Contender Series is back!
Season 10 kicks off later TONIGHT (Tues., Aug. 11, 2025) from inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it is loaded with top mixed martial arts (MMA) talent. Hard-hitting Heavyweights headline the card as former NFL player Anthony Wint takes on LFA veteran Matt Adams. Meanwhile, top Flyweight prospect Bilal Hasan collides with Mridul Saikia earlier in the card.
Before the next crop of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters get their contracts, MMAmania.com will highlight
the best fighter from each of the previous nine seasons.
Annnnnd here we go!
Sean O’Malley, Season One (Jul. 11 – Aug. 29, 2017)
This season is an absolute no-brainer: Sean O’Malley. There is an argument that he is the most popular fighter to ever come off the series, and it feels like UFC CEO Dana White has been looking for his next O’Malley ever since.
O’Malley knocked out Alfred Khashakyan in the first round and yelled, “Welcome To The Sugar Show,” which had everyone turning their heads. Oh, and Snoop Dog lost his mind over the knockout.
O’Malley eventually captured UFC’s Bantamweight crown with a knockout over Aljamain Sterling (watch highlights) and has defended it once against his rival, Marlon Vera — only to lose it to Merab Dvalishvili.
Honorable mentions: Alex Perez, Dan Ige (Ige wasn’t awarded a contract on the show, but fought on short notice at UFC 220).
Anthony Hernandez, Season Two (Jun. 12 – Aug. 7, 2018)
Season two of Contender Series had a ton of great options. From Maycee Barber to Kevin Holland to Sodiq Yusuff to Jalin Turner. And in past years of doing this list, I’ve selected Kevin Holland because of his activity and his popularity despite never really being a contender.
However, I think it’s time to switch it to Anthony Hernandez.
Hernandez started his UFC career with a 1-2 record, but it was after his massive upset of Rodolfo Vieira (watch it) that he went on an incredible eight-fight win streak, knocking off great fighters and just absolutely breaking them in the process.
His long winning streak eventually came to an end against Sean Strickland, but he’s still very much in the title hunt.
Honorable mentions: Mayce Barber, Kevin Holland
Jamahal Hill, Season Three (Jun. 18 – Aug. 20, 2019)
The first Contender Series fighter to hold UFC gold came in season three, week five: Jamahal Hill.
Hill’s first three UFC fights were pretty forgettable, that was, until Paul Craig dislocated “Sweat Dreams” elbow, handing Hill his first professional loss (see it). After that, Hill knocked out highly touted prospect, Jimmy Crute, which scored him his first UFC main event against Johnny Walker (watch it).
Hill got another main event against former Light Heavyweight title challenger, Thiago Santos, and then had the best timing ever because he stepped right into a vacant title shot against Glover Teixeira.
“Sweat Dreams” won a dominant unanimous decision to accomplish his goal. He was never be able to defend his title, though, tearing his Achilles and vacating the belt.
Hill might be on a pretty bad skid right now, but he was the first fighter from the series to become a champion. Oh, and he’s moving to Heavyweight.
Honorable mentions: Brendan Loughnane, Brendan Allen
Carlos Ulberg, Season Four (Aug. 4. – Sept. 1, 2020)
Season four of Contender Series took place during the global pandemic, which devastated the regional mixed martial arts (MMA) scene, but a lot of talent came off the season.
That includes the fourth fighter from the series to become champion, Carlos Ulberg.
Ulberg lost his UFC debut via brutal knockout but then rattled off nine straight wins to challenge for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight title. On a blown-out knee, he was able to survive and starch Jiri Prochazka to claim the strap (watch highlights).
Ulberg is currently 10-1 in the promotion.
Honorable mentions: Adrian Yanez, Impa Kasanganay
Jack Della Maddalena, Season Five (Aug. 31. – Nov. 2, 2020)
Season five of Contenders Series featured the third fighter to win UFC gold: Jack Della Maddalena.
“JDM” is undefeated inside the Octagon, holding a perfect (8-0) record with the promotion, and in his most recent outing, he battered Belal Muhammad to win the UFC Welterweight title (watch highlights). He has raked in six “Performance of the Night” bonuses, including stopping title challenger Gilbert Burns (with a broken arm).
Maddalena had a chance to add Islam Makhachev to his resume, but ultimately lost his Welterweight title strap inside the world-famous Madison Square Garden.
Honorable mentions: Diego Lopes, Caio Borralho
Joe Pyfer, Season Six (Jul. 26. – Sept. 27, 2021)
Season six of Contenders Series was by far the hardest to pick a clear winner; in fact, I’ve changed my mind several times — and I’ll be honest, it was between Joe Pyfer and Bo Nickal. However, at the end of the day, Pyfer is the best fighter from the fifth season (right now).
Besides a loss to Jack Hermansson, Pyfer has been perfect inside the Octagon and extremely violent. He has four knockouts and two submissions, with five Performance of the Night bonuses. In his most recent outing, he scored the biggest win of his career by strangling Israel Adesanya (watch highlights).
“Bodybagz” finally got himself into the rankings and is awaiting a massive fight for his next one.
Honorable mentions: Raul Rosas Jr., Bo Nickal
Carlos Prates, Season Seven (Aug. 8. – Oct. 10, 2023)
The two best fighters to come off season seven of Contender Series are by far Carlos Prates and Jean Silva — and because Prates has two former champions on his resume, he’s the pick.
Prates started off his UFC career by knocking out four straight opponents, scoring Performance of the Night in all of them. He then ran into Ian Garry, who served the Brazilian his first UFC loss.
But that loss did not keep him down, as he knocked out Geoff Neal (watch highlights), Leon Edwards (watch highlights) and Jack Della Maddalena (watch it) to put him potentially next in line for a Welterweight title shot.
Honorable mentions: Jean Silva, Vinicius Oliveira
Quillan Salkilld, Season Eight (Aug. 13 – Oct. 15, 2024)
Red-hot Australian prospect Quillan Salkilld has turned into a Lightweight contender in just 18 months.
Salkilld went 3-0 in his rookie year, in which he starched Anshul Jubli in just 19 seconds in his UFC debut and followed that up with a unanimous decision win over Yanal Ashmouz. To close out his 2025 rookie year, the Aussie went viral for a brutal head kick knockout of Nasrat Haqparast (watch it).
In his sophomore year, he jumped into the Lightweight rankings after knocking out Beneil Dariush at UFC Perth (watch highlights). In his most recent outing, he strangled Mateusz Gamrot to really put a stamp on himself as a legit contender (watch highlights).
Honorable mentions: Ateba Gautier, Lone’er Kavanagh
Josh Hokit, Season 10 (Aug. 12 – Oct. 14, 2025)
While one year is definitely challenging to gauge a bunch of fighters, Heavyweight loudmouth Josh Hokit has set himself apart from the rest of the Season 10 contract winners.
Hokit has bulldozed his way through his first two Octagon appearances, scoring back-to-back first-round stoppages before going to war with former title challenger Curtis Blaydes in one of the best fights of the year, besting “Razor” via unanimous decision.
And because of his incredible fight with Blaydes, Hokit got the call to take on Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House lawn. Hokit made the most of his big opportunity by stopping Lewis (watch highlights), and then ruined his moment by calling Michelle Obama a man.
Honorable mentions: Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev, Tommy McMillen
For complete Contender Series news and notes checkout our comprehensive archive here.
