If you’re beginning to set out to watch and follow MMA on a week-to-week basis, you’ll need to understand something important: MMA doesn’t begin and end with the sport’s top promotion, the UFC. While the UFC is, was, and always will be a goal for top prospects of the cage, it’s just one of a series of goals for these competitors.
To gain a greater appreciation of just what these men and women do and sacrifice in order to reach their destination of fighting in Dana White‘s promotion, you’ve got to make an evening of it and take in some events from the local and/or international scenes. For the past seven years, the local scene has provided a pathway toward an outlet where careers and lives can and will change in the span of 15 short minutes.
That outlet: Dana White’s Contender Series. Originally titled Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, each week, stories of fighters are briefly chronicled before they enter the famed Octagon for a shot at a guaranteed UFC deal.
Magnificent Idea Enters Season Eight Tuesday Night
Since its inception in July of 2017, 245 prospects have secured UFC contracts as a direct result of their appearances on the program, factoring in the 11 contracts handed out on the Dana White’s Contender Series: Brazil season held after season two in the summer of 2018.
These events were taped programs over the course of a two-day period in August of that year and were broadcast between Aug. 24 and Sept. 7, 2018. While White oversees the promotion, it’s a different organization.
Even though Contender Series isn’t part of the UFC, all 50 fights this season take place inside the Octagon. It’s proven to be a brilliant concept. Fighters have spent years just to get to this point where they could be one win away from a UFC deal.
Nothing Comes Easy on Contender Series
Sometimes in the sport of MMA, the manner in which a fighter wins is immaterial. However, as we’ve seen throughout the years on Contender Series, just winning the fight isn’t enough to get a deal.
Just like a UFC card on a Saturday night, the highlight-reel finishes are likelier to get clicks on the Internet. In the context of this program, the method of victory often spells the difference between a fighter gaining a contract and that contender hearing the words “…just not tonight” from the UFC’s CEO.
A prime example of a fighter having to try again happened with the most controversial graduate of the program. During week one of the second season, former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy, who was arrested on domestic violence charges during his time with the Carolina Panthers, was booked to appear in the main event after the doors of the gridiron were closed to him.
While Hardy won that night in 2018 by way of first-round knockout versus Austen Lane in 57 seconds, White placed him on a development contract and invited him back for the finale. He scored another knockout, this time in only 17 seconds, against Tebaris Gordon to gain a full-fledged contract.
Understanding the Assignment is Key
If you’re old enough to have seen reruns of The Incredible Hulk television series, you know the classic quotation from protagonist David Banner: “Mr. McGee, don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” This line of dialogue, spoken by Lou Ferrigno, has lived on as the centerpiece of one of television’s most iconic moments.
Fighters wouldn’t want to make the head of the UFC angry, either. On Contender Series, Dana White holds all the power as it relates to the number of UFC deals awarded at the end of a given night. While there have been a number of episodes where he’s awarded deals to the winners of multiple fights, nothing takes the cake more than the speech he made to Laura Sanko at the end of the 2022 season premiere.
“Let me put it to you this way,” White began. “Let me reiterate what this show is about: There’s a lot of talented people out there, there’s a lot of talented fighters, a lot of talented kids. I don’t watch anything on anybody before they come here. Tonight, you had somebody from [Urijah] Faber’s camp, you’ve got Sarah Longo. You’ve got all these famous teams with these guys that come in here. I don’t watch any of this stuff. I don’t care what you did in your career the last five years. What are you going to do tonight?”
He gave a warning to then-upcoming fighters to ramp up their intensity and awarded the lone contract that evening to Joe Pyfer.
A Regional Championship Can Yield to a UFC Deal
As previously mentioned, the local MMA scene is a crucial component along the road to the big leagues of the sport, the UFC included. Promotions that stream their events on UFC Fight Pass act as a measuring stick in determining which fighters are ready to take that next step toward the limelight of a major organization.
Take, for example, Payton Talbott, formerly the A1 Combat Bantamweight Champion. A year ago at this time, he was just several days removed from appearing on Contender Series. That night, he attempted to parlay his success on the California scene into a deal with MMA’s premier organization, easily besting Reyes Cortez by unanimous decision.
While Talbott has only been on the UFC’s active roster for less than a full calendar year, it’s clear that he’s got the skills to thrive in the promotion.
Final Thoughts
At the core, Dana White’s Contender Series will always be relevant toward the goal of finding MMA’s future champions. It’s always been relevant in that regard. Perhaps its most critical year took place in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the delayed start to the program’s fourth season and the fact that the season stretched into November for the first time ever due to the UFC holding an autumn residency on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, Contender Series provided a lifeline for fighters to step into the cage at a time when local promotions were just starting to come out of hiatuses brought on by the virus.
It’s still a key lifeline toward the development of fighters’ careers as season eight kicks off this week.
