Dana White's Contender Series

Last updated

Dana White's Contender Series, formerly named Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series, is an American mixed martial arts promotion. In May 2017, the UFC announced White would hold the competition weekly on UFC Fight Pass (It has since been moved to ESPN+). [1] As with the earlier web series Looking for a Fight, the goal of the series is for White to scout talent for the UFC. [2] [3] Similar to The Ultimate Fighter none of the fighters involved will have existing UFC contracts. Licensed separately from the UFC with Dana White applying for a promoter's license, it was stated ahead of the license being approved that “this is not the UFC, this is not the UFC brand, but instead a promotion that will allow up and coming fighters the chance to showcase their talents in hopes that one day they may compete in the UFC." [4]

Contents

The inaugural event took place on July 11, 2017. All events have been held at the UFC's home base of Las Vegas. [5] [6]

List of seasons

NameStart DateEnd Date# of Contracts# of EventsVenueLocation
Season 7 (57-66)August 8, 2023October 10, 20234610 UFC Apex Centre Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Season 6 (47-56)July 26, 2022September 27, 20224310
Season 5 (37-46)August 31, 2021November 2, 20213910
Season 4 (27-36)August 4, 2020November 17, 20203710
Season 3 (17-26)June 18, 2019August 27, 20193010
Season Brazil August 24, 2018September 7, 2018113UFC Training Centre
Season 2 (9-16)June 12, 2018August 7, 2018238
Season 1 (1-8)July 11, 2017August 29, 2017168

List of contract winners

SeasonEpisode Number
12345678910
Season 7
(2023)
César Almeida
Tom Nolan
Caio Machado
Payton Talbott
Kevin Borjas
Abdul-Kerim Al-Selwady
Ibo Aslan
Hyder Amil
Eduarda Moura
Charalampos Grigoriou
Zachary Reese
Oban Elliot
Luis Pajuelo
Carlos Prates
Thomas Petersen
Bolaji Oki
Brendson Ribeiro
Serhiy Sidey
Dylan Budka
Jean Silva
Dione Barbosa
James Llontop
Jhonata Diniz
Steven Nguyen
Julia Polastri
Jean Matsumoto
Shamil Gaziev
Stephanie Luciano
Kaynan Kruschewsky
Igor da Silva
Danny Barlow
Danny Silva
Angel Pacheco
Ernesta Kareckaite
Carli Judice
Vinicius Oliveira
Rodolfo Bellato
Victor Hugo Silva
Magommed Gadzhiyasulov
José Daniel Medina
Mauricio Ruffy
Ramon Taveras
André Lima
Connor Matthews
MarQuel Mederos
Lucas Rocha
Season 6
(2022)
Joe Pyfer Chris Duncan
Vinicius Salvador
Shannon Ross
Francis Marshall
Waldo Cortes-Acosta
Billy Goff
Jamal Pogues
Erik Silva
Clayton Carpenter
Esteban Ribovics
Claudio Ribeiro
Jose Johnson
Hailey Cowan
Nazim Sadykhov
Michael Parkin
Darrius Flowers
Jesús Santos Aguilar
Cameron Saaiman
Denise Gomes
Yusaku Kinoshita
Sedriques Dumas
Mateusz Rębecki
Viktoriya Dudakova
Blake Bilder
Vitor Petrino
Gabriel Bonfim
Karl Williams
Ismael Bonfim
Farid Basharat
Ikram Aliskerov
Trevor Peek
Bruna Brasil
Daniel Marcos
Brunno Ferreira
Raúl Rosas Jr.
Austen Lane
Nurullo Aliev
Jafel Filho
Bo Nickal
Sam Patterson
Jack Jenkins
Rafael Ramos Estevam
Mateus Mendonça
Season 5
(2021)
Azamat Murzakanov
Joanderson Brito
Victor Altamirano
Carlos Candelario
AJ Fletcher
Josh Quinlan
Chidi Njokuani
Saimon Oliveira
C.J. Vergara
Chad Anheliger
Jailton Almeida
Albert Duraev
Łukasz Brzeski
Jack Della Maddalena
Jasmine Jasudavicius
AJ Dobson
Michael Morales
Kleydson Rodrigues
Victor Martinez
Ihor Potieria
Daniel Zellhuber
Mike Malott
Carlos Hernandez
Fernie Garcia
Genaro Valdéz
Martin Buday
Jake Hadley
Slava Borshchev
Armen Petrosyan
Caio Borralho
Piera Rodríguez
Jonny Parsons
Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
Cristian Quiñonez
Javid Basharat
Karine Silva
Manuel Torres
Maheshate
Yohan Lainesse
Season 4
(2020)
Dustin Jacoby
Uroš Medić
Jordan Leavitt
Dustin Stoltzfus
Adrian Yanez
Cory McKenna
T.J. Laramie
Impa Kasanganay
Louis Cosce
Cheyanne Vlismas
Orion Cosce
Josh Parisian
Jamie Pickett
Rafael Alves
Jeff Molina
Collin Huckbody
Jimmy Flick
Ronnie Lawrence
William Knight
Phil Hawes
Drako Rodriguez
Tafon Nchukwi
Aliaskhab Khizriev
Jordan Williams
Collin Anglin
Danyelle Wolf
Carlos Ulberg
Ignacio Bahamondes
Luis Saldaña
Jared Vanderaa
Natan Levy
Nikolas Motta
Luana Pinheiro
JP Buys
Gloria de Paula
Tucker Lutz
Victoria Leonardo
Season 3
(2019)
Punahele Soriano
Yorgan de Castro
Miles Johns
Miguel Baeza
Joe Solecki
Antonio Trocoli
Hunter Azure
Maki Pitolo
Jonathan Pearce
Antônio Arroyo
Ode' Osbourne
Don'Tale Mayes
Brendan Allen
Sean Woodson
Jamahal Hill
Billy Quarantillo
Aleksa Camur
Aalon Cruz
Tracy Cortez
Rodrigo Nascimento
Omar Morales
Herbert Burns
André Muniz
Brok Weaver
Sarah Alpar
Tony Gravely
Philip Rowe Duško Todorović
Peter Barrett
T.J. Brown
Season Brazil
(2018)
Rogério Bontorin
Mayra Bueno Silva
Sarah Frota
Augusto Sakai
Taila Santos
Johnny Walker
Marina Rodriguez
Raulian Paiva
Vinicius Moreira
Luana Carolina
Thiago Moisés
Season 2
(2018)
Alonzo Menifield
Greg Hardy
Matt Sayles
Anthony Hernandez
Ryan Spann
Dwight Grant
Antonina Shevchenko
Te'Jovan Edwards
Bevon Lewis
Jordan Espinosa
Maycee Barber
Domingo Pilarte
Edmen Shahbazyan
Jimmy Crute
Sodiq Yusuff
Jeff Hughes
Roosevelt Roberts
Ian Heinisch
Jordan Griffin
Juan Adams
Devonte Smith
Kennedy Nzechukwu
Bobby Moffett
Season 1
(2017)
Kurt Holobaugh
Boston Salmon
Sean O'Malley Karl Roberson
Geoff Neal
Julian Marquez
Brandon Davis
Mike Rodríguez
Alex Perez
Charles Byrd
Grant Dawson
Benito Lopez
Joby Sanchez
Matt Frevola
Lauren Mueller
Allen Crowder

