Luis Saldana earns UFC contract at DWCS 34, jokes at being annoyed at fellow contract winner

LAS VEGAS —Luis Saldana’s big finish on Dana White’s Contender Series 34 was quickly overshadowed just one fight later.

Saldana (14-6) stopped Vince Murdock in the third round on Wednesday, where a front kick to the face, followed by a crisp right hand, spelled the beginning of the end for Murdock.

The finish earned Saldana a UFC contract but, in the following fight, Ignacio Bahamondes landed a walk-off front kick knockout, for the night’s best finish.

When asked if watching Bahamondes execute the same move in even more emphatic fashion annoyed him, Saldana laughed and nodded his head.

“Yeah!” Saldana told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the DWCS 34 post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex. “I saw the guy who fought after me, but I was like, ‘Oh, damn!’”

Nonetheless, it was a slick and technical performance by Saldana who, after figuring out Murdock through the first two rounds, was able to put him away in the third to cap off an impressive showing.

“I thought he was gonna come at me (with) a little more strikes, maybe even some takedowns and that made me kinda hesitant that first round, second round, but I knew I was picking him apart,” Saldana said. “So, once we got to that third round, I felt great, my cardio felt great, and I said, ‘I’m gonna go out there and I’m just gonna leave it all in the cage in the third round.’”

Check out the full post-fight press conference with Saldana via the video above.