Dana White’s Contender Series, Season 6 is on the horizon.
Tuesday, the UFC-owned and controlled sub-promotion received licensure from the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) to hold events from July 26-Sept. 27 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. If one episode is held per week, that would mean 10 episodes total for the upcoming season.
DWCS debuted in 2017 with an eight-episode inaugural season. Season 2 was held in 2018 with eight episodes, followed by a three-episode DWCS: Brasil. In 2019, DWCS was extended to 10 episodes for its third season. The length was repeated in 2020, 2021, and now the upcoming season.
Each season, the number of fighters signed has increased. Thus far, the show has produced UFC notables including Sean O’Malley, Maycee Barber, Geoff Neal, Ryan Spann, Sodiq Yusuff, Jamahal Hill, Taila Santos, Johnny Walker, Alex Perez, and Marina Rodriguez among others.
While the promotion has yet to make any official announcements regarding the upcoming season, various fighters’ participation has been confirmed.
Scroll below to see the lineup for each episode. The fights listed have been either confirmed by MMA Junkie or the fighters themselves on social media. The list will be updated in the coming days
Episode 1 – July 26
Middleweight: Ozzy Diaz (7-1) vs. Joe Pyfer (8-2) (My MMA News)
Flyweight: Alessandro Costa (10-2) vs. Andres Luna Martinetti (12-0) (El Universo)
Flyweight: Clayton Carpenter (5-0) vs. Stephen Erceg (8-1) (Cageside Press)
Bantamweight: Farid Basharat (8-0) vs. Willian Souza (11-1) (Combate)
Bantamweight: Jack Cartwright (10-0) vs. TBA
Episode 2 – Aug. 2
Image via CES MMA
Welterweight: Billy Goff (7-2) vs. Shimon Smotritsky (8-1)
Featherweight: Francis Marshall (5-0) vs. Connor Matthews (5-0)
Heavyweight: Waldo Cortes-Acosta (6-0) vs. Dan Suzart (9-1) (MMA Na Voz)
Flyweight: Shannon Ross (13-5) vs. Vinicius Salvador (13-4)
TBA vs. TBA
Episode 3 – Aug. 9
Women’s strawweight Sandra Lavado (10-2) vs. Karolina Wojcik (8-2) (Diario AS)
Heavyweight: Caio Machado (6-1-1) vs. Paulo Renato Jr. (10-1) (MMA reporter Shawn Bitter)
Lightweight: Rodrigo Lidio (12-2) vs. Mateusz Rebecki (15-1)
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
Episode 4 – Aug. 16
Middleweight: Claudio Ribeiro (9-2) vs. Ivan Valenzuela (8-1) (ESPN Deportes)
Women’s bantamweight: Hailey Cowan (6-2) vs. Claudia Leite (7-2)
Bantamweight: Jose Johnson (14-7) vs. TBA
Lightweight: Nazim Sadykhov (6-1) vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
Episode 5 – Aug. 23
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
Episode 6 – Aug. 30
Women’s strawweight: Viktoriya Dudakova (5-0) vs. Maria Silva (8-0)
Middleweight: Matej Penaz (6-0) vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
Episode 7 – Sept. 6
Light heavyweight: Rodolfo Bellato (8-1) vs. Vitor Petrino (6-0) (MMA Fighting)
Women’s flyweight: Tereza Bleda (5-0) vs. Nayara Maia (6-0-1)
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
Episode 8 – Sep. 13
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
Episode 9 – Sept. 20
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
Episode 10 – Sept. 27
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA