{"id":843653,"date":"2026-03-22T22:33:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/843653\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T22:33:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:33:26","slug":"rookie-report-card-grading-all-octagon-newcomers-ufc-london-post-mortem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/843653\/","title":{"rendered":"Rookie Report Card: Grading all Octagon newcomers UFC London post-mortem"},"content":{"rendered":"

You only get one<\/a> Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut!<\/p>\n

Five rookies made their first walks to the Octagon yesterday (Sat., March 21, 2026) at UFC London<\/a> inside the O2 Arena in London, England. The newcomers went 2-3 overall, with one highlight knockout but mainly underwhelming performances.<\/p>\n

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Now that the dust has settled, let\u2019s grade their respective debuts.<\/p>\n

\"\"Kurtis Campbell<\/p>\n

Kurtis Campbell <\/strong>earned his UFC contract on Season 9 of Contender Series with a quick knockout (watch highlights<\/a>) \u2014 and because of that, the promotion went all in, slotting him on the main card against the ultra-durable Danny Silva<\/strong> and even giving him Sean O\u2019Malley<\/strong>\u2019s pink shorts.<\/p>\n

And yeah \u2026 it was too much, too soon.<\/p>\n

Campbell had early success with his trademark kicks and even mixed in a couple of takedowns, but once Silva adjusted, the tide turned quickly. Silva began walking him down, and in round two, Campbell left his guard open and got cracked with a right hand that dropped him.<\/p>\n

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Silva poured it on from there, scoring multiple knockdowns before the referee stepped in (watch highlights<\/a>).<\/p>\n

I was high on Campbell heading into this one \u2014 even labeled him this weekend\u2019s must-watch fighter<\/a> \u2014 but this was a reminder of just how steep the jump to the UFC can be.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be back, and he\u2019ll be fun. But this is a big learning moment.<\/p>\n

I would like to see him fight fellow Contender Series vet Javier Reyes for his second UFC fight.<\/p>\n

Final grade: D-<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Shanelle Dyer<\/p>\n

Despite losing on Season 9 of Contender Series<\/a>, Strawweight prospect Shanelle Dyer<\/strong> still received a contract from UFC brass because the fight was a banger \u2014 and there\u2019s no doubt they saw the talent. She was tasked with opening the card as the curtain-jerker, and \u201cThe Nightmare\u201d absolutely kicked off the prelims in style.<\/p>\n

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Dyer spent the first round finding her range against Ravena Oliveira<\/strong>. Oliveira opened with aggressive blitzes and heavy swings, but Dyer largely evaded the pressure with a disciplined jab and frequent calf kicks. After a brief clinch exchange along the fence, Dyer closed the round on the offensive with a series of elbows and leaping feints to seal the frame.<\/p>\n

The second round lasted less than two minutes. Dyer hurt the Brazilian with a heavy right hand and a head kick, then locked Oliveira in a clinch and brutalized her with knees before tossing her to the canvas and unleashing ground-and-pound until the referee stepped in (watch it<\/a>).<\/p>\n

At just 24 years old, Dyer looks like a legitimate female prospect, and she\u2019s especially exciting because she scores knockouts with crisp Muay Thai striking. I\u2019m calling it now: she\u2019ll be ranked within a year and become a staple of the division.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to see her fight Loma Lookboonmee next<\/strong>, purely for the striking.<\/p>\n

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Final grade: A+<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Losene Keita<\/p>\n

At long last, Losene Keita<\/strong> made his highly anticipated UFC debut after his original debut was canceled last year because of a botched weight cut<\/a>. Keita drew the supremely underrated Nathaniel Wood<\/strong> for his first fight, and it turned into an extremely close contest.<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t a lot of action in the opening round. Keita spent most of it counterstriking while Wood stayed busy with combinations. The action picked up a bit in the second round, with Keita throwing more often, including teep kicks and step-in knees. Both men had their moments in the third.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Wood spoiled Keita\u2019s debut via split decision.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s no secret that I\u2019m a massive Keita believer<\/a> and think he\u2019s going to become a title contender<\/a>. Losing to Wood is not a nail in the coffin whatsoever because Wood is extremely good and should be ranked next week, but the hesitation from Keita was the real head-scratcher.<\/p>\n

Was it Octagon jitters? Too much respect for Wood? Falling into Wood\u2019s game plan?<\/p>\n

I have no idea.<\/p>\n

He should fight Morgan Charriere<\/strong> in his sophomore outing.<\/p>\n

Final grade: C<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Mantas Kondratavicius<\/p>\n

Mantas Kondratavicius<\/strong> came into his debut with buzz after a quick Contender Series finish (watch it<\/a>) \u2014 but this one didn\u2019t live up to it.<\/p>\n

The fight started with some promise, as Kondratavicius threw with power early, but it quickly turned into a clinch-heavy affair against Antonio Trocoli<\/strong>. Both fighters spent long stretches pressed against the fence, trading short shots without much impact.<\/p>\n

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There were flashes \u2014 including an elbow that dropped Trocoli \u2014 but Kondratavicius couldn\u2019t capitalize, instead opting to clinch again. A low blow halted momentum at one point, and from there, the fight never really found a rhythm.<\/p>\n

By the third round, both fighters were visibly exhausted, and the final minutes were a grind, with fence clinching and minimal offense drawing warnings from the referee.<\/p>\n

Kondratavicius got the unanimous decision, but as a massive favorite (-800) against a guy who is now 0-4 in the promotion, this was extremely underwhelming.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, a win is a win \u2014 but this didn\u2019t help his stock.<\/p>\n

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A fight with Eric Nolan<\/strong> would be fun for his second UFC outing.<\/p>\n

Final grade: C-<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Felipe Franco<\/p>\n

After losing on Season 9 of Contender Series<\/a>, Felipe Franco<\/strong> returned to the regional scene and scored two knockouts \u2014 one of them just 42 days ago \u2014 before getting the call on short notice, up a weight class, for his UFC debut. Unfortunately for him, he ran into one of the better Heavyweight prospects on the roster in Mario Pinto<\/strong>, though he did stand his ground for the most part.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to keep this one short because the fight sucked. It was your standard Heavyweight slop.<\/p>\n

Franco came out extremely aggressive, cracked Pinto in the opening round, and defended several takedown attempts, but that was about it. He was simply outsized and lost a unanimous decision.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m assuming he\u2019ll drop back down to Light Heavyweight for his sophomore outing, where he should shine a bit more. I have no idea how successful he\u2019ll ultimately be inside the Octagon, but I have a sneaking suspicion he\u2019ll go 0-4 and get cut.<\/p>\n

He can fight Rafael Tobias<\/strong>, who lost his UFC debut at UFC 326.<\/p>\n

Final grade: F<\/strong><\/p>\n

For complete UFC London results, coverage, and highlights click HERE<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut! Five rookies made their first walks to the Octagon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":843654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,27706,239887,240810,393,4884,239885,257,239525,239521,240675,240674,240673,16,15],"class_list":["post-843653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-britain","tag-campbell","tag-contender-series","tag-danny-silva","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-kurtis-campbell","tag-london","tag-losene-keita","tag-nathaniel-wood","tag-ravena-oliveira","tag-shanelle-dyer","tag-ufc-fight-night","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116275210659163104","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}