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 seventh episode of the new season takes place on Sep. 24 and streams live on ESPN+ starting at 8 p.m. ET.
HW: Danylo Voievodkin (6-0, Kratos, Ukraine) vs. Bailey Schoenfelder (5-0, Kill Cliff FC, USA)
WW: Vadim Kutsy (17-1, Academy MMA, Belarus) vs. Daniel Frunza (8-2, UTC, Romania)
LHW: Kevin Christian (8-2, Cosme Junior Team, Brazil) vs. Francesco Mazzeo (4-0, MMA Fight Academy, Italy)
FW: Kevin Vallejos (13-1, Brothers of Life MMA, Argentina) vs. Cam Teague (7-0, Port City Combat Sports, USA)
WSW: Alexia Thainara (10-1, Ribas Family, Brazil) vs. Rose Conceicao (7-0, Hikari MMA, Brazil)
Heavyweight prospects are hard to come by in this sport, that’s why when you get the scent of one, you stay on top of their progress. Wrestler Bailey Schoenfelder has proven to be a strong heavyweight prospect through five of his pro bouts, scoring finishes in all of them. His most recent win saw him finish Contender Series vet Greg Velasco to score the CFFC Championship, pounding him out to a referee stoppage. Under the guidance of Kill Cliff FC, Schoenfelder has a high ceiling, especially being just 26 years old. He has a fight with Ukraine’s Danylo Voievodkin, an unknown entity whose longest fight lasted just under three minutes. Five of his six fights lasted under one minute. Schoenfelder needs to use his wrestling to drag the Ukrainian into deeper water, where he’s been untested.
If you want to see a banger that may not make the judge’s scorecard, you need to keep your eye on the Kevin Vallejos-Cam Teague bout. Both men like to take control of the center and throw down. They also throw with bad intentions, meaning you could see both men getting clipped at different times during the fight. Whoever wins, you can bet Dana White is going to want to get them on the roster.
The dark horse on this episode is LFA Champion Rose Conceicao, who we haven’t seen in the cage since she won that belt in July of last year. Conceicao has solid wrestling, which is rare not only for a Brazilian, but a female MMA fighter. Her ground game is solid, as she does her best work there. She has a tough opponent in Alexia Thainara, so this should be a good fight, but Conceicao’s ability to get the fight down and keep her opponent there are hard to overlook in WMMA.
Italy’s Francesco Mazzeo is just four fights into his pro career, so he’s a largely unproven commodity that has a lot to prove on this episode of the Contender Series. He’s not exactly fought world beaters; that said, he’s looked like a killer in his pro fights, winning three of them by first round knockout. He’s clearly a powerful striker and can put his opponent’s lights out, but he has major step up in competition here against Kevin Christian. We will see if Mazzeo sinks or swims.
| HW: Danylo Voievodkin vs. Bailey Schoenfelder | Schoenfelder |
| WW: Vadim Kutsy vs. Daniel Frunza | Kutsy |
| LHW: Kevin Christian vs. Francesco Mazzeo | Christian |
| FW: Kevin Vallejos vs. Cam Teague | Vallejos |
| WSW: Alexia Thainara vs. Rose Conceicao | Conceicao |