{"id":64722,"date":"2025-08-13T09:25:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T09:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/64722\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T09:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T09:25:09","slug":"next-matchups-for-awesome-dwcs-77-contract-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/64722\/","title":{"rendered":"Next Matchups For Awesome DWCS 77 Contract Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that the dust has settled from the UFC Apex, what could be the next matchups booked for the contract winners this week? Season nine of Dana White\u2019s Contender Series didn\u2019t exactly start off with a bang on Tuesday night with DWCS 77. The five fights were expected to yield fireworks up and down the card, but four contests made it to the judges\u2019 scorecards<\/a>, with the only finish coming at the hands (or more accurately, foot) of middleweight Baysangur Susurkaev.\u00a0<\/p>\n

White has been vocal<\/a> about his preference for finishes on the series, so it should come as no surprise that only Susurkaev and one other fighter earned the right to call themselves UFC fighters. Below are potential next matchups for each man.<\/p>\n

Next Matchups: Baysangur Susurkaev vs. Ismail Naurdiev<\/p>\n

Susurkaev showed off the skills that make him such a highly touted prospect tonight. His takedown defense, quickness, and accuracy combined to make short work of Murtaza Talha, an opponent who is arguably more talented than several men who are options for Susurkaev\u2019s promotional debut. Building up the undefeated Chechen is sure to be a priority for the UFC brass for the next matchups to be booked, making fights against the likes of Robert Valentin and Ryan Loder slightly less appealing than a date with Naurdiev.<\/p>\n

\"Baysangur<\/a>August 12, 2025, Las Vegas, Nv, Las Vegas, Nv, United States: Baisangur Susurkaev and Murtaza Talha meet in the octagon for a 3-round bout at UFC Apex for UFC \u2013 DWCS \u2013 Dana White Contender Series Ep. 1 on August 12, 2025 in Las Vegas, NV, United States. \/PxImages Las Vegas, Nv United States \u2013 ZUMAp175 20250812_zsa_p175_091 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex<\/p>\n

Admittedly, this matchup is taking a bit of a gamble with Susurkaev\u2019s stock. Naurdiev has 32 professional fights compared to Susurkaev\u2019s nine, along with a trifecta of wins at MMA\u2019s highest level. All of that serves to boost Susurkaev\u2019s stock quite a bit if he were to overwhelm and drown Naurdiev within a round, as the sportsbooks and fans would inevitably expect should this contest be made among the next matchups after DWCS 77.<\/p>\n

Next Matchups: Ty Miller vs. Adam Fugitt<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t often that a former Golden Gloves victor shows up on the Contender Series, but fans will certainly be glad that Miller did. Unsurprisingly, the welterweight\u2019s hands were notably crisp: jab after jab landed with surprising pop, while Miller\u2019s ability to string together combinations allowed a variety of overhand rights, uppercuts, and crosses to sting his opponent, Jimmy Drago. The hellacious barrage would have put down a lesser fighter, something that Miller will likely get the chance to prove in his debut.<\/p>\n

With a 6-0 record, it is clear that Miller is not a finished product. Matching him up with a grappler robs the fans of a picturesque boxing showing while simultaneously hurting the progress of a promising prospect. Instead, a guy like Fugitt is the perfect pairing as far as the next matchups to be booked , presenting an opponent who will stand and bang without presenting much danger.<\/p>\n

The UFC made a similar matchup in Fugitt\u2019s last fight with Islam Dulatov<\/a>, showing Fugitt\u2019s willingness to test himself against up-and-coming fighters. November\u2019s Apex showing would be the perfect proving ground for both men.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now that the dust has settled from the UFC Apex, what could be the next matchups booked for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-64722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}