The best “Reality TV Show” is almost back, and I’m NOT talking about Jersey Shore (which also returns this week).
This may be the case any other week, but not when Dana White’s Contender Series returns today (August 8th). If you need a reminder of what Dana expects for these fights here you go.
What Is DWCS?
If you aren’t familiar with what DWCS is it stands for “Dana Whites Contender Series”. It’s a show Dana White puts on once a year for 10 weeks. How it works is each Tuesday there are 5 fights with fighters hungry for a chance to impress Dana White. Once all 5 fights are completed, Dana and his crew quickly choose if anyone deserves the chance. The best part is when he goes over each fight with the winners present and sees the live reactions to earning/not doing enough to earn their contract.
Winning isn’t enough to earn you a contract. Sometimes a decisive submission or TKO win isn’t even enough. If Dana doesn’t think you’re ready to compete at the UFC level he will tell you straight up and give you another chance down the road. There have been episodes where he gives 5 contracts and some he gives 0/1. We got spoiled last season with great fights which ended up setting a record for contracts given on the show. For some of these fighters, it’s their last chance to reach their lifelong goal. It’s what makes this show so great, hungry fighters = are the best fights.
Every season a future big-name fighter earns his contract on this show. Some have the spotlight on them and some earn their name with one punch. Here are some of my favorite fights from past seasons of Dana Whites Contender Series.
3. Season 1, Week 2. Sugar Sean O’Malley Has Arrived
Most of you Sean O’Malley fans probably had no idea this is how he got his UFC start. Dana White knew that Sean O’Malley had UFC written all over him when he walked in but even he was left speechless after Sugar delivered the final KO blow.
6 years after this contract-earning KO, the Sugar Show is within two weeks of stepping into the ring for a chance at the Bantamweight title. Uncle Snoop knew from the start that Sean was special. If you haven’t seen the full DWCS fight for Sean with Snoop calling it here you go.
UFC contract & smoking a blunt with Snoop on the same night? Legendary.
2. Chris Duncan KO Charlie Campbell In CRAZY Comeback
Next on my list, we have a more recent fight that happened last year. This fight only lasts 1 minute & 40 seconds but has more action than some 5-round main events. Just watch, and then watch again, and again. You don’t see it coming even when you know it’s coming.
Stupid Facebook won’t let me post the full fight video here so this video only shows you half the story. What it doesn’t show you is everything this next video WILL show you. Charlie Campbell was as close as you can get to earning his own UFC contract before getting sent into a different realm.
Now you can see how big of a comeback this really was. What a fight.
1. Ignacio Bahamondes Front Kicks Edson Gomez To Heaven.
Disclaimer: Edson Gomez doesn’t die in this upcoming clip but he sure looks like it.
What a KO. Out cold right away stiff as can be. Not really sure what Gomez’s game plan was in the moments leading up to the KO but what a front kick.
But What If I Told You It Wasn’t His Best UFC KO?
What If I told you that KO doesn’t come close to his highlight real KO on Roosevelt Roberts in the closing seconds of the final round in 2021?
Insanity. The sport can be brutal and this is a prime example of why. So close to the scorecards, then boom ur on every highlight reel on every show for the next month.
What Will Season 7 Bring?
Each season it seems as if the fights keep getting bigger and producing more and more names. Penn State Wrestling standout Bo Nickal. was the star of Season 6 where he actually fought twice because his first fight ended so fast Dana wanted to see more. Nearly a year later Bo sits at 2-0 in the UFC (5-0 total) with none of his fights making it past the 1st round (3 subs, 2 KO). Each year a star is born on this show who will it be this year?
Each week I’ll be giving week-by-week recaps of all the action that happens on the contender Series.
Make sure to watch each Tuesday starting August 8th exclusively on ESPN+.
Some people call me MarTy and some people call me Ryan. Wildcard when it comes to my writing. #FadeMe if I ever tweet out “locks”.