Dana White's Contender Series season 9

Dana White's Contender Series
Season 9
Release
Original network	ESPN+
Original release	August 12 (2025-08-12) – October 14, 2025 (2025-10-14)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 8

Season 9 of Dana White's Contender Series commences in August 2025 and in the US is exclusive to ESPN+, part of ESPN's subscription package. ^[1]

Week 1 – August 12

Dana White's Contender Series 77
Promotion	Dana White's Contender Series
Date	August 12, 2025
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Background

Murtaza Talha was scheduled to face Damian Pinas in a middleweight bout at the event; ^[2] however, Pinas withdrew from the bout and was replaced by Baysangur Susurkaev on four days' notice. ^[3]

Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Ilian Bouafia	def.	Neemias Santana	Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 29–27, 29–27)	3	5:00	[a]
Welterweight	Ty Miller	def.	Jimmy Drago	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Baysangur Susurkaev	def.	Murtaza Talha	KO (front kick to the body)	1	3:04
Featherweight	Radley da Silva	def.	George Mangos	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Yuri Panferov	def.	Christopher Ewert	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00

1. Santana was deducted one point in the round 1 due to an illegal headbutt.

^[4]

Contract awards

The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: ^[5]

• Ty Miller and Baysangur Susurkaev

Week 2 – August 19

Dana White's Contender Series 78
Promotion	Dana White's Contender Series
Date	August 19, 2025
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Background

At the weigh-ins, Louis Lee Scott weighed in at 136.5 pounds, 0.5 pounds over the bantamweight limit and he was fined a percentage of his purse, which went to Kaushik Saikumar. ^[6]

Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Featherweight	José Mauro Delano	def.	Manuel Exposito	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Cameron Rowston	def.	Brandon Holmes	TKO (elbow and punches)	1	2:58
Bantamweight	Louis Lee Scott	def.	Kaushik Saikumar	TKO (punches)	3	2:20	[a]
Heavyweight	Josh Hokit	def.	Guilherme Uriel	TKO (elbows)	2	1:06
Featherweight	Ramiro Jimenez	def.	Tommy Cuozzi	TKO (elbows and punches)	1	2:53

1. Lee Scott missed weight (136.5 lb).

^[7]

Contract awards

The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: ^[8]

• Ramiro Jimenez, Josh Hokit , Louis Lee Scott, Cameron Rowston, and José Mauro Delano

Week 3 – August 26

Dana White's Contender Series 79
Promotion	Dana White's Contender Series
Date	August 26, 2025
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Background

Brando Peričić and Elisha Ellison were scheduled to meet at this event in a heavyweight bout, but it was announced during DWCS week 2 event that the bout was moved to UFC Fight Night: Ulberg vs. Reyes instead. ^[9]

Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Light Heavyweight	Ryan Gandra	def.	Trent Miller	TKO (punches)	1	2:51
Featherweight	Márcio Barbosa	def.	Damon Wilson	TKO (punches)	1	4:14
Light Heavyweight	Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev	def.	Alik Lorenz	TKO (knee to the body and punches)	1	0:30
Lightweight	Manoel Sousa	def.	Cristian Pérez	TKO (punches)	3	3:00
Heavyweight	Donte Johnson	def.	Darion Abbey	TKO (punches)	1	1:04

^[10]

Contract awards

The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: ^[11]

• Ryan Gandra, Marcio Barbosa, Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev, Manoel Sousa, and Donte Johnson

Week 4 – September 2

Dana White's Contender Series 80
Promotion	Dana White's Contender Series
Date	September 2, 2025
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Welterweight	Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani	def.	Jack Congdon	KO (head kick and punch)	1	1:08
Middleweight	Cezary Oleksiejczuk	def.	Theo Haig	TKO (punches)	1	0:36
Lightweight	Mandel Nallo	def.	Samuel Silva	KO (punches)	1	3:29
Flyweight	Eduardo Henrique	def.	An Tuan Ho	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Tommy McMillen	def.	David Mgoyan	Decision (majority) (28–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00

^[12]

Contract awards

The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: ^[13]

• Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani, Mandel Nallo, Cezary Oleksiejczuk, and Tommy McMillen

Week 5 – September 9

Dana White's Contender Series 81
Promotion	Dana White's Contender Series
Date	September 9, 2025
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Background

Guilherme Pat and Anthony Guarascio were scheduled to meet in a heavyweight bout in the main event, but Pat withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Steven Asplund. ^[14]

Felipe Franco was originally scheduled to face Ivan Gnizditskiy and then Quentin Pasley, with both opponents eventually withdrawing from the contest and were replaced by Freddy Vidal. At the weigh-ins, Vidal weighed in at 210 pounds, 4 pounds over the light heavyweight limit and he was fined 25 percent of his purse, which went to Franco. ^[15]

Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Heavyweight	Steven Asplund	def.	Anthony Guarascio	TKO (punch and elbows)	1	0:16
Featherweight	Lerryan Douglas	def.	Cam Teague	KO (punch)	1	0:36
Light Heavyweight	Freddy Vidal	def.	Felipe Franco	Submission (rear-naked choke)	3	4:48	[a]
Lightweight	Samuel Sanches	def.	Chasen Blair	KO (punches)	1	2:01
Women's Strawweight	Caroline Foro	def.	Shanelle Dyer	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00

1. Vidal missed weight (210 lb).

^[16]

Contract awards

The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: ^[17]

• Caroline Foro, Shanelle Dyer, Samuel Sanches, Lerryan Douglas and Stephen Asplund

