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Dana White's Contender Series: Season 9 schedule, how to watch

Season 9 of "Dana White's Contender Series" premieres on ESPN in August 2025. Photo by Amy Kaplan/Icon Sportswire

The best weekly fight night in all of sports is back. Season 9 of "Dana White's Contender Series" premieres Tuesday with the first of 10 straight weeks of prospective fighters duking it out for a UFC contract. Week 1 features a main event between middleweights Ilian Bouafia (6-0-0) and Neemias Santana (7-2-1).

Every season of "Dana White's Contender Series" has produced more highlights, more memorable fights and more contracts than the last. Season 9 figures to be no different. Catch all the action from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas on ESPN+.

"Dana White's Contender Series": Season 9, Week 1 fight card

ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET

Middleweight: Ilian Bouafia vs. Neemias Santana

Welterweight: Ty Miller vs. Jimmy Drago

Middleweight: Baysangur Susurkaev vs. Murtaza Talha

Featherweight: George Mangos vs. Radley da Silva

Middleweight: Christopher Ewert vs. Yuri Panferov

"Dana White's Contender Series" programming schedule

*All times Eastern

Week 1: Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 7 p.m.

Week 2: Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 8 p.m.

Week 3: Tuesday, Aug. 26 at 8 p.m.

Week 4: Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m.

Week 5: Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.

Week 6: Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 8 p.m.

Week 7: Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.

Week 8: Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m.

Week 9: Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m.

Week 10: Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m.

How to watch the fights

Watch the fights on ESPN+.

Fans can catch all the action in the UFC streaming hub.

FightCenter also offers live updates for every UFC card.