DWCS 77 is upon us. It’s been 10 months since an MMA fan could come home from work on a Tuesday evening, take off their shoes, have dinner and watch some fights. With the calendar now in the middle of August, a favorite summer tradition is back again.
DWCS 77 on Tuesday night marks the beginning of the ninth season of Dana White’s Contender Series. For each of the next 10 weeks, celebrated MMA prospects will go on a business trip to the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, NV with a singular goal in mind:
Securing a UFC contract. This week, the season begins, and as usual, DWCS 77 will feature five MMA fights. Like we’ve seen so many times before, just winning a fight on Contender Series isn’t enough. UFC CEO Dana White has total discretion over how many or how few contracts get handed out on a Tuesday night.
June 27, 2025, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – Dana White L watches Terence Crawford R speaking to the press during the Canelo vs Crawford press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz at T-Mobile Arena on June 27, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada. /Pximages Las Vegas USA – ZUMAp175 20250627_zsa_p175_005 Copyright: xAlejandroxSalazarx
Heading into season nine of Contender Series, 287 alumni of the show have gotten a contract as a direct result of appearing on the program, including 42 last year.
DWCS 77 Marks Anticipated Beginning of Ninth Season Tuesday
It all begins again with DWCS 77 on Tuesday. Normally seen at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT over ESPN+, this week only, the card begins one hour ahead of schedule at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT, so as to not conflict with this week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter.
All fights on the schedule for Contender Series are an advertised maximum of three rounds at five minutes per round. Let’s talk about some of this week’s fights.
DWCS 77 Main Event: Ilian Bouafia vs. Neemias Santana
At the top of the bill this week, the middleweights vie for a UFC contract when undefeated Ilian Bouafia (6-0 MMA) moves down from light heavyweight and puts his streak on the line vs. Neemias Santana (7-2-1 MMA.) Bouafia has yet to lose thus far in his professional MMA career. Back on Valentine’s Day, he bested Paulin Begai (7-4 MMA) by unanimous decision in Ares FC 29.
This was the first time that Bouafia needed to have his win confirmed by the judges’ scorecards. He’s an exciting prospect in his home country of France, with five knockouts on his resume already. What will happen when he fights in America for DWCS 77?
Meanwhile, Neemias Santana has posted a 3-1-1 mark in his last five fights. At the moment, he’s on a four-fight unbeaten streak ahead of DWCS 77. Last time out, he scored a second-round knockout by way of a straight right vs. Marcos Vinicius (6-1-1 MMA) on March 28.
These two fighters come into DWCS 77 having combined for nine wins inside the distance. Something has to give here on Tuesday night. Who will emerge victorious?
DWCS 77: Ty Miller vs. Jimmy Drago
Ahead of the featured bout, you’ll be seeing a welterweight scrap matching Ty Miller (5-0, 1 NC MMA) with Jimmy Drago (7-2, 1 NC MMA.) A universal storyline here: Both men are coming in off of no-contests in their last bout.
The former will be making the walk in DWCS 77 still holding a perfect professional record in the sport. Back on Dec. 6 in the LFA, his fight vs. Arthur Barros (4-1, 1 NC MMA) ended in a no-contest at 3:30 into the opening round after the latter fighter could not continue in the bout upon suffering an inadvertent eye poke.
This was Miller’s only bauble in his career. Can he secure a contract on Tuesday night?
Across the way, Jimmy Drago touches down in Enterprise with a 3-1 record with one no-contest in his last five fights. He’s unbeaten in his last four contests, but his March 14 fight versus Junior Melo (14-9-1, 1 NC MMA) ended with a no-contest inside the second round during CFFC 140 due to a clash of heads.
Win or lose, Drago’s story is an inspiring one. This is a man who was addicted to heroin before becoming clean and sober in the fall of 2015. A decade later, he could be 15 minutes of action (or less) away from securing a UFC deal.
DWCS 77: Baysangur Susurkaev vs. Murtaza Talha
Also on DWCS 77, you’ll see a cracking affair at middleweight between undefeated Baysangur Susurkaev (8-0 MMA) and Murtaza Talha (7-1 MMA, 0-1 DWCS) in the latter’s second Contender Series appearance. Susurkaev has yet to taste defeat as a professional, finishing seven of his eight career opponents.
On Feb. 21, he finished Iraki Kuchukhidze (4-2 MMA) in Fury FC 102 inside the second round. Get your popcorn ready before the cage door shuts on Tuesday night. With Susurkaev sporting an 88 percent finish rate going into this fight, you may not have much of a chance to pop the corn once the fight begins.
In the other corner, Murtaza Talha has gone 4-1 in his last five contests. This past February, he stopped Oleg Klimov (0-5 MMA) inside the first round with ground and pound shots. Klimov’s record has come under scrutiny on Tapology with each of his last three bouts being disputed.
As previously mentioned, Talha will be making his second appearance on Contender Series this coming week. Back in 2023, his fight versus Rodolfo Bellato ended with the latter scoring a second-round knockout victory with 14 seconds remaining in the period.
Will Talha’s second chance result in a UFC contract? Only time will tell.
Rest of the Card on DWCS 77
Two other bouts will take place on opening night for season nine, a featherweight affair matching BFL Featherweight Champion Radley Da Silva (7-1 MMA) with George Mangos (7-0 MMA) and a middleweight contest between Christopher Ewert (7-0 MMA) and Yuri Panferov (8-1 MMA), the latter being the basis for one of the wildest stories in DWCS history.
Ewert and Panferov were initially booked for DWCS 77 before the fight was postponed after the former was signed to the UFC. Ewert’s intended UFC debut was then called off the morning before UFC 317 upon encountering weight cut issues, being cut from the UFC.
Panferov and Ewert’s fight was then back on for opening night as of the day after UFC 317.
Final Thoughts
Which of the five fights are you looking forward to on DWCS 77? Let us know in the comments.