The UFC always looks for fresh faces, and “Dana White’s Contender Series” is the promotion’s most reliable vehicle for identifying them.
Whereas “The Ultimate Fighter” has produced several UFC stars, including some champions, the show’s format removes prospects from their regular training routine and asks them to make weight multiple times over just a few weeks. So you never know whether TUF’s success will translate to the big show.
Contender Series, on the other hand, tests the mettle of fighters who step into the cage after training with their usual coaches and teams. And it’s a one-time showcase. If you have a good night and impress White — which likely means a knockout of some sort — the UFC boss is prepared right then and there to open the Octagon door and usher you in.
As Season 8 of DWCS begins on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET on ESPN+), it’s an excellent time to look back — and forward. Which DWCS alum has shown what it takes to have the brightest future in the sport?
Jamahal Hill is the only Contender Series fighter who has won a UFC title, but his future is murky after rupturing his Achilles tendon in July. Taila Santos and Alex Perez both have competed for belts. Sean O’Malley, who goes for the men’s bantamweight title in two weeks at UFC 292, is already a star. So is three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champ Bo Nickal, despite having had just five professional MMA fights, two in the UFC.
Jeff Wagenheim, Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi, Andres Waters and Sam Bruce looked at the top prospects who’ve come off the show, and each singled out one fighter headed toward the top of the game.
Okamoto: Bo Nickal, middleweight
Contact year: DWCS Season 6, 2022
Record: 5-0, 2-0 UFC
In terms of MMA experience, Nickal has the least of every fighter on this list, by a pretty wide margin. And yet, it’s pretty easy to say he has the brightest future of any DWCS alum.
The UFC’s history is littered with phenomenal wrestlers and Nickal is right up there in terms of the most accomplished. He is a three-time NCAA Division I national champion at Penn State University and a Dan Hodge trophy winner, for the most outstanding collegiate wrestler in the country. Nickal is also a former Big Ten Athlete of the Year. It’s easy to rattle off these accomplishments, but go a step further and think about the hours and discipline that’s behind them. Think about the competitive mindset and experience this 27-year-old has built up. All of that experience might not have occurred in MMA, but it’s immediately transferable and relevant to combat sports.
If Nickal challenged Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight championship tomorrow, I don’t think he would be more than a 2½-to-1 betting underdog to win. I wouldn’t make him any higher than that, at least. Wrap your head around that. Adesanya is currently ranked the No. 4 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by ESPN. Nickal has just five pro fights and made his UFC debut in 2022. He’s been a pro for 14 months, and I believe oddsmakers would give him better than a 25 percent chance to dethrone Adesanya.
But it’s because of that undeniable wrestling ability. What are the trump cards in MMA? It’s power (the ability to turn a fight with one shot) and wrestling (the ability to take a fight wherever you want). Nickal has shown that ability at a lower level, and it won’t take long for the UFC to test him at a higher level. He is positively brimming with confidence. If Nickal hadn’t been a standout wrestler, I believe he could’ve also walked onto the PSU football team. He has that level of athletic ability and work ethic. Opportunities are going to come quickly. But if we’re looking for a horse to bet on when it comes to DWCS alum, I’m putting all my money on Nickal.
Contact year: DWCS Season 5, 2021
Record: 19-2, 5-0 UFC
Of all the talented fighters on this list, Almeida is the biggest. He’s the only heavyweight and capable of fighting at light heavyweight, which he did in his UFC debut last year. This is significant because, in recent years, the heavier divisions have become thinner in MMA (in terms of depth, if not in girth). Almeida is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a true submission specialist. The Brazil-born fighter has finished all five of his UFC fights, three of which have come via rear-naked choke.
Almeida can wrestle, too, and once he gets an opponent down — which he has in all of his UFC fights — he is elite there. ‘Malhadinho’ has essentially drowned every foe he has faced in the UFC on the ground with his strength, power and superior technique. Even before the UFC, Almeida has finished every one of his 19 victories.
All of this is to say, this man is a nightmare matchup for most heavyweights. The majority of the top guys in the division are strikers, like Ciryl Gane, Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov. Tom Aspinall is well-rounded, but he’s better standing up, and Almeida would indeed present difficulty for him on the mat if he can get it there. Seeing Almeida against wrestlers like Jon Jones and Curtis Blaydes would be fascinating.
