Dana White’s “Contender Series” will mark its tenth season when the talent-discovery show returns on Aug. 11 at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount+ from inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas. For those of you unfamiliar with the format, it’s sort of like The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) without the alcohol or protracted drama. Handpicked prospects are given one night to compete, though performances can sometimes trump results.
Contender Series has produced multiple UFC champions including Sean O’Malley, Jack Della
Maddalena, and Carlos Ulberg, among others. It’s also given rise to some exciting prospects like Quillan Salkilld, Payton Talbott, Jean Silva, Carlos Prates, Josh Hokit, Mauricio Ruffy, and Kevin Holland. Over 300 contracts have been issued since the inaugural season back in summer 2017.
“When we put on fights now, these fights start trending worldwide like our pay-per-views do or our big fights,” White said back in 2022. “So, it’s never happened until this season where like tonight during that fight we were trending No. 4. We got up to No. 4 tonight worldwide. This just started this season. This will eventually, it should be, and eventually will be on ESPN the network.”