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uriah Hall</span> Jamaican-American mixed martial artist (born 1984)

Uriah Alexander Hall is a Jamaican-American retired mixed martial artist, professional boxer, and a former kickboxer. He fought in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He was second on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen. Prior to his appearance on TUF, Hall competed in Bellator MMA and Ring of Combat, where he saw success in winning the ROC Championship. He is also the first UFC fighter in history to win a fight without throwing a single strike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Bessette</span> American mixed martial artist

Matthew James Bessette is a retired American mixed martial artist currently competing in CES MMA where he is the reigning Featherweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2007, he has also competed for Bellator and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 in UFC</span> UFC MMA events in 2017

The year 2017 was the 25th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.

Antonina Shevchenko is a Kyrgyzstani and Peruvian Muay Thai fighter and mixed martial artist currently competing in the flyweight division of the UFC. She is the older sister of fellow UFC fighter and former UFC Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Frevola</span> American mixed martial arts fighter

Matt Frevola is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2014, he has also competed for the World Series of Fighting and Titan FC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Ige</span> American mixed martial artist

Daniel Alexander Ige is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2014, he has also competed for the Legacy Fighting Championship, Pancrase, the RFA, and Titan FC. As of October 17, 2023, he is #13 in the UFC featherweight rankings.

Brandon Michael Davis is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Kurt Holobaugh is an American professional mixed martial artist (MMA) who competes in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Kevin Aguilar is an American mixed martial artist (MMA). Aguilar was the Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) Featherweight champion and he currently competes in the featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devonte Smith</span> American mixed martial arts fighter

Devonte Smith is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Charles Dewayne Byrd Jr. is an American retired mixed martial artist. A professional from 2009 until 2020, Byrd competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Legacy FC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik</span> UFC mixed martial arts cancelled event in 2020

UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik was a planned mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship originally to take place on March 28, 2020 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was eventually postponed (see section below).

Grant Dawson is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alonzo Menifield</span> American mixed martial arts fighter

Alonzo Menifield is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2015, he has formerly fought in Bellator and the Legacy Fighting Alliance. As of December 19, 2023, he is #12 in the UFC light heavyweight rankings.

Don'Tale O'Neil Mayes is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Jamahal Hill is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. As of November 14, 2023, he is #1 in the UFC light heavyweight rankings.

Kennedy Nzechukwu is a Nigerian professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Phil Hawes is an American mixed martial artist who last competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

In May 2018 it was confirmed that season 3 of Dana White's Contender Series would commence in June 2019 and in the US would be exclusive to ESPN+, ESPN's new over-the-top subscription package. In April 2019, the schedule was elaborated, the series beginning on June 18, 2019 and ending on August 20, 2019. The promotion's name also got shortened from Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series to Dana White's Contender Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UFC 290</span> 2023 mixed martial arts event

UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 8, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena facility in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.

References

  1. ESPN. "Dana White's Contender Series: How to watch and stream, plus full analysis". ESPN.
  2. Staff (2017-05-12). "Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series Launches on Fight Pass". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  3. Staff (2017-05-13). "'Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series' debuts July 11 on UFC Fight Pass with 5 live fights a week". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-05-13.
  4. "Dana White receives promoter's license for new contender series separate from UFC - FOX Sports". 14 June 2017.
  5. Staff (2017-05-12). "5-fight lineup revealed for 'Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series' premiere". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  6. Thomas Gerbasi (2017-06-22). "Tuesday Night Contender Series to premiere July 11". ufc.com. Retrieved 2017-06-22.