DWCS 88 Delivers Electric Midweek Card to Apex

DWCS 88 is upon us. Tuesday night, the second week of the 10th anniversary season of Dana White's Contender Series takes place at the renovated Meta Apex. A week ago, the season began with DWCS 87, a night during which four winners secured UFC contracts.

One contract winner from last week's show is now only days away from beginning his UFC tenure. This coming Saturday night during UFC Sacramento at Golden 1 Center, heavyweight Anthony Wint, who secured his UFC deal with a first-round knockout of Matt Adams during the Aug. 11 main attraction, will fight Terrance Chatman. 

As far as this week's event is concerned, live coverage of DWCS 88 begins at the new start time of 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT on Paramount Plus inside the United States. The customary five-fight card will be held inside the Apex facility. Among the 10 fighters booked to appear, five will be making a return visit to the program. 

DWCS 88 Main Event: Namo Fazil vs. Kaik Brito: MVP, ONE Veteran Hunting for Eighth Straight Win

At the top of the bill for DWCS 88, the welterweights vie for a UFC deal as Namo Fazil (10-1 MMA,) a veteran of both MVP and ONE Championship, battles former OKTAGON MMA Welterweight Champion Kaik Brito (19-6 MMA, 0-1 DWCS,) who will be making his second appearance on the show. All fights are three rounds at five minutes per round.

Fazil enters DWCS 88 having gone 5-0 in his last five fights and has won seven consecutive contests. On May 16, he fought in MVP MMA 1 against Jake Babian (6-2 MMA,) winning by second-round submission via anaconda choke. 

Any time a fighter is on a hot streak, he can be dangerous once the cage door slams shut. Can Fazil secure a deal to MMA's top promotion?

Kaik Brito Has Unfinished Business to Tend to in DWCS 88

Meanwhile, Kaik Brito enters DWCS 88 on Tuesday night with a record of 3-2 in his last five outings. Back on Feb. 14, he stopped Ronald Paradeiser (23-11 MMA) with a spinning backfist inside the third round to capture the then-vacant OKTAGON MMA Welterweight Championship.

Before being booked to appear on DWCS this summer, Brito was slated to defend the 170-lb belt in OKTAGON on Sept. 12 versus Amiran Gogoladze (18-3 MMA, 0-1 DWCS.) Gogoladze has since been rebooked to face off against Felix Klinkhammer (11-0 MMA) for the vacant welterweight title on Halloween in OKTAGON 96. 

Brito came to the then-UFC Apex three years ago to make a bid for a UFC contract, falling by way of majority decision to Oban Elliott. Expect Kaik Brito to fight with frustration in his second appearance on DWCS.

DWCS 88 Co-Main Event: Douglas Rodrigues vs. Trent Miller: Rodrigues in Search of Fourth Straight Knockout

Immediately beforehand, the DWCS 88 co-main event sees the action switch to the middleweight ranks for a contest between Douglas Rodrigues (6-1 MMA) and Trent Miller (9-3 MMA., 0-1 DWCS) Rodrigues will be making the walk this Tuesday on the strength of a 5-0 record in his last five fights. 

Rodrigues most recently secured the Future Fighting Championships Middleweight Championship back in March against Gabriel Ramos (7-2-1 MMA) by way of second-round knockout during Future MMA 17. This was his third victory by way of knockout in succession.

As viewers have seen so many times throughout the years on DWCS, a viral knockout can, and often does, result in a fighter securing a UFC deal. Can Rodrigues do the same here?

Trent Miller Making Second Contender Series Appearance in DWCS 88 Co-Main Event

Across the way, Trent Miller is sporting a 3-2 record in his last five fights. DWCS 88's co-main event serves as the second time in as many years he's fought on DWCS. 

This past January, he scored a second-round knockout win due to strikes against Tyler Smith (3-4 MMA) in Fusion Fight League in Billings, MT. Much like Kaik Brito in the main event, Trent Miller will be making a return trip to Enterprise on Tuesday night. 51 weeks ago, he fought on DWCS 79, losing by first-round knockout to Ryan Gandra (10-1 MMA,) who won a UFC contract at night's end.

He's already made the trip to Enterprise to fight on Contender Series once in his career. Will Trent Miller fare better the second time around?

DWCS 88: Logan Paxton vs. Cristian Perez: APFC Alumnus Makes First Walk in Nine Months

Also on DWCS 88 Tuesday night, fans will be treated to a lightweight tussle between Logan Paxton (10-1 MMA) and Cristian Perez (14-2 MMA, 0-1 DWCS) in his second trip to the program. Paxton has posted a record of 5-0 in his last five appearances. 

Currently, he's on a nine-fight winning streak dating back to November of 2022. Last November, he stopped RJ Hoyt with an overhand right followed by ground and pound strikes in just 33 seconds' time.

He's had close to nine months away from the cage. This begs an age-old question going into DWCS 88: How much ring rust will he need to shake off?

Cristian Perez Third Return Fighter Appearing on DWCS 88

In the other corner, Cristian Perez enters DWCS 88 with a 4-1 record in his last five fights. Perez, who went 13-1 in Combate Global between 2019 and 2023, stopped Gilberto Santos (6-8 MMA) in April during EXF 23 in April in Esmerelda, MX with a first-round knockout. 

Perez did what he needed to do to get back to DWCS in his last fight by securing a knockout. Can he build off of that win on Tuesday?

Only time will tell.

Rest of the Card

DWCS 88 is rounded out by these fights, a light heavyweight contest matching Alik Lorenz (7-2 MMA, 0-1 DWCS) with Mahamad Aly (5-1 MMA, 0-1 DWCS) and a featherweight bout between Taner Trembley (7-0 MMA) and Roman Puga (5-1 MMA.)