Dana White’s Contender Series, Season 7 roster filling up for summer 2023 launch

Dana White’s Contender Series, Season 7 is in the works.

DWCS debuted in 2017 with an eight-episode inaugural season. Season 2 was held in 2018 with eight episodes, followed by a three-episode DWCS: Brasil. In 2019, DWCS was extended to 10 episodes for its third season. The length was repeated in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Each season, the number of fighters signed has increased. Thus far, the show has produced UFC notables including Sean O’Malley, Maycee Barber, Geoff Neal, Ryan Spann, Sodiq Yusuff, Jamahal Hill, Taila Santos, Johnny Walker, Alex Perez, Bo Nickal, Jailton Almeida, Jack Della Maddalena, and Marina Rodriguez among others.

In recent weeks, the UFC matchmakers have been gearing up for a summer DWCS return, expected to launch Aug. 8. Athletes and matchups have slowly but surely been booked. The number of episodes for Season 7 is not yet known.

Scroll below to see the latest athletes and fights booked, which have been confirmed by MMA Junkie or posted about by the fighters involved. This list will be updated as more fighters and matchups come to light.

Week 1 - Aug. 8

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 12: Reyes Cortez prepares to fight Christian Rodriguez in a bantamweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series season five, week seven at UFC APEX on October 12, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

• Middleweight: Cesar Almeida (3-0 vs. Lucas Fernando (9-1) (MMA Mania)
• Lightweight: Bogdan Grad (11-1) vs. Tom Nolan (5-0) (MMA Junkie)
• Heavyweight: Caio Machado (7-1-1) vs. Kevin Szaflarski (11-1)
• Bantamweight: Junior Cortez (7-2) vs. Payton Talbott (5-0) (MMA reporter Shawn Bitter)
• Flyweight: Kevin Borjas (8-1) vs. Victor Dias (11-2) (MMA Fighting)

Week 2 - Aug. 15

• Lightweight: Abdul-Kerim Al-Selwady (14-3) vs. George Hardwick (12-1) (MMA Mania)
• Women’s strawweight: Eduarda Moura (8-0) vs. Janaina Silva (5-0)
• Featherweight: Hyder Amil (7-0) vs. Emrah Sonmez (14-4) (MMA reporter Shawn Bitter)
• Heavyweight: Ibo Aslan (11-1) vs. Paulo Renato Jr. (12-2) (MMA Junkie)
• Bantamweight: Charalampos Grigoriou (7-3) vs. Cameron Smotherman (8-3) (MMA Mania)

Week 3 - Aug. 22

• Middleweight: Eli Aronov (6-0) vs. Zach Reese (5-0)
• Welterweight: Kaik Brito (16-4) vs. Oban Elliott (8-2) (MMA Mania)
• Women’s strawweight: Josefine Knutsson (5-0) vs. Isis Verbeek (4-1) (Eurosport NL)
• Featherweight: Luis Pajuelo (7-1) vs. Robbie Ring (6-0) (Eurosport NL)
• Flyweight: Felipe Dos Santos (7-0) vs. Luciano Pereira (13-1)

Week 4 - Aug. 29

• Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (5-2) vs. Marco Tulio Silva (9-1) (Dutch Fight Network)
• Heavyweight: Chandler Cole (10-3) vs. Thomas Petersen (7-1) (MMA Mania)
• Featherweight: Timmy Cuamba (6-1) vs. Mateo Vogel (8-2) (Tapology)
• Welterweight: Carlos Prates (16-6) vs. Mitch Ramirez (7-0) (MMA reporter Shawn Bitter)
• Lightweight: Bolaji Oki (7-1) vs. Dylan Salvador (5-1)

Week 5 - Sept. 5

• Women’s flyweight: Corinne Laframboise (8-4) vs. TBA
• Light heavyweight: Bruno Lopes (11-0) vs. Brendson Ribeiro (14-5) (MMA Junkie)
• Featherweight: Jean Silva (10-2) vs. Kevin Vallejos (11-0)
• Women’s bantamweight: Rainn Guerrero (5-1) vs. TBA
• Bantamweight: Serhiy Sidey (9-1) vs. Ramon Taveras (8-1)
• Middleweight: Chad Hanekom (9-2) vs. Cam Rowston (8-2) (MMA Junkie)

Week 6 - Sept. 12

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 22: Eduardo Neves poses on the scale during Dana White’s Contender Series season six, week five weigh-in at Palace Station on August 22, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

• Heavyweight: Jhonata Diniz (7-1) vs. Eduardo Neves (5-0) (MMA reporter Shawn Bitter)
• Lightweight: James Llontop (13-2) vs. Malik Lewis (6-1) (ESPN Deportes)
• Featherweight: A.J. Cunningham (10-2) vs. Steven Nguyen (8-1) (MMA Mania)
• TBA vs. TBA
• TBA vs. TBA

Week 7 - Sept. 19

• Women’s strawweight: Stephanie Luciano (5-1) vs. TBA
• Flyweight: Jhonata Silva (8-1) vs. TBA
• Heavyweight: Shamil Ghaziev (10-0) vs. Greg Velasco (6-0) (MMA Fighting)
• TBA vs. TBA
• TBA vs. TBA

Week 8 - Sept. 26

• Heavyweight: Mario Piazzon (6-0) vs. Alexander Soldatkin (14-3)
• Women’s flyweight: Ernesta Kareckaite (4-0-1) vs. Sora Rakhmonova (4-1)
• Bantamweight: Vinicius de Oliveira (18-3) vs. Victor Madrigal (12-3)
• Welterweight: Danny Barlow (6-0) vs. Justin Burlinson (8-2) (MMA Mania)
• Featherweight: Angel Pacheco (7-1) vs. Danny Silva (7-1) (ESPN Deportes)

Week 9 - Oct. 3

• Flyweight: Davi Bittencourt (14-3) vs. Luis Rocha (16-1) (Tapology)
• Bantamweight: Victor Hugo Silva (23-4) vs. Eduardo Matias Torres (16-1) (MMA reporter Steve Duncan)
• Light heavyweight: Jose Medina (11-2) vs. TBA
• Light heavyweight: Magomed Gadzhiyasulov (7-0) vs. TBA
• Light heavyweight: Murtaza Talha (6-0) vs. TBA
• Welterweight: Raheam Forest (7-1) vs. TBA

Week 10 - Oct. 10

• Middleweight: Torrez Finney (6-0) vs. Yuri Panferov (6-0) (MMA Mania)
• Welterweight: Issa Isakov (11-2) vs. Marquel Mederos (7-1)
• Flyweight: Andre Lima (6-0) vs. Rickson Zenidim (14-1) (MMA Junkie)
• Featherweight: Jair Farias (10-0) vs. Connor Matthews (6-1) (MMA reporter Shawn Bitter)
• TBA vs. TBA

Confirmed fighters without dates

• Middleweight: Cam Rowston (8-2)
• Middleweight: Val Woodburn (7-0)**
• Featherweight: Tobias Harila (12-3)*
• Bantamweight: Kasey Tanner (6-0)
• Bantamweight: Jean Matsumoto (13-0)
• Flyweight: Edgar Chairez (10-4)**
• Flyweight: Igor da Silva (7-0)
• Flyweight: Joshua Van (7-1)**
• Women’s strawweight: Talita Alencar (4-0)
• Women’s strawweight: Patricia Alujas (9-2)
• Women’s strawweight: Fabiola Pidroni (5-0)*
• Women’s strawweight: Julia Polastri (11-3)

* = Withdrew from bout

** = Signed with UFC prior to bout