Week 6 – September 16

Dana White's Contender Series 82
Promotion	Dana White's Contender Series
Date	September 16, 2025
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Bantamweight	Hecher Sosa	def.	Mackson Lee	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–26)	3	5:00
Light Heavyweight	Iwo Baraniewski	def.	Mahamed Aly	KO (punches)	1	0:20
Lightweight	Thomas Gantt	def.	Adam Livingston	Submission (guillotine choke)	1	2:47	[a]
Middleweight	Paddy McCorry	def.	Hwang In-su	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Cody Chovancek	def.	Raphael Uchegbu	TKO (punches)	3	0:10

1. Livingston was deducted one point for repeatedly grabbing the fence.

^[18]

Contract awards

The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: ^[19]

• Hecher Sosa, Iwo Baraniewski , Tommy Gantt, and Cody Chovancek

Week 7 – September 23

Dana White's Contender Series 83
Promotion	Dana White's Contender Series
Date	September 23, 2025
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Background

Jeisla Chaves was scheduled to face Regina Tarin in a Women's Flyweight bout; however, Tarin withdrew from the fight and was replaced by Sofia Montenegro. ^[20]

Fighting Nerds prospect Icaro Brito was scheduled to Javier Reyes in a Featherweight bout; however, Brito's U.S. visa was denied and he was replaced by Justice Torres. ^[20]

Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Mantas Kondratavičius	def.	Đani Barbir	TKO (punches)	1	1:06
Featherweight	Murtazali Magomedov	def.	Brahyan Zurcher	TKO (punches)	1	1:37
Women's Flyweight	Jeisla Chaves	def.	Sofia Montenegro	Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Javier Reyes	def.	Justice Torres	TKO (knees and punches)	1	2:32
Light Heavyweight	Rafael Tobias	def.	Jair de Oliveira	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	3:46

^[21]

Contract awards

The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: ^[22]

• Mantas Kondratavičius, Murtazali Magomedov, Jeisla Chaves, Sofia Montenegro, Javier Reyes and Rafael Tobias

Week 8 – September 30

Dana White's Contender Series 84
Promotion	Dana White's Contender Series
Date	September 30, 2025
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Damian Pinas	def.	Vitor Costa	TKO (punches)	1	1:46
Bantamweight	Louis Jourdain	def.	Magno Dias	Submission (rear-naked choke)	3	0:39
Welterweight	Christopher Alvidrez	def.	Eliezer Kubanza	TKO (punches)	1	4:44
Featherweight	Kurtis Campbell	def.	Demba Seck	TKO (elbows and punches)	1	1:20
Flyweight	Rashid Vagabov	def.	Paulo Henrique da Silva	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00

^[23]

Contract awards

The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: ^[24]

• Kurtis Campbell, Christopher Alvidrez, Louis Jourdain and Damian Pinas

Week 9 – October 7

Dana White's Contender Series 85
Promotion	Dana White's Contender Series
Date	October 7, 2025
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Lightweight	Magomed Zaynukov	def.	Lucas Caldas	Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–26)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Adrián Luna Martinetti	def.	Mark Vologdin	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Imanol Rodriguez	def.	Roque Conceição Moreira Jr.	TKO (punches)	1	2:12
Middleweight	Luis Felipe Dias	def.	Donavon Hedrick	Submission (rear-naked choke)	2	4:37
Light Heavyweight	Luke Hernandez	def.	Rafael Pergentino	TKO (punches)	1	0:15

^[25]

Contract awards

The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: ^[26]

• Magomed Zaynukov, Adrián Luna Martinetti, Mark Vologdin, Imanol Rodriguez, Luis Felipe Dias and Luke Fernandez

Week 10 – October 14

Dana White's Contender Series 86
Promotion	Dana White's Contender Series
Date	October 14, 2025
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Bantamweight	Kwon Won-il	vs.	Juan Díaz
Featherweight	Marwan Rahiki	vs.	Ananias Mulumba
Middleweight	Mario Mingaj	vs.	Wesley Schultz
Heavyweight	Azamat Nuftillaev	vs.	Jovan Leka
Light Heavyweight	Freddy Vidal	vs.	Levi Rodrigues
Welterweight	Michael Oliveira	vs.	Victor Valenzuela

^[27]

References

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2. Critchfield, Tristan (June 28, 2025). "Full Lineup Announced for Week 1 of Dana White's Contender Series". Sherdog. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
3. Okamoto, Brett (August 14, 2025). "Baisangur Susurkaev lands UFC 319 bout after Contender Series fame". ESPN. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
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5. Jed Meshew (August 12, 2025). "DWCS Season 9, Week 1 Results: Only two contracts awarded after strange night of fights". mmafighting.com. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
6. Staff, MMA Junkie. "Dana White's Contender Series 78 weigh-in results: One fighter heavy in Las Vegas". MMA Junkie. Retrieved 2025-08-18.
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13. Vreeland, Daniel (2025-09-03). "DWCS 2025: Week 4 - Play-by-Play & Results". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
14. Vreeland, Daniel (2025-09-08). "Steven Asplund Gets Emotional Before DWCS Week 5". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
15. Lee, Alexander K. (2025-09-08). "DWCS fighter misses weight by 4 pounds for Week 5 event". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
16. Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 5". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
17. Vreeland, Daniel (2025-09-10). "Dana White's Contender Series 2025: Week 5 - Play-by-Play & Results". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2025-09-10.
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22. Wells, Matthew. "Dana White's Contender Series 83 results: Five winners, one loser earn UFC contracts". MMA Junkie. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
23. Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 8". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
24. Law, Eddie (2025-09-30). "DWCS 2025: Week 8 - Play-by-Play & Results". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
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