'Dana White's Contender Series' results: Four fighters earn UFC contracts to close Season 8

October 16, 2024 ndowd

Oct 15, 2024, 10:30 PM ET

“Dana White’s Contender Series” returned for Season 8 on Aug. 13. The show, which has been a pipeline to the UFC for top talent from around the world, has helped the UFC discover some of the best fighters in the sport today including bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill.

There are also many top prospects who have found a home in the UFC through the show such as Bo Nickal, Jack Della Maddalena, Payton Talbott, and Jailton Almeida. Will Season 8 of DWCS produce the sport’s next future star?

Here are the fighters to watch, results and fighters who earned a UFC contract from each week:

Laura Sanko’s top fighters to watch

ESPN spoke with UFC analyst Laura Sanko to get a list of the fighters she is most excited to see on this season of DWCS. “There is an emerging theme this year,” Sanko told ESPN. “Many of the fighters a really young, but they appear to be ready for this stage. They pass the eye test more than the fighters in previous years.”

Austin Bashi, featherweight

Record: 12-0
Age: 22
Fighting out of: West Bloomfield Township, Michigan

Bashi is one of the best prospects in all of MMA. He enters DWCS Season 8 having finished each of his last four opponents (three submissions, one KO). He has a wrestling background, but he has striking that his opponent has to respect. Despite his age, Bashi has already faced and beaten high-level competition. Just two fights ago, he submitted Askar Askar another highly-touted prospect. Bashi has what it takes to be a champion one day.

Artem Vakhitov, light heavyweight

Record: 2-1
Age: 33
Fighting out of: Prokopyevsk, Russia

Vakhitov has little professional MMA experience, but he is a former Glory kickboxing champion. Most notably, Vakhitov was the last guy to beat UFC light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira in kickboxing. And that’s why he’s making this move, he’s coming for Pereira.

How to watch the fights

Watch “Dana White’s Contender Series” on ESPN+: Get ESPN+ here.

There’s also FightCenter, which offers stats and analysis for every UFC and DWCS card.

‘Dana White’s Contender Series’ Season 8 results:

Week 1 results:

Lone’er Kavanagh’s KO stuns Dana White in DWCS win

Lone’er Kavanagh lands a massive left hook and Dana White loves it.

Welterweight: Rami Hamed def. Ding Meng by unanimous decision
*Featherweight: Jose Delgado def. Ernie Juarez by KO1
*Men’s flyweight: Lone’er Kavanagh def. An Tuan Ho by KO1
*Middleweight: Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Wesley Schultz by TKO2
*Light heavyweight: Bruno Lopes def. Mikheil Sazhiniani by TKO2

*Kavanagh, Delgado, Lopes and Abdul-Malik were each awarded a UFC contract

Week 2 results:

Andreas Gustafsson secures vicious TKO win in 2nd round

Andreas Gustafsson lands a series of powerful knees to the head of Pat Pytlik, leading to a TKO victory in the second round.

*Welterweight: Andreas Gustafsson def. Pat Pytlik by TKO2
*Heavyweight: Rizvan Kuniev def. Hugo Cunha by TKO1
*Men’s bantamweight: Cortavious Romious def. Michael Imperato by unanimous decision
Middleweight: Torrez Finney def. Cameron Rowston by unanimous decision
*Men’s bantamweight: Cody Haddon def. Billy Brand by Sub1

*Haddon, Romious, Kuniev and Gustafsson were each awarded a UFC contract

Week 3 results:

Malcolm Wellmaker sends Adam Bramhald to mat with ridiculous KO

Malcolm Wellmaker sends Adam Bramhald to the ground with an unbelievable knockout at Dana White’s Contender Series.

*Featherweight: Bogdan Grad def. Michael Aswell by split decision
*Men’s bantamweight: Malcolm Wellmaker def. Adam Bramhald by KO1
**Men’s flyweight: Nick Piccininni def. Jack Duffy by split decision
*Middleweight: Andrey Pulyaev def. Liam Anderson by unanimous decision
*Middleweight: Marco Tulio def. Matthieu Duclos by TKO2

*Wellmaker, Tulio, Grad and Pulyaev were each awarded a UFC contract

**Piccininni and Duffy were offered a rematch at DWCS Season 8, Episode 10

Week 4 results:

Yuneisy Duben completes massive DWCS upset with KO of the year contender

Yuneisy Duben sleeps Shannon Clark with an unreal punch as a +900 underdog, per ESPN BET, for one of the wildest knockouts you’ll ever see.

