Dana White Contender Series Champions [All Seasons]

Zachary Reese, Oban Elliott, and Luis Pajuelo were the winners in week 3 and were awarded contracts with the UFC. 13 fighters have won contracts in Season 7.

UFC Dana White Contender Series results for Season 7 are as follows:

Episode 1 - August 8

Middleweight - Cesar Almeida def. Lucas Fernando

• Almeida won by decision (unanimous) (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)

Lightweight - Tom Nolan def. Bogdan Grad

• Nolan won by KO in Round 1, 1:23

Heavyweight - Caio Machado def. Kevin Szaflarski

• Machado won by decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Bantamweight - Payton Talbott def. Reyes Cortez

• Talbott won by decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)

Flyweight - Kevin Borjas def. Victor Dias

• Borjas won by decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)

All five winners from the 1st episode of the 2023 season were awarded UFC contracts and four fighters won via decision barring Tom Nolan who won via KO. A heavy left counter hook by Nolan in the first round knocked out Grad and earned him a contract as well.

Episode 2 - August 15

Lightweight - Abdul-Kerim Al-Selwady def. George Hardwick

• Al-Selwady won by decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Lightweight Heavyweight - Ibo Aslan def. Paulo Renato Jr.

• Aslan won by TKO in Round 1, 2:22

Featherweight - Hyder Amil def. Emrah Sonmez

• Amil won by decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)

Women's Strawweight - Eduarda Moura def. Janaina Silva

• Moura won by submission (rear-naked choke) in Round 1, 4:00

Bantamweight - Charalampos Grigoriou def. Cameron Smotherman

• Grigoriou won by TKO in Round 1, 1:00

Similar to the first week where all five winners were awarded contracts with the UFC, the second week winners also earned it. The week only had two decisions with Grigoriou landing a heavy left to put the matters to rest. Aslan dominated with his sheer power and precision striking from the onset.

Episode 3 - August 22

Middleweight - Zachary Resse def. Eli Aronov

• Resse won by submission (armbar) in Round 1, 1:14

Welterweight - Oban Elliott def. Kaik Brito

• Elliott won by decision (majority) (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

Women's Strawweight - Josefine Lindgren Knutsson def. Isis Verbeek

• Knutsson won by decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Featherweight - Luis Pajuelo def. Robbie Ring

• Pajuelo won by TKO in Round 1, 3:43

The previous six seasons of the scouting series have seen many fighters up their game and move on to the biggest stage. The Top 5 DWCS fighters in the UFC are:

• Jamahal Hill
• Sean O'Malley
• Johnny Walker
• Taila Santos
• Alex Perez

Jamahal Hill

Jamahal Hill was part of the Contender Series, Season 3 (2019), and was awarded the UFC contract for his second-round TKO win over Alexander Poppeck.

His UFC debut came on January 25, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 166 against Darko Stosic which he won via decision (unanimous). He competes in the Light Heavyweight Division and is ranked #15 in the pound-for-pound rankings.

Hill has a 12-1-0 record and his last bout was with Glover Teixeira in January 2023 which he won by decision earning him the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. As a result of rupturing his Achilles tendon, he had to vacate his title in July 2023.

Sean O'Malley

O'Malley is the current UFC Bantamweight Champion with a 17-1-0-(1 NC) record. He recently fought against Aijamain Sterling and won via TKO in the second round (0:51) at UFC 292 on August 19.

He earned his UFC contract after a KO win against Alfred Khashakyan in week 2 of the first season of Dan White's Contender Series. He is currently ranked #8 in the pound-for-pound rankings.

Out of his 17 wins, 12 have been via knockout with 9 in the first round, and is considered one of the best on the current UFC roster. His only loss came in 2020 against Marlon Vera at UFC 252.

Johnny Walker

Johnny Walker is currently on a three-match win streak with his last bout in May 2023. He has a 21-7-0 record with 16 wins by KO and is ranked #6 in the Light Heavyweight Division. Walker was awarded the UFC contract Season on Dana White's Contender Series Brazil in 2018. 

In his career, Walker also faced fellow Series graduate Jamahal Hill on 19 February 2022 and lost the fight by KO in the first round. It was also his last loss as of August and will be keeping an eye out for the vacant championship belt in the division.

Taila Santos

Similar to Walker, Taila Santos was also awarded the UFC contract in the same series and also the same week. The Brazilian mixed martial artist is ranked #11 in the pound-for-pound rankings and #4 in the Women's Flyweight Division.

She lost her debut UFC bout in 2019 and won her next four in a row. Her most recent fight was against Valentina Shevchenko which she lost via decision (split) in June 2022. She has a 19-2-0 record with her next match scheduled for August 26 at UFC on ESPN.

Alex Perez

Alex Perez is also a Season 1 graduate having earned the UFC contract with his win over Kevin Gray via submission in the first round in week 5. Perez has a 24-7-0 record and has lost his last two fights with the most recent loss against Alexandre Pantoja in July 2022.

Perez is ranked #7 in the Flyweight Division and has 5 wins via KO. Perez was scheduled for a fight in March 2023 but was canceled as he suffered a medical issue.

With three episodes already done and dusted and several fighters earning their most awaited contracts, the fourth episode is scheduled for August 29. All weekly episodes of the promotion will be live on ESPN+.

Dana White Contender Series 2023 schedule:

• Episode 4 (August 29)
• Episode 5 (September 5)
• Episode 6 (September 12)
• Episode 7 (September 19)
• Episode 8 (September 26)
• Episode 9 (October 3)
• Episode 10 (October 10)

All the events will be taking place at the same venue which is the UFC Apex Centre at the home of the UFC in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The weekly events are scheduled to start at 8:00 pm ET with only the first two events starting at 7 pm ET. The promotion is exclusive on ESPN+.