Overview

• Season 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series launches Tuesday at 7 pm ET on ESPN+ after a one-time earlier start to avoid a scheduling clash with The Ultimate Fighter.
• All ten Week 1 competitors successfully made weight at Monday’s official DWCS 77 weigh-ins at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
• Middleweights Ilian Bouafia and Neemias Santana will headline the card, with Bouafia entering as a –245 to –260 betting favorite.
• Returning contenders Christopher Ewert, Murtaza Talha and Yuri Panferov aim for redemption and a second shot at UFC contracts.
• Dana White’s Contender Series has awarded 287 UFC contracts since 2017 and produced champions such as Sean O’Malley, Jamahal Hill and Jack Della Maddalena.