DWCS Dana's Contender Series 2025 thread

[Hellowhosthat]

Canadian BW prospect will appear on the Contender Series



He looked a little shaky in his last appearance but he's still one of the top prospects in the country. Interested to see who he's fighting.

Yeah I thought he lost tbh. Him Vs Louis Lee Scott seems like a good fight.

He's skilled but gets overwhelmed when guys don't just let him do his thing, probably happens again here tbh.

Don't know if it's posted but apparently Talha is fighting Damian Pinas in week 1. Hope Pinas wins, after seeing how Bellato has been in the UFC I don't really have any interest in Talha.

Tbf that was 205 and he was way too small for Bellato imo. I think 185 is more suitable.

 

[DamnSevern]

 

[Thesnake101]

Yeah I thought he lost tbh. Him Vs Louis Lee Scott seems like a good fight.



Tbf that was 205 and he was way too small for Bellato imo. I think 185 is more suitable.

He's only crushed a can since tho, and the fact he gassed so hard doesn't give me too much hope for him now that he'll be cutting more weight.

Strikes me as another Di Chirico in terms of amateur accolades to just middling pro success.

 

[Dn10]

There are still 30 or 40 spots to fill but there seems to be a lot of Western European talent still not signed to DWCS. Would love to see it happen but at this stage unsure.

 

[Dn10]

Cage Warriors champ Samuel Silva vs. Bellator vet Mandel Nallo on September 2nd. What an odd fight to make.

Silva was brought into lose against Hardwick and ended up winning. I’m guessing they had the winner of that on DWCS and it happened to be the guy nobody expected.

 

[DamnSevern]

lol they're trying to convince dana to sign Vladislav Kovalev

 

[MMAddict21]

Everyone ready for 20 weeks of DWCS next year?

 

[Ares Black]

Everyone ready for 20 weeks of DWCS next year?

That's huge, although it's hard not to think that the average level of competition will drop significantly.

 

[EndlessCritic]

That's huge, although it's hard not to think that the average level of competition will drop significantly.

I don't see why that's true. More likely, we're going to get a lot of, "I'm not sure he's ready for the UFC, but we'll give him another chance on the contender series."

 

[Ares Black]

I don't see why that's true. More likely, we're going to get a lot of, "I'm not sure he's ready for the UFC, but we'll give him another chance on the contender series."

Well, we are already getting a lot of guys who already appeared on the Contender Series and lost, sometimes twice. I should think we'll get a lot more second and third chances, and probably more green fighters too.

I'm not complaining, and I think it's good to have more Contender Series fights. I just hope they pay the fighters better (unlikely), and I hope contracts are less commonplace (possible). Two or three contracts per episodes would be fine.

 

[CorninginChristianburg]

I think this is a really good thing. Since the folding of Bellator, I think there's been a vacuum of places for good contenders to fight. There's a lot of good contenders who are percolating but haven't found a place in the UFC/DWCS, doubling the DWCS fights will help accommodate that.

 

[Bubzeh]

Not a fan of it being expanded. Great that more regional guys will end up getting 12/12 but at the same time, more 25/25+ guys, three or four fights in, getting cut to make room for the peanut boys.

 

[DamnSevern]

there is a rumor they will sign Shalbuz Esedullaev if he wins his fight next month at open fc

 

[STAY GOLD]

I like Ewert, dude comes to bang.

Missed weight by 10 lbs. and was cut from the UFC. Now it remains to be seen if he's still getting this chance.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Well, we are already getting a lot of guys who already appeared on the Contender Series and lost, sometimes twice. I should think we'll get a lot more second and third chances, and probably more green fighters too.

I'm not complaining, and I think it's good to have more Contender Series fights. I just hope they pay the fighters better (unlikely), and I hope contracts are less commonplace (possible). Two or three contracts per episodes would be fine.

They should just run in like their version of NXT. Sign guys there for a few fights that they're interested until they're ready. A lot of guys who find it hard to find fights on the regionals could benefit from it I think.

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Shah Kamali lost his fight against Miha Frlic earlier this month in Brave. I think he lost his shot at DWCS bc of that, and hopefully it means that Frlic will get his spot instead:




I saw Kamali fight live at LFL last year. Tbh I was not too impressed with him. He went life and death with a can. Sure, he won in the end, but he had a tough time and I believe he also got dropped in the process of finishing him.
He’s entertaining to watch and is from Bangladesh, a country that rarely produces any top fighters, though, so atleast he got that going.

 

[STAY GOLD]

Adrian Luna Martinetti will be on this season. His twin brother Andres was on a few seasons ago and lost to Alessandro Costa. The UFC has been interested in both of them for a while now, but there's always inconveniences that occur that never play it out. They've tried getting in for short notice fights and on TUF previously.

Ewert will still be on DWCS.

Also, I've heard of some other LFA fighters who've received offers, but nothing has been signed.

