LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 01: (L-R) UFC broadcaster Laura Sanko interacts with UFC CEO Dana White as he announces the contract winners during Dana White’s Contender Series season eight, week eight event at UFC Apex on October 1, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Zuffa LLC
The ninth season of Dana White’s Contender Series kicks off on Tuesday, August 12, from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. This season, Season 9 of the Tuesday night fight cards runs for 10 weeks. The fighters are competing to earn a UFC contract. Five fights are scheduled for this week’s event in five weight divisions.
Since the DWCS began in 2017, UFC CEO Dana White has awarded 287 UFC contracts to the competitors. Last year, in Season 8 of the DWCS , White handed out 42 UFC deals.
Three fighters have become UFC champions after appearing on a DWCS card: Sean O’Malley, Jamahal Hill, and Jack Della Maddalena.
Season 9, Episode 1 of the DWCS airs on ESPN+ at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Below, we look at the matchups for the August 12 DWCS fight card.
DWCS Season 9 Week 1: August 12, 2025
Middleweight: Ilian Bouafia (6-0) vs. Neemias Santana (7-2-1)
Welterweight: Ty Miller (5-0) vs. Jimmy Drago (7-2)
Middleweight: Baysangur Susurkaev (8-0) vs. Murtaza Talha (7-1)
Featherweight: Radley da Silva (7-1) vs. George Mangos (7-0)
Middleweight: Christopher Ewert (7-0) vs. Yuri Panferov (8-1)
Over the past three seasons of the DWCS, White has awarded 131 UFC contracts. The season high came in 2023 when 46 contracts were doled out. In 2022 that number was 43, while last year 42 fighters were offered deals. Before Season 6 in 2022, the most contracts White offered was 39 in Season 4.
The DWCS season moved to 10 events per year in 2019 and has held steady at 10 since then.
We will have previews and predictions for each DWCS Season 9 fight card, as well as results and reactions live at the DWCS events take place.