Chidi Njokuani: Road From Bellator To The UFC
Dana White Contender Series (DWCS) has brought in a lot of talent to the UFC, young and old. The series itself focuses mostly on young up-and-coming fighters looking to get a contract within the promotion. So why is it the UFC grabbed Chidi “Bang Bang” Njokuani being he was 32?
Chidi is an American fighter with Nigerian roots fighting out of Dallas, Texas in the middleweight division (currently) and was the DWCS winner in 2021. He is a world class Muay-Thai fighter, Kickboxer and holds a Black-Belt in BJJ ,with a respected professional record of 22-7, and has competed in multiple professional major organizations like Lion Fight, Bellator, LFA and now the UFC.
During his career, he competed at middleweight, welterweight and even light-heavyweight but never became a champion in any of the organizations he fought in, nor contended for a title, but was always fighting opponents in the upper echelon of the rankings.
Chidi entered Bellator in 2015 going on a 4 fight winning streak before being stopped by TKO in the first round by Andrey Koreshkov. After that, he would win one and then lose two before being released from the promotion.
In 2019, Njokuani was released from his Bellator contract at 30 years old. “Technically” already entering the prime of his career, this can be very daunting to a fighter because the window of time and success in combat sports is so short lived, being 5-7 years, and most fighters reaching their peak in the their early 30’s, Njokuani needed to figure something out to pursue his career.
Luckily, in September 11th, 2020, a year after being released, Njokuani signed to the LFA where he won his first and only fight against Cristhian Torres by TKO in 0:50 seconds of the second round. His time in LFA was very short lived because the same time next year he was already fighting on DWCS for his contract in the UFC.
Just under a year later, September 7th, 2021, Njokuani was fighting for his UFC contract on DWCS. This was secured by a TKO victory against Mario Felipe de Sousa in the third round by elbows.
Njokuani finally had his official debut February 5th, 2022 where he faced off against fellow Canadian Marc-Andre Barriault winning by KO (punches) in the first round. In his next bout, he defeated Dusko Todorovic by KO (elbow) in the very first round as well.
With a long road full of perseverance behind him and a long road full of tough guys ahead of him. Njokuani is a prospect to watch for, and already has an exciting highlight reel in the UFC of all finishes, and an exciting highlight reel in outside promotions.
With 22 years of Muay-Thai experience, and 14 years pro on the MMA and Muay-Thai scene, It is obvious why Dana gave him a contract (securing his win of course) on DWCS, even though the show is mainly looking for younger talent.
At the tender age of 33, Njokuani is only getting better and is a very exciting prospect in the middleweight division.
Some notable fighters coming off DWCS are Maycee Barber, Sean O’Malley and Chase Hooper . All of these fighters being under the age of 24 when they got their contracts and Chase Hooper being 19, the youngest fighter signed to UFC.
