Another Tuesday means another day for MMASucka staff picks.
Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 7 Week 7, also titled as Dana White’s Contender Series 63, will take place tonight, September 19th from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Top-ranked prospects from around the globe get their shot at earning a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship beginning at 8:00pm ET (5:00pm PT) on ESPN+.
Results from Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 7, Week 7 will be available here at MMASucka.
Take a look back at our staff picks from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 227 event in Las Vegas.
The Fights
In the night’s main event, undefeated heavyweights Shamil Gaziev and Greg Velasco will battle across three possible rounds. Russia’s Gaziev has not secured a title through the regional scene since switching to professional competition in late 2020 but has remained dominant with finishes over all but one of his ten victories including his most recent knockout in February over former UFC competitor Darko Stosic. His opponent, Velasco, has done nearly identical with five stoppages over six opponents including his capturing of the Cage Fury FC Championship last October of Kevin Sears by decision and a single defense in his latest cage appearance.
The lightweight division will be represented in the co-main event between JaCobi Jones and Daniel James Allen. Current LFA Lightweight Champion Jones gets his first shot competing professionally outside of the LFA banner as he takes on Daniel Allen who has targets win number five representing American Top Team as one of the gym’s top prospects.
Multi-time IBJJF World Champion and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu medalist Talita Alencar brings her grappling expertise in preparation for her fifth MMA fight against former Jungle Fight Strawweight Champion Stephanie Luciano at 115 pounds.
Bringing the most experience of all tonight sees another Jungle Fight title holder of Kaynan Kruschewsky as he fights at lightweight against former Ring of Combat Champion Dylan Mantello.
Opening the ESPN+ event sees a must-watch flyweight pairing between former August of 2022 Jungle Fight Flyweight victor Igor da Silva, the youngest card competitor at 20 years of age, against former Shooto Strawweight Champion and Nova Uniao affiliate Jhonata Silva who contests in only his second fight in four years.
Who wins and who is picked to win at Dana White’s Contender Series 63?
DWCS 2023 – Week 6 Contract Winners: Julia Polastri (women’s strawweight), Jean Matsumoto (bantamweight), Steven Nguyen (featherweight), James Llontop (lightweight), Jhonata Diniz (heavyweight)
2023 Staff Picks
MMASucka staff picks are composed of five promotions: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellator MMA, ONE Championship, the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). UFC and Bellator events feature picks from only main cards. PFL will feature select fights from the main and/or preliminary card while DWCS sees all fights counted from the event. ONE Championship returns to picks for the first time since 2020 and will feature only mixed martial arts (MMA) fights selected from cards with a minimum three matchups.
The WINNER of staff picks at the end of 2023, who picked the most victorious fighters, will have a choice between receiving a custom-made championship belt from ProAmBelts or a chain from Championship Chains. Staff picks in 2022 was won by Wesley Riddle with a record of 264-135.
See below for our Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 7, Week 7 picks.
Staff Records after Dana White’s Contender Series – Season 7, Week 6:
Ben Jamieson: 225-113
Michael DeSantis: 223-115
Jeremy Brand: 215-123
Wesley Riddle: 214-124
Nate Freeman: 212-126
Frazer Krohn: 206-132
Julio Monteros Jr.: 190-107
Andrew Benjamin: 159-134
Jack Goodwillie: 148-83
Brian Knight: 137-82
Tim Wheaton: 105-60
Roemello Reyes: 62-34
Jonathan Andrade: 31-24
Brandon Joint: 12-9
Andrew Harbaugh: 10-7
Joshua Yule: 7-6
Chris De Santiago: 6-6
Antwyn Jackson: 5-6
*Note – not all staff pick for every event*
* Note – UFC Fight Night 227 picks will be added to the above records NEXT weekend*
Igor da Silva (7-0), -185
vs.
Jhonata Silva (8-1), +154
Flyweight Division
– 125 LBS. ~ 56.7 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: da Silva via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: da Silva via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: da Silva via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Silva via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: da Silva via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: da Silva via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking da Silva: 5
Staff picking Silva: 1
Kaynan Kruschewsky (14-1, 1 NC), -218
vs.
Dylan Mantello (7-2), +180
Lightweight Division
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Kruschewsky via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Kruschewsky via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Kruschewsky via Round 2 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Kruschewsky via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Mantello via Round 2 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Kruschewsky via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Kruschewsky: 5
Staff picking Mantello: 1
Talita Alencar (4-0), -218
vs.
Stephanie Luciano (5-1), +180
Women’s Strawweight Division
– 115 LBS. ~ 52.2 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Alencar via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Alencar via Round 2 SUB
Michael DeSantis: Alencar via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Alencar via Round 2 SUB
Nate Freeman: Alencar via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Alencar via Round 2 TKO
Staff picking Alencar: 6
Staff picking Luciano: 0
JaCobi Jones (6-1), -258
vs.
Daniel James Allen (4-0), +210
Lightweight Division
– Co-Main Event –
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Jones via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Jones via Round 2 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Jones via Round 3 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Jones via Split Decision
Nate Freeman: Jones via Split Decision
Ben Jamieson: Jones via Round 3 TKO
Staff picking Jones: 6
Staff picking James Allen: 0
Shamil Gaziev (10-0), -600
vs.
Greg Velasco (6-0), +440
Heavyweight Division
– Main Event –
– 265 LBS. ~ 120.2 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Gaziev via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Gaziev via Round 1 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Gaziev via Round 1 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Gaziev via Round 1 TKO
Nate Freeman: Gaziev via Round 1 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Gaziev via Round 1 TKO
Staff picking Gaziev: 6
Staff picking Velasco: 0
