Welcome back to Paradigm Pro and the UWFI Rules Contender’s Series. It’s the penultimate episode of the series and the company is bringing on more exciting fights. We’ll see a Battle of the Black Belts between Janai Kai and Tommy Kyle Dean, Robert Martyr tried to break Jeffery John, Don’t Die Miles go one on one with one of last week’s show-stealers Yoya and the main event that would see Isaiah Broner take his shot at the Hoodfoot, Mo Atlas’ Heavy Hitters Title after claiming to have made the company his bitch. For almost everyone here it was a second shot at victory, who would come away with one in the win column? Let’s find out and get into the action!

Firstly, a recap of the UWFI rule-set. Victories can come from knock-out, TKO, submission, and by having more points than your opponents by the end. You won’t win by DQ, pinfall, or count-out. There’s no frills or pageantry, just knock your opponent down, try to tap them out, or Suplex them on their heads. If your opponent goes for the ropes or gets knocked down, then they lose points so try to drain those 15 points fast. You can only use open strikes to the head and neck, can’t use dirty tricks so keep your dick kicks at home and stay in the ring as you can’t intentionally leave at any time.

Yoya defeated Don’t Die Miles via Saito Armbreaker

First up was the Shooterweight Yoya looking to straighten out his UWFI Rules win record by taking on the heart-filled Don’t Die Miles. Both competitors had had gruelling fights over the course of the series, who’d get the advantage here? They shook hands, then Miles instantly took Yoya over with a German and knocked him down with a stiff knee. Within seconds, Miles had already cost Yoya points. Yoya struck back and brought Miles to the mat with a pop-up armbar. He rained down ground and pound strikes on Miles when he escaped and tried to keep Miles locked up. This didn’t work as Miles fought to his feet and booted Yoya in the face. He dumped Yoya with a Fireman’s Carry and tried for another mount but Yoya picked his leg and forced him to the ropes with a kneebar. They returned to their feet and Miles instantly avenged his lost point by dropping Yoya on his head with a Regal-Plex. Yoya made it up at 9 and kicked Miles in the head. Miles stayed standing so Yoya forced Miles down with a unique takedown and sent him crawling to the ropes again. They went into a kick and strike trade, then Yoya went for the kill with a Saito into an Armbreaker. Miles quickly tapped and Yoya was declared the winner. He was given a permanent spot on the Paradigm roster and made sure to give props to Miles for the excellent fight they’d just had. He left calling out AKIRA again promising to beat him anytime anywhere.

Tommy Kyle Dean defeated Janai Kai via Roundhouse Kick KO

Next on was the Battle of the Black Belts. Janai Kai and Tommy Kyle Dean are both highly trained in Taekwondo and now they’d have a friendly contest to see which was the better fighter. It started with a standoff as both went for kicks and found the other dodging, blocking, and firing back in unison. TKD took advantage of Kai slipping and elbowed her repeatedly in the neck. They reset and continued the game of kicks until TKD connected with a nasty kick to the ear and staggered Kai. She proved she was still in the fight a second later by catching another kick and taking him down into the ropes. The pair continued to strike it out, capitalising on the other’s errors until TKD went for a heel hook and Kai axe-kicked out of it. The pair both went for kill-shots, well kicks and after a couple of dodges, TKD caught Kai flush in the face with a roundhouse kick for the win. After a match full of beautiful and controlled strike and kick exchanges, the heat of the match finally caught up to the pair and one landed the killing blow. This was as even a fight as I’ve seen on the series and definitely had a nice tension to it as let’s face it, either could have KO’ed the other in seconds. It was revealed in the post-match interview that we could potentially expect a match between mentor and student as TKD could be facing The Bone Collector, Dominic Garrini.

Robert Martyr defeated Jeffery John via Head Stomp Knock-out

Following the Battle of the Black Belts was another redemption battle. Robert Martyr and Jeffery John were both out to improve their win/loss record in UWFI action. Would it be the Poisoned Youth Martyr or the fighting Male Model John who would come away with that all-important win? Martyr started strong, striking out at John and dragging him to the mat for more strikes before forcing him to the ropes with a wrist-lock. Martyr let John give him some kicks, telling him to bring it but one front kick too many so Martyr launch John with a Butterfly Suplex and give him a sickening knee to the back of the head. John came back strong and hammered Martyr with Muay Thai knees and cost him points with a Vertical Suplex. The striking trades continued and Martyr scored a go-behind to dump John with a Tiger Suplex and forced him to the ropes again. Just as things were looking grim, John stunned everyone, especially Martyr with a nasty headbutt, that knocked Martyr loopy. He found his feet again and John rushed him but Martyr was cognizant enough to counter and locked in a sleeper style hold, then ended John with a series of head-crushing knee strikes and stomps. The ref stopped the match and Martyr had picked up a massive win in a very brutal fashion. Honestly, I cannot hide how impressed I am with Martyr. Some of the companies I watch present him as a jobber but he is anything but. I hope to hell this shooter side of his continues to get opportunities to shine because it’s insanely fun to watch. Welcome to the Paradigm roster, Robert Martyr.

Heavy Hitters Title: The Hoodfoot Mo Atlas defeated Isaiah Broner via Double Elbow Knockout

Last but not least was the main event. Isaiah Broner finally got his shot at the Heavy Hitters Title. He’d KO’ed Jaxon and attacked the Hoodfoot, now he’d have to cash in the cheques that his mouth had written. Could Broner knock-out or tap out the heaviest hitter in the company? After a heated exchange during the introductions, they both charged in for strikes and Broner planted Hoodfoot with a belly to belly. Hoodfoot came back up swinging and backed Broner into the corner with kidney shots but Broner swatted him away with a straight shot to the jaw. The striking exchange resumed once Hoodfoot was back to his feet and he got some vengeance by dropping Broner on his neck with a Saito. Hoodfoot cracked him in the head a couple more times with elbows and Broner dropped like a stone. The ref started the count but Broner was far too dazed to continue so another win was given to Hoodfoot. The Heavy Hitters champion more than lives up to his name throwing bombs like that. He couldn’t celebrate though as the Forgotten Fight team struck, ambushing the Hoodfoot. Broner helped get rid of them and Bobby Beverly gave Atlas a challenge for Terminal Combat, Paradigm’s UWFI/Deathmatch hybrid event. This was nasty but I feel Hoodfoot’s next defence is going to be even nastier.

Next week is the season finale and it could potentially be the most stacked show yet. We’ll see Matthew Justice vs Aaron Williams, Lexus Montez vs Bobby Beverly, Jordan Blade taking on Chase Holliday for the Midwest Territory chain, Big Beef taking on the Austin Connelly and the weirdest UWFI fight of them all as Ron Mathis takes his white trash grappling to the Catch x Death Samurai AKIRA. There are still some stars to be made and massive matches to be had as season one says its farewell, next week.

WEDNESDAY on the SEASON FINALE of #UWFiContenders on @indiewrestling!

MAIN EVENT@ThrashJustice v @PlanetWilliams1

GRUDGE FIGHT@theakiraway v @RonMathis13 @mwterritory CHAMPIONSHIP@Jordan_Blade92 v @ChaseHollidayX @SuperLexus17 v @BobbyBeverly @GnarlsGarvin v @mdcon420 pic.twitter.com/9gi2Sq8gTg

— Paradigm Pro Wrestling (@ParadigmProWres) January 15, 2021

All images courtesy of Paradigm Pro Twitter