The latest season of Dana White’s Contender Series is about to begin.
The five-fight lineup for Week 1 of Contender Series was announced during Saturday night’s broadcast of UFC 303. Headlining the card is a middleweight showdown between Mansoor Abdul-Malik and Wesley Schultz, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on August 13. Contender Series will air on ESPN+ at 7pm ET/4pm PT.
The other four bouts confirmed for the event are: welterweight Meng Ding vs. Islam Dulatov, light heavyweight Mikheil Sajniani vs. Bruno Lopez, featherweight Icaro Brito vs. Ernie Juarez and flyweight Ronil Kavanagh vs. Anh Tuan Ho.
The Contender Series began in 2017, awarding UFC contracts to fighters who impress Dana White, and the format has proven popular and become a talent pipeline for the promotion, with more contracts being signed with each passing season.
Abdul-Malik is undefeated in five professional fights and is most recently coming off a first-round knockout of Allan Saint-Jeraisat at LFA 176 on February 9. All of his wins have come in the first round.
Schultz is also an LFA veteran, with a 6-1 record and coming off a three-fight win streak against Abdul-Malik, and has knocked out Maurice Morris and Adland Benson under the LFA banner so far in 2024.