*Welterweight: Seok Hyun Ko def. Igor Cavalcanti by unanimous decision
*Middleweight: Djorden Santos def. Will Currie by unanimous decision
*Featherweight: Austin Bashi vs. Dorian Ramos by Sub2
*Women’s flyweight: Yuneisy Duben def. Shannon Clark by KO1
*Lightweight: Quillan Salkilld def. Gauge Young by unanimous decision

*Salkilld, Duben, Bashi, Santos, and Ko were each awarded a UFC contract

Week 5 results:

*Light heavyweight: Navajo Stirling def. Phil Latu TKO2
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui def. Taiga Iwasaki by TKO3
*Featherweight: Josias Musasa def. Otari Tanzilovi by split decision
*Women’s flyweight: Nicolle Caliari def. Corinne Laframboise by Sub1

*Caliari, Musasa and Stirling were each awarded a UFC contract

Week 6 results:

Tallison Teixeira flattens Arthur Lopes with one punch

Tallison Teixeira adds an impressive victory to his resume with a knockout win over Arthur Lopes.

Men’s bantamweight: Elijah Smith def. Aaron Tau by unanimous decision
*Heavyweight: Talisson Teixeira def. Arthur Lopes by KO1
Welterweight: Benjamin Bennett def. Joey Hart by split decision
*Middleweight: Ateba Gautier def. Yura Naito by TKO2
*Lightweight: Ahmad Hassanzada def. Dylan Mantello by Su3

*Hassanzada, Gautier, Teixeira and Smith were each awarded a UFC contract

Week 7 results:

Kevin Vallejos finishes Cam Teague with flurry of punches

Kevin Vallejos drops Cam Teague after unloading an unreal amount of punches to Teague’s body.

*Heavyweight: Danylo Voievodkin def. Bailey Schoenfelder Sub1
*Welterweight: Daniel Frunza def. Vadym Kutsyi by TKO2
*Light heavyweight: Kevin Christian def. Francesco Mazzeo by Sub2
*Featherweight: Kevin Vallejos def. Cam Teague by KO1
*Strawweight: Alexia Thainara def. Rose Conceicao by unanimous decision

*Thainara, Vallejos, Christian, Frunza and Voievodkin were each awarded a UFC contract

Week 8 results:

Diyar Nurgozhay flattens Bartosz Szewczyk with massive head-kick KO

Diyar Nurgozhay defeats Bartosz Szewczyk with an incredible head kick and some follow up punches for the knockout victory.

*Featherweight: Alberto Montes def. Robbie Ring by Sub2
*Middleweight: Torrez Finney def. David Er-Ramy by TKO1
*Men’s bantamweight: David Martinez def. Xavier Franklin by unanimous decision
*Light heavyweight: Diyar Nurgozhay def. Bartosz Szewczyk by KO2
*Welterweight: Jacobe Smith def. Christien Savoie by TKO2

*Smith, Nurgozhay, Martinez, Finney and Montes were each awarded a UFC contract

Week 9 results:

Islam Dulatov sends Vanilto Antunes to the mat with nasty elbow

Islam Dulatov grabs the victory and impresses Dana White with a knockout via an elbow to the head of Vanilto Antunes.

*Heavyweight: Artem Vakhitov def. Islem Masraf by TKO1
*Lightweight: Kody Steele def. Chasen Blair by TKO2
*Heavyweight: Mario Pinto def. Lucas Camacho by KO1
*Welterweight: Islam Dulatov def. Vanilto Antunes by KO1
Men’s flyweight: Sean Gauci def. Anthony Drilich by unanimous decision

*Dulatov, Pinto, Steele and Vakhitov were each awarded a UFC contract

Week 10 results:

*Middleweight: Nick Klein def. Heraldo Souza by Sub1
*Men’s flyweight: Luis Gurule def. Nick Piccininni by split decision
*Lightweight: Yadier Del Valle def. Antonio Monteiro by unanimous decision
Strawweight: Julieta Martinez def. Leslie Hernandez by split decision
*Welterweight: Jonathan Micallef def. Mohamed Ado by Sub1

*Micallef, Del Valle, Gurule and Klein were each awarded a UFC contract

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