Dana White’s Contender Series is back for its eighth season.
The show, which continues on its home on ESPN+, aims to give top prospects a chance to impress the UFC brass in an attempt to earn a contract with the company. The show’s third episode of the new season takes place on Aug. 27 and streams live on ESPN+ starting at 8 p.m. ET.
MW: Andrey Pulyaev (8-2, Alexander Shlemenko Fight Team, Russia) vs. Liam Anderson (6-2 Team Empire, USA)
FW: Bogdan Grad (13-2, ETTL Bros Team, Austria) vs. Michael Aswell (9-1, Metro Fight Club, USA)
MW: Marco Tulio (11-1, Chute Boxe, Brazil) vs. Matthieu Duclos (6-2, Woirin Team Elite, France)
BW: Adam Bramhald (13-2, Asylum Vale Tudo, England) vs. Malcolm Wellmaker (7-0, Faglier’s MMA, USA)
FLY: Jack Duffy (7-0, MMA Gold Fight Team, USA) vs. Nick Piccininni (6-0, Fortis MMA, USA)
The most UFC-ready fighter on this episode is Marco Tulio, a Contender Series veteran from last year. There, he bested Glory Kickboxing vet Yousri Belgaroui, but failed to secure a contract from Dana White and co. He has proven to be a top middleweight prospect and a win here should secure him a spot on the UFC roster.
The most exciting fight on this episode looks to be Adam Bramhald-Malcolm Wellmaker. Wellmaker is an underrated prospect who is rangy and likes to throw down. Bramhald is similar in that he’s got a win-big-or-go-home style, where he goes for the finish or goes out on his shield. He’d be wise to try and get Wellmaker down, even though Bramhald can certainly bang on the feet. Should be a fun one.
The under-the-radar prospect to watch on this episode is Jack Duffy, a good wrestler with a nearly 100% finish rate. He is a rapidly improving fighter that gets better each time he enters the cage. He’s a good, hard-nosed athlete that should put on a show here. He has a tough task in Nick Piccininni, but Duffy certainly has a full camp, which should be an advantage over a tough wrestler like Piccininni.
The biggest longshot on this episode has to be middleweight Liam Anderson. He’s a tall fighter that caught the matchmaker’s eyes with his knockout of Maurice Morris at LFA 177, where he landed a beautiful head kick. His strength of schedule has been decent at best. His two losses came to fighters with 1-2 and 1-0 records. He has a lot to prove here.
| MW: Andrey Pulyaev vs. Liam Anderson | Pulyaev |
| FW: Bogdan Grad vs. Michael Aswell | Grad |
| MW: Marco Tulio vs. Matthieu Duclos | Tulio |
| BW: Adam Bramhald vs. Malcolm Wellmaker | Wellmaker |
| FLY: Jack Duffy vs. Nick Piccinini | Duffy |