While he has the pure strength (his nickname “Malhadinho” in Portuguese means muscly) to handle nearly everyone at heavyweight, he is a bit undersized. Almeida has weighed in the low 230s so far in the division, and if he reaches the top tier, he’ll give up around 30 pounds. If he struggles with those larger opponents, Almeida can always drop back down to 205 pounds, another division that doesn’t have many top grapplers in the upper echelon. Do you think Jiří Procházka or Jamahal Hill want to see this guy across the cage from them? Likely not.
Almeida is different from everyone else on this list because of how his skillset mixes with the best in those two divisions. That’s why I think he’s a future UFC champion.
Waters: Taila Santos, women’s flyweight
Contact year: DWCS Brazil 2, 2018
Record: 19-2, 4-2 UFC
It’s been a while since we’ve seen her inside the Octagon, but let’s not forget about Santos and what she’s accomplished in such a short time.
Since earning a UFC contract during the second season of “Dana White’s Contender Series: Brasil” in 2018, Santos has only suffered two losses. Both came by split decision, and the second was in her challenge for the UFC’s women’s flyweight title against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 275 last June.
In just six bouts in the UFC, Santos fought her way into a title fight with Shevchenko, one of the greatest fighters in the history of women’s MMA. And although Santos came up short in that match, the loss certainly should not have affected her stock — at least not negatively. Many people, including myself, believe that she had done enough to dethrone the champ. Even with the loss, Santos had done something that only two other women (Amanda Nunes and Alexa Grasso) have been able to do during Shevchenko’s nearly 10-year run in the UFC: Make her look beatable.
At 30 years old, Santos, who has already proven to be among the top fighters in the division, may just be entering her prime — which is scary to think about. In her next fight, Santos will take on Erin Blanchfield, another flyweight with a bright future in the UFC. After being out of the action for over a year, Blanchfield, who is 5-0 in the promotion, will be a tall task. But, if Santos can get a win, don’t be surprised to see her as the next challenger for the title.
Contact year: DWCS Season 5, 2021
Record: 15-2, 5-0 UFC
Della Maddalena, who earned a UFC contract in 2021, looks to be on the path to stardom. Just under two years from his win over Ange Loosa, Della Maddalena is unbeaten in five fights in the UFC and has nearly worked his way onto ESPN’s divisional rankings.
Della Maddalena’s greatest weapon is undoubtedly his stand-up striking, with former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping telling ESPN he thought the west Australian had “the best boxing in the UFC”. That was a bold statement, but then Della Maddalena obliterated Randy Brown in three minutes of the first round, showing he was no slouch on the mat either, drawing the tap from the Jamaican via rear naked choke.
Perth’s RAC Arena erupted for its local hero, and perhaps the atmosphere was a sample of what might one day come if Della Maddalena was to headline an event in his hometown.
Bassil Hafez raised a few questions about whether Della Maddalena is a genuine title contender with a dogged performance against him in Las Vegas last month. Still, the 26-year-old had endured two opponent changes before getting Hafez locked in. Still, Della Maddalena’s next foray inside the Octagon looms as a critical juncture in his UFC career, but he is clearly the next great hope from Oceania.
Wagenheim: Sean O’Malley, bantamweight
Contact year: DWCS Season 1, 2017
Record: 16-1 1 NC, 8-1 1 NC UFC
I’ll go with O’Malley for a multitude of reasons.
First off, he has a head start on the field. Yes, Hill has already been a UFC champ, and Santos and Perez have fought for belts, but “Suga” is a bigger star than any of them. And while Nickal is getting a starry promotional push not unlike the hype that the UFC generated for O’Malley, Nickal is just starting in MMA, so who knows where his ceiling is? O’Malley, meanwhile, has had more than three times as many fights, and his most recent conquest was a big one, former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan.
O’Malley has an opportunity to become a champion himself in two weeks. If he manages to dethrone Aljamain Sterling, the sky’s the limit. When charisma and star power meet high-level accomplishment, a fighter soars to the upper echelon of the fight world and has a chance to be a crossover phenom in the larger sports universe.
On top of a boost in popularity with fans, a championship victory rockets a fighter’s confidence through the roof, leading to even bigger and better performances.
Even if O’Malley falls short at UFC 292 on Aug. 19, his stock won’t necessarily drop dramatically as long as he puts on a strong, competitive performance and doesn’t look out of his depth. Just as the experience of being in with Yan was a vital career-building block, dealing with Sterling’s relentless grappling will pay dividends for O’Malley moving forward.
Only a handful of athletes in MMA have what O’Malley has. He is a star before his time. And he appears to have an excellent chance to make the future all his.