The penultimate episode of Dana White’s Contender series is perfect to watch after a bit of a scare.
After another hour for one fighter to get the appropriate mark, all 10 fighters for week 9 of the DWCS were officially decided. The show, which aired Tuesday night from its usual venue at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, saw Anthony Drilic briefly go heavy in a flyweight bout against Sean Gauci. After initially reaching 127 pounds, he came back an hour later to hit the 126-pound limit and all systems went off.
The highlight of the ninth round of the 2024 season will be a light heavyweight showdown between power punching Frenchman Islam Maslav (204.5 points) and former Glory kickboxing great Artem Vakitov (205.5 points). Tuesday’s card kicks off as usual at 8pm ET/5pm PT on ESPN+.
With just three matches on his professional resume, Maslav made a splash at Ares FC in 2023, tapping Azamat Abukhanov in the second round. Two first-round knockouts, including one in just 10 seconds under the Pro Fighters League banner, boosted his chances of earning this contract.
Vakitov, who has been an MMA professional since 2023, left the sport of kickboxing to dabble in MMA while still in his early 30s. Although his debut was hampered by injuries, the Russian bounced back this year by defeating Siyabush Salokhov and Valisher Kambaev in a combined time of 1 minute 54 seconds. As a kickboxer, Vakitov has won the Glory light heavyweight strap twice, first in 2015 in a revenge match against Saulo Cavallari, then in 2021 against current UFC 205-pound champion Alex Pereira. He won it again in a rematch with.
Contender Series Week 9 Weigh-in Results:
Islam Maslav (204.5) vs. Artem Vakitov (205.5)
Cody Steele (156) vs. Chasen Blair (156)
Lucas Triverio Camacho (240) vs. Mario Pinto (244)
Vanilton Antunes (171) vs. Islam Duratov (171)
Sean Gauci (126) vs. Anthony Drilich (126)
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