South African MMA flyweight JP Buys earned himself a place on the UFC Roster with a submission victory over American Jacob Silva in Dana White’s Contender Series.
JP Buys earns spot on UFC roster
Buys joins his American wife Cheyanne on the UFC Roster. She earned her place in the world’s biggest MMA promotion with a victory over Hilarie Rose in August.
South African-based MMA promotion EFC has now seen two of its prominent talents make the move to UFC after Dricus du Plessis’ sensational debut at Fight Island earlier this year.
Buys’ win was a controversial one, though through no fault of his won. He had locked Silva in a guillotine choke, and unsighted referee Marc Goddard called for the end of the fight. The referee believed Silva had passed out in the choke, but his immediate reaction appeared to refute this. Silva was not fighting to get free of the hold but would likely have been able to make it to the end of the round without submitting.
Watch: Buys defeats Silva with guillotine choke
A submission specialist Buys sports a 9-2-0 professional record and is currently on a five-fight winning streak.
This was Buys’ second appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series after his 2017 loss to Joby Sanchez which was also his last professional defeat.
Strawweight Gloria de Paula (5-2), lightweight Tucker Lutz (11-1) and women’s flyweight Victoria Leonardo (8-2) also signed with UFC after wins on episode ten of season four of DWCS.
Grateful for the opportunity
“Thank you Dana White, Sean Shelby, Mick Maynard for the opportunity,” Buys posted on Twitter.
“I’m very grateful. Next time I’ll perform even better. Unfortunate for Silva but I know we’ll see each other. My killers down at Fortis MMA, thank you all for the hard work. It’s an honour to represent Sayif Saud.”
Brazilians Deiveson Figueiredo is the current UFC Flyweight champion, heading up a highly competitive division.
It is unclear at this stage when Buys will make his UFC debut and who he might face in the Octagon.
