‘316 stand up’: Wichita MMA fighter Steven Nguyen wins UFC contract from Dana White

Given a third chance on Dana White’s Contender Series, Wichita native Steven Nguyen was prepared to make his UFC dream a reality.

After winning in front of the Ultimate Fighting Championship boss in Las Vegas in 2021, but not convincingly enough to earn a contract offer, Nguyen was determined to make Tuesday’s fight in front of White much more memorable.

The Ninja, as he’s known in mixed martial arts, did exactly that, pummeling A.J. Cunningham with punches to earn a standing technical knockout with 54 seconds remaining in the second round.

And this time, at the end of the night, White had good news for the 30-year-old who graduated from Heights High School and Wichita State University and now trains in Dallas, Texas.

“Incredible fight, absolute war,” White said on the ESPN+ broadcast. “It should have been over at the end of the first round. You came out in the second round and finished it. So yeah, Steven, get over here.”

“Steven Nguyen, you are in the UFC,” ESPN+ announcer Laura Sanko announced.

It was an emotional moment for Nguyen, a featherweight prospect who improved to 9-1 in his first MMA fight in nearly two years — since the last time he won on the Contender Series but was not offered a contract.

“I’ve been dreaming about this moment,” Nguyen told Sanko after fulfilling his goal of reaching the UFC. “It’s surreal. The emotions are still hitting me now. I’ve worked my (butt) off to get to this opportunity and I’m ready. This is just the beginning and I’m ready for more and I’m only going to get better from here.”

Nguyen received his first chance to fight in front of White in 2019, which resulted in his first and only professional loss. He returned to Las Vegas for another DWCS chance in 2021 and picked apart his opponent, Theo Riayang, in a unanimous victory, but lacked the explosive moments that usually catch White’s attention.

“The last time we saw (Nguyen), he was successful, he got the job done, but it kind of looked like a sparring match,” ringside commentator and UFC legend Michael Bisping said before the bout on the telecast. “What we need to see tonight is real aggressiveness. Him going out there and being nasty, being vicious, trying to open up his opponent and putting on a show.”

The first round certainly checked those boxes, as Nguyen and Cunningham were both content to trade haymakers on their feet. The Wichita native routinely got the better of the exchanges and nearly finished the fight in the final seconds of the first round, dropping Cunningham with a left-right combination and connecting on a hammer fist on the ground as the horn sounded.

Afterward, White told Nguyen that he should have collected the sixth first-round finish in his 10-fight career.

“I didn’t know if I was going to get the finish, I just knew I wasn’t going to stop,” Nguyen said afterward. “If he was still standing or if he was on the ground, the ref was going to have to pull me off. This is a big opportunity for me and I wasn’t going to let that slip away.”

With Cunningham clearly wobbled, Nguyen remained patient in the second round and steadily inflicted more damage on his opponent with a jab that consistently connected.

Cunningham attempted a takedown attempt out of desperation that Nguyen had no issue defending, then sensing the end, Nguyen forced the referee to stop the fight with a flurry of punches to Cunningham’s head. The fight was stopped with Cunningham still on his feet but unable to sufficiently protect himself.

However much Nguyen’s previous victory on Contender Series was lacking in action, he more than made up for it with Tuesday’s performance.

“Words can’t really describe it right now,” Nguyen said afterward. “I’ve just been through so much and I credit my camp and my coaches. I’ve failed in here. I came here twice already before and I didn’t get the contract, so I knew what was on the line tonight. I was going to pour it all out there on the line. The whole training camp, I didn’t do any interviews, no distractions, I put my head down and I grinded for 12 weeks straight.”

It’s rare for a fighter to receive three chances on Contender Series, but White said past performances did not factor into his decision to award Nguyen a contract in his third attempt.

“Obviously I respect the dedication and the grind and the commitment to wanting to be in this sport and in this company so bad, but it’s all about what you do here tonight,” White said. “Obviously you’re here for a reason, so if you come in here and you show me what you got on Tuesday nights, then that’s what gets you in.”

After receiving the contract offer from White, Nguyen was particularly proud to become the UFC’s only current Vietnamese fighter on the company’s roster.

And in his final answer, Nguyen made sure to show his hometown some love.

“I want to give a big shoutout to my hometown, Wichita, Kansas,” Nguyen said. “316 stand up!”