Cody Haddon earns UFC contract with impressive first-round submission in Dana White Contender Series

Cody Haddon is the latest West Australian to join the UFC after earning a contract following an impressive performance in the Dana White Contender Series on Wednesday morning.

Haddon (7-1) earned a first-round submission win over Billy Brand (5-2) in a bantamweight fight catching the American with a rear-naked choke.

The 25-year-old follows in the footsteps of star welterweight Jack Della Maddalena, who earned a contract in the promotion after beating Ange Loosa in September, 2021.

Haddon caught Brand with a left hook to the chin at the end of a big combination and after some ground and pound he got the back and locked in the rear-naked choke to force the tap-out in a little over three minutes.

“That’s a combination that we call out on the pads all the time,” Haddon said.

“I’m not going to give away what we say because then my next opponent when my coach calls it out they’re going to know what it is.

“I work that combination all the time. When we hit pads I’m throwing 20-punch combos all the time and putting punches in bunches, that’s what I like to do.”

UFC president Dana White could not have been more impressed with Haddon.

“This fight came highly recommended by (UFC matchmaker) Sean Shelby. Sean Shelby was so pumped for this fight and let me tell you what, not much excites Sean Shelby anymore,” White said.

“If you look at the performance that Cody put on. Cody you know the answer to this question. Get over here kid, you’re in the UFC.”

It was Haddon’s seventh finish in eight fights, with his only loss coming against UFC flyweight star and fellow West Australian Steve Erceg.

“I’m exciting. I finish. I have a 100 per cent finish rate for a reason and my only loss went the distance with Steve Erceg who we all know how fantastic he is,” Haddon said.

“In my head I was thinking ‘maybe, I’ve got to try to be a little more exciting’ but my coach said ‘don’t try and be more exciting, you just go and do you because you’re exciting’.

“I’ve never been in a boring fight and the day I am in a boring fight and I look boring, Dana can cut me straight away. I don’t want to be in a boring fight, I want to finish my opponents. I’m not there to try to dance around and hit and run away and win on points. I want to put them out and make sure it’s a non-negotiable.”