Dana White's Contender Series season 9

Dana White's Contender Series
Season 9
Release
Original networkESPN+
Original releaseAugust 12 (2025-08-12) –
October 14, 2025 (2025-10-14)
Season chronology

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
PromotionDana White's Contender Series
DateAugust 12, 2025
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas 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
PromotionDana White's Contender Series
DateAugust 19, 2025
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas 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
PromotionDana White's Contender Series
DateAugust 26, 2025
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Light Heavyweight Trent Miller vs. Ryan Gandra
Featherweight Márcio Barbosa vs. Damon Wilson
Light Heavyweight Alik Lorenz vs. Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev
Lightweight Cristian Pérez vs. Manoel Sousa
Catchweight (225 lb) Donte Johnson vs. Darion Abbey

[9]

Contract awards

The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC:

Week 4 – September 2

Dana White's Contender Series 80
PromotionDana White's Contender Series
DateSeptember 2, 2025
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Welterweight Jack Congdon vs. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani
Middleweight Cezary Oleksiejczuk vs. Theo Haig
Lightweight Samuel Silva vs. Mandel Nallo
Flyweight Frank da Silva Castro vs. An Tuan Ho
Featherweight David Mgoyan vs. Tommy McMillen

[10]

Week 5 – September 9

Dana White's Contender Series 81
PromotionDana White's Contender Series
DateSeptember 9, 2025
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Heavyweight Guilherme Pat vs. Anthony Guarascio
Women's Flyweight Shanelle Dyer vs. Caroline Foro
Featherweight Lerryan Douglas vs. Cameron Teague
Lightweight Chasen Blair vs. Samuel Sanches
Light Heavyweight Ivan Gnizditskiy vs. Felipe Franco

[11]

Week 6 – September 16

Dana White's Contender Series 82
PromotionDana White's Contender Series
DateSeptember 16, 2025
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Featherweight Hecher Sosa vs. Mackson Lee
Middleweight Hwang In-su vs. Paddy McCorry
Light Heavyweight Iwo Baraniewski vs. Mahamed Aly
Bantamweight Cody Chovancek vs. Raphael Uchegbu
Lightweight Adam Livingston vs. Thomas Gantt

[12]

Week 7 – September 23

Dana White's Contender Series 83
PromotionDana White's Contender Series
DateSeptember 17, 2025
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Featherweight Murtazali Magomedov vs. Brahyan Zurcher
Featherweight Icaro Brito vs. Javier Reyes
Light Heavyweight Rafael Tobias vs. Jair Castro Vianna
Women's Flyweight Jeisla Santos Chaves vs. Sofia Montenegro

[13]

Week 8 – September 30

Dana White's Contender Series 84
PromotionDana White's Contender Series
DateSeptember 30, 2025
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Bantamweight Louis Jourdain vs. Magno Dias
Middleweight Luis Felipe Dias vs. Jonathan Figueroa
Flyweight Rashid Vagabov vs. Paulo Henrique da Silva

[14]

Week 9 – October 7

Dana White's Contender Series 85
PromotionDana White's Contender Series
DateOctober 7, 2025
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Bantamweight Adrián Luna Martinetti vs. Mark Vologdin
Light Heavyweight Rafael Pergentino vs. Luke Hernandez
Middleweight Jimmie Pace Jr. vs. Juan Andres Cabrera
Flyweight Imanol Rodriguez vs. Roque Conceição Moreira Jr.

[15]

Week 10 – October 14

Dana White's Contender Series 86
PromotionDana White's Contender Series
DateOctober 14, 2025
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Fight card (ESPN+)
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Featherweight Marwan Rahiki vs. Ananias Mulumba
Middleweight Mario Mingaj vs. Wesley Schultz
Heavyweight Azamat Nuftillaev vs. Jovan Leka

[16]

References

  1. ^ Iskenderov, Parviz (2025-06-29). "Dana White's Contender Series Season 9: First five events scheduled". FIGHTMAG. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  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.
  4. ^ Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 1". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  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.
  7. ^ Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 2". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  8. ^ Meshew, Jed (2025-08-19). "DWCS Season 9, Week 2 Results: Five contracts awarded on night of impressive finishes". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2025-08-20.
  9. ^ Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 3". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  10. ^ Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 4". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  11. ^ Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 5". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  12. ^ Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 6". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  13. ^ Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 7". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  14. ^ Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 8". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  15. ^ Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 9". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
  16. ^ Sherdog.com. "Dana White's Contender Series - Contender Series 2025: Week 10". Sherdog. Retrieved 2025-08-14.