cold knockout is the kind of tape that usually ends the conversation.
It still is not an official roster announcement until White says so after the full show. Media covering the card treated the result as a ticket punched, but the contract itself is White’s call.
The rest of Week 6 had already produced different kinds of wins. Tyshawn Williams took a unanimous decision over Antonio Monteiro, and Luis Hernandez submitted Hugo Guillon in round two.
Abdullaev’s night did not look like those fights. It looked like a lightweight who had been finishing people in ONE and needed one clean right hand to do the same thing on a UFC tryout.
Santos never got to show the decision-winning pace he used against Shaheen Santana in May. Short notice against a 13-knockout finisher left him with no margin once the first body shots landed.
Week 7 returns to the same building on Sept. 22. If Abdullaev is signed, his next lightweight will come from the UFC roster rather than another Contender Series replacement.