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.
Week 1 – August 12
Background Murtaza Talha was scheduled to face Damian Pinas in a middleweight bout at the event; however, Pinas withdrew from the bout and was replaced by Baysangur Susurkaev on four days' notice.
Contract awards The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC:
Ty Miller and Baysangur Susurkaev
Week 2 – August 19
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.
Contract awards The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC:
Ramiro Jimenez, Josh Hokit, Louis Lee Scott, Cameron Rowston, and José Mauro Delano
Week 3 – August 26
Background Brando Peričić and Elisha Ellison were scheduled to meet at this event in a heavyweight bout, but it was announced during DWCS week 2 event that the bout was moved to UFC Fight Night: Ulberg vs. Reyes instead.
Contract awards The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: Ryan Gandra, Marcio Barbosa, Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev, Manoel Sousa, and Donte Johnson
Week 4 – September 2
Contract awards The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC:
Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani, Mandel Nallo, Cezary Oleksiejczuk, and Tommy McMillen
Week 5 – September 9
Background Guilherme Pat and Anthony Guarascio were scheduled to meet in a heavyweight bout in the main event, but Pat withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Steven Asplund.
Felipe Franco was originally scheduled to face Ivan Gnizditskiy and then Quentin Pasley, with both opponents eventually withdrawing from the contest and were replaced by Freddy Vidal. At the weigh-ins, Vidal weighed in at 210 pounds, 4 pounds over the light heavyweight limit and he was fined 25 percent of his purse, which went to Franco.
Contract awards The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: Caroline Foro, Shanelle Dyer, Samuel Sanches, Lerryan Douglas and Stephen Asplund
Week 6 – September 16
Contract awards The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: Hecher Sosa, Iwo Baraniewski, Tommy Gantt, and Cody Chovancek
Week 7 – September 23
Background Jeisla Chaves was scheduled to face the BSC Women's Bantamweight champion Regina Tarín in a Women's Flyweight bout; however, Tarin withdrew from the fight and was replaced by Sofia Montenegro.
Fighting Nerds prospect Icaro Brito was scheduled to Javier Reyes in a Featherweight bout; however, Brito's U.S. visa was denied and he was replaced by Justice Torres.
Contract awards The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: Mantas Kondratavičius, Murtazali Magomedov, Jeisla Chaves, Sofia Montenegro, Javier Reyes and Rafael Tobias
Week 8 – September 30
Contract awards The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC:
Kurtis Campbell, Christopher Alvidrez, Louis Jourdain and Damian Pinas
Week 9 – October 7
Contract awards The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: Magomed Zaynukov, Adrián Luna Martinetti, Mark Vologdin, Imanol Rodriguez, Luis Felipe Dias and Luke Fernandez
Week 10 – October 14
Contract awards The following fighters were awarded contracts with the UFC: Levi Rodrigues, Juan Díaz, Marwan Rahiki, Michael Oliveira, and Wesley Schultz
References