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Bella Mir stunned in historic DWCS upset as Dana White awards five contracts

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Bella Mir stunned in historic DWCS upset as Dana White awards five contracts

Week 3 of
Dana White's Contender Series saw the biggest upset in the
history of the show.

Week 3 of the 10th season of DWCS went down at Meta Apex in Las
Vegas on Aug. 25. All five winners on the card walked away with

Ultimate Fighting Championship contracts.

Alex Apodaca defeats the -6000 favorite to cap DWCS 2026 Week
3

The main event of the card saw the biggest upset in the history of
DWCS. Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir's
daughter Bella Mir
(4-1) was a -6000 favorite going into her bantamweight clash
against Alex
Apodaca (5-1). Apodaca outclassed Mir on the feet while holding
her own in wrestling exchanges to earn a unanimous decision
win.

White admits that while he is mostly unbiased in fights, he was
heavily biased towards Mir, having been a mentor to her. White
notes that Michael
Bisping had correctly expected Apodaca's experience to play a
factor in the fight.

“Alex, what you had to face tonight… Now I'm very proud of myself
that in 10 years of doing this, I've never had any bias,†White
said while granting Apodaca a UFC contract. “I don't know anything
about anybody coming in. I was overly biased in this fight. I've
known Bella for a long time. Four years ago we started mapping out
her plan and who she was gonna be… Michael Bisping said, ‘She might
be the biggest underdog in Contender Series history, but she has
the experience that Bella doesn't: Deep waters.' Bisping nailed it
on the head. Unbelievable upset. Congratulations, you're in the
UFC.â€

Nick
Galanti (8-1) opened the card in a middleweight clash against
Carlos
Petruzzella (15-2). Galanti made quick work of the Argentinian,
dropping him with a right hook and finishing him with
ground-and-pound in just 35 seconds. UFC CEO Dana
White commended Galanti's flawless performance while awarding
him a contract.

“Nick, you couldn't possibly open a show better than you did,â€
White said. “And you couldn't perform any better on this show than
you did. Congratulations, you're in the UFC.â€

Ronald
Humphrey (5-0) earned the second contract in Week 3 of DWCS
2026. Humphrey put on a dominant display of wrestling and striking
before making Alexis
Miranda (9-3) tap to a rear-naked choke in the first round.

White revealed that matchmaker Sean Shelby told him that it was
difficult to find an opponent for the undefeated welterweight on
DWCS. White told Shelby that it won't be easy for him to find
Humphrey an opponent in the UFC as well.

“Ronald, you're an animal,†White said. “I said to Sean, ‘This guy
is so well-rounded for having only four fights.' And Sean said,
‘They couldn't get anyone to fight him.' I said, ‘You're not gonna
be able to get anyone to fight him either.' Congratulations,
welcome to the UFC.â€

Cage Warriors interim welterweight champion Sean Clancy
Jr. (9-0) earned a UFC contract for his win over Gary
Balletto Jr. (11-4). White was impressed with the composure of
the 23-year-old Clancy Jr. as he dragged Balletto Jr. to the mat
and unleashed vicious elbows to secure the stoppage in the second
round.

“Sean, you're only 23 years old, and you're 9-0; it's incredible,â€
White said. “I love how technical and composed you are for such a
young guy. Saw a lot of great things from you in less than two
rounds. I'm really excited about your future in the UFC.â€

Guilherme
Uriel (8-2) earned a UFC contract for his win over Mario
Piazzon (12-2). White admits that he was surprised by Uriel’s
guillotine attempt, which initially didn't look threatening.
However, Uriel proved White wrong by forcing Piazzon to tap to a
guillotine in just 50 seconds.

“It was a weird fight,†White said. “I was surprised; I literally
said, ‘Why does he keep going for the choke? He's not getting the
choke. What's he doing?' I was wrong. You got the choke, finished
it quickly… Welcome to the UFC.â€

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MMA

Dustin Poirier admits he helped teammate cheat scale to make weight

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Dustin Poirier admits he helped teammate cheat scale to make weight
Dustin
Poirier will do whatever it takes to help his teammates.

Poirier recently recalled an incident in which he helped a teammate
make weight illegally. Poirier's friend was over the weight limit
for a fight in Mississippi, and the former
Ultimate Fighting Championship interim titleholder resorted to
manipulating the scale to help him.

Dustin Poirier details how he lifted an overweight teammate
during a Mississippi weigh-in

Fighters shed every bit of clothing and stand behind a towel when
they're close to the weight limit. Poirier stood behind the towel
with his teammate while everyone else was on the other side. “The
Diamond†claims he slightly lifted his friend so that he made
weight.

“One time one of my buddies was fighting in Mississippi,†Poirier
said on the “Deep Waters†podcast. “And they had the towel out, he
was naked, he was over [the weight limit]. I was behind the towel
with him. Everybody was in front. I grabbed a handful of hairy man
*ss cheeks and I lifted him up a little bit, got him on
weight.â€

Poirier (30-10) hung up his gloves after losing to Max
Holloway last year. He has since admitted that he misses
fighting and hasn't entirely ruled out a return.

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MMA

Dustin Poirier admits he helped teammate cheat scale to make weight

Published

on

Dustin Poirier admits he helped teammate cheat scale to make weight
Dustin
Poirier will do whatever it takes to help his teammates.

Poirier recently recalled an incident in which he helped a teammate
make weight illegally. Poirier's friend was over the weight limit
for a fight in Mississippi, and the former
Ultimate Fighting Championship interim titleholder resorted to
manipulating the scale to help him.

Dustin Poirier details how he lifted an overweight teammate
during a Mississippi weigh-in

Fighters shed every bit of clothing and stand behind a towel when
they're close to the weight limit. Poirier stood behind the towel
with his teammate while everyone else was on the other side. “The
Diamond†claims he slightly lifted his friend so that he made
weight.

“One time one of my buddies was fighting in Mississippi,†Poirier
said on the “Deep Waters†podcast. “And they had the towel out, he
was naked, he was over [the weight limit]. I was behind the towel
with him. Everybody was in front. I grabbed a handful of hairy man
*ss cheeks and I lifted him up a little bit, got him on
weight.â€

Poirier (30-10) hung up his gloves after losing to Max
Holloway last year. He has since admitted that he misses
fighting and hasn't entirely ruled out a return.

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MMA

Zabit Magomedsharipov signs with RAF, faces fellow UFC vet in Abu Dhabi

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Zabit Magomedsharipov signs with RAF, faces fellow UFC vet in Abu Dhabi

Zabit Magomedsharipov is heading to the wrestling mats.

Promotional officials confirmed to MMA Fighting that Magomedsharipov is set to face fellow UFC featherweight veteran Giga Chikadze at RAF Abu Dhabi. The event takes place Nov. 14 at Etihad Arena.

Magomedsharipov had his final MMA fight nearly seven years ago, defeating Calvin Kattar in the main event of UFC Moscow in November 2019. The 35-year-old went 6-0 during his UFC run, including a victory over Jeremy Stephens, along with a trio of stoppage wins.

Chikadze is a 13-fight UFC veteran who began his promotional run with seven straight wins before running into Kattar in the main event of UFC Vegas 46 in January 2022, losing a lopsided unanimous decision in his first UFC main event. Since then, “Ninja†picked up a win against Alex Caceres, but has since dropped his past four octagon appearances.

Additionally, Jordan