The first five events have been scheduled for Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 9, featuring the MMA prospects looking to earn a contract with the UFC. The action at UFC Apex in Las Vegas begins with Week 1 on August 12.
In the main event, Ilian Bouafia (6-0) of France and Neemias Santana (7-2-1) of Brazil battle it out at middleweight. Also on the card is an all-American welterweight contest between Ty Miller (5-0) of Albuquerque, NM and New York’s Jimmy Drago (7-2).
A middleweight bout pits Damian Pinas (7-1) of Aruba against Murtaza Talha (6-1) of Bahrain. George Mangos (7-0) of Australia and Radley da Silva (7-1) of Canada meet at featherweight. Plus, Yuri Panferov (8-1) is expected to compete at middleweight.
Week 2 on August 19 is headlined by a featherweight bout between Manuel Exposito (13-2) of Argentina and Jose Delano (15-3) of Brazil. Week 3 on August 26 features an all-Brazilian light heavyweight matchup between Vitor Costa (8-1) and Ryan Gandra (7-1).
Welterweights Jack Congdon (7-1) of Massachusetts and Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani (8-2) of Hermosa Beach, CA square off atop Week 4 on September 2. The headline bout of Week 5 on September 9 pits Guilherme Pat (5-0) of Brazil against Anthony Guarascio (4-0) of Largo, FL at heavyweight.
The promotion announced the first five dates for Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 9 during the broadcast of UFC 317. The rest of the lineups and additional event dates are expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks.