As the 2021 season of Dana White's Contender Series makes the turn into the home stretch, it looks as if the show is trying to wave as many fighters towards home plate as possible. This week’s episode, the ninth out of 10 scheduled, features a half-dozen fights, and if the rest of the season is any indication, might well send that many prospects to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
This week’s crop of Octagon hopefuls features some intriguing talents, including flyweights Qihui Yan and Karine Silva, and Fury Fighting Championship lightweight standout Kolton Englund. While there are four undefeated prospects among the dozen fighters on the card, the strangest bout of the evening features two of them, as Javid Basharat will face Israeli grappling specialist Oron Kahlon, who will be attempting to drop all the way to bantamweight from lightweight. Kahlon will also be one of just a tiny handful of fighters over 40 to appear on the Contender Series.
Dana White’s Contender Series 2021: Week 9 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Oct. 26, and airs live on ESPN+ at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.
THE LINEUP
185: Jansey Silva (7-1) vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev (12-0)135: Christian Quinonez (15-3) vs. Long Xiao (16-6)
155: Javid Basharat (10-0) vs. Oron Kahlon (12-0)
125: Qihui Yan (9-4) vs. Karine Silva (13-4)
155: Manuel Roberto Torres (11-2) vs. Kolton Englund (9-3)
145: Oliver Murad (5-0) vs. Xie Bin (8-2)