 

[David Street]

Tapology posted only a few fights most confirmed:

Week 1 Aug/12/2025
1. (FW) Radley Da Silva 7-1 vs George Mangos 7-0
2. (MW) Yuri Panferov 8-1 vs. Christopher Ewert 7-0
3. (L HW) Ilian Bouafia 6-0 vs. Neemias Santana 7-2-1
4. (WW) Jimmy Drago 7-2 vs. Ty Miller 5-0

Week 2 Aug/19/2025
1. (MW) Jon Kunneman 10-0 vs. Cam Rowston 11-3
2. (FW) Tommy Cuozzi (8-0) vs. Ramiro Jimenez 10-0
3. (FW) Manuel Exposito 13-2 vs. José Delano 15-3
4. (HW) Josh Hokit 5-0 vs. Guilherme Uriel 6-1

Week 3 August 26/2025
1. (L HW) Alik Lorenz 6-1 vs. Abdulrakhman Yakhyaev 6-0
2. (L HW) Vitor Costa 8-1 vs. Ryan Gandra 7-1

Week 4 September/2/2025
1. (FlyW) Frank Silva 7-0-1 vs. An Tuan Ho 7-1

Week 5 September/9/2025
1. (W FlyW) Shanelle Dyer 6-0 vs. Carol Foro 8-1
2. (L HW) Ivan Gnizditskiy 6-0 vs. Felipe Franco 8-0
3. (LW) Cam Teague 9-1 vs. Lerryan Douglas 12-5

Week 6 September/16/2025
1. (MW) In Soo Hwang 8-1 vs. Will Currie 13-4

Week 7 September/23/2025

Week 8 September/30/2025
1. (MW) Luis Felipe Dias 15-5 vs. Jonathan "El Picante" Figueroa 12-1

Week 9 October/7/2025

Week 10 October/14/2025

UPDATE:
Week 1 Aug/12/2025
1. (MW) Ilian Bouafia 6-0 vs. Neemias Santana 7-2-1
2. (FW) Radley Da Silva 7-1 vs George Mangos 7-0
3. (WW) Jimmy Drago 7-2 vs. Ty Miller 5-0
4. (MW) Christopher Ewert 7-0 vs. Yuri Panferov 8-1
5. (MW) Damian Pinas vs. Murtaza Talha 7-1

Week 2 Aug/19/2025
1. (FW) Manuel Exposito 13-2 vs. José Delano 15-3
2. (MW) Jon Kunneman 10-0 vs. Cam Rowston 11-3
3. (FW) Tommy Cuozzi (8-0) vs. Ramiro Jimenez 10-0
4. (HW) Josh Hokit 5-0 vs. Guilherme Uriel 6-1
5. (BW) Louis Lee Scott 9-0 vs. Kaushik Saikumar 5-1

Week 3 August 26/2025
1. (L HW) Vitor Costa 8-1 vs. Ryan Gandra 7-1
2. (L HW) Alik Lorenz 6-1 vs. Abdulrakhman Yakhyaev 6-0
3. (L HW) Márcio Barbosa 16-2 vs. Damon Wilson 9-2
4. (HW) Brando Peričić 4-1 vs. Elisha Ellison 5-1

Week 4 September/2/2025
1. (WW) Jack Congdon 7-1 vs. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani 8-2
2. (FlyW) Frank Silva 7-0-1 vs. An Tuan Ho 7-1
3. (FW) Cody Law 9-2 vs. Tommy McMillen 8-0
4. (LW) Mandel Nallo 13-3 vs. Samuel Silva 13-4-1
5. (MW) Theo Haig 6-0 vs. Cezary Oleksiejczuk 15-3

Week 5 September/9/2025
1. (HW) Guilherme Pat 5-0 vs. Anthony Guarascio 4-0
2. (W FlyW) Shanelle Dyer 6-0 vs. Carol Foro 8-1
3. (L HW) Ivan Gnizditskiy 6-0 vs. Felipe Franco 8-0
4. (LW) Cam Teague 9-1 vs. Lerryan Douglas 12-5
5. (LW) Chasen Blair 7-3 vs. Samuel Sanches 10-1

Week 6 September/16/2025
1. (MW) In Soo Hwang 8-1 vs. Will Currie 13-4

Week 7 September/23/2025
1. (L HW) Rafael Tobias 13-1 vs. Jair de Oliveira 6-0
2. (W BW) Jeisla Chaves 5-0 vs. Regina Tarin 6-0

Week 8 September/30/2025
1. (MW) Luis Felipe Dias 15-5 vs. Jonathan Figueroa 12-1

Week 9 October/7/2025

Week 10 October/14/2025

 

[STAY GOLD]

Look at some of the fighters listed. It's clear there isn't enough talent to expand this like Dana wants to.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Look at some of the fighters listed. It's clear there isn't enough talent to expand this like Dana wants to.

There is if they put a bit more effort into the scouting