Kevin Christian vows to prove self to Dana White after Mick Maynard vouched for UFC contract

LAS VEGAS—It’s called Dana White’s Contender Series, but Mick Maynard made one UFC contract offer on Tuesday.

At Dana White’s Contender Series 73, White wasn’t all that impressed by light heavyweight Kevin Christian, who defeated Francesco Mazzeo by second-round triangle armbar. It was Maynard who convinced White not to pass on the 6-foot-7 Christian (9-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC).

“(White) didn’t see as much as I have to offer,” Christian told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC Apex after the event. “But I’m going to make sure in my debut he sees somebody who is ready and who is going to be a completely different person.”

Even minutes after his fight, Christian was already breaking down what went wrong and how he plans to prove to White he belongs next time around.

“We’re going to work,” Christian said. “We’re going to work very hard. When I get that call from Dana White that says, ‘Hey, this is the fight.’ We’re going to be really ready for it. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. This changes lives. It’s going to change my life.”

Christian, 29, is through the door and has a clean slate. Being a UFC fighter is a surreal feeling for him.

“Now, I’m actually living in a different world, it seems like,” Christian said. “I’ve thought obviously about coming to the UFC and being in the UFC. But I didn’t know how big this is, how enormous it feels. This is just very gratifying. It’s just a different world that I’m in. This is different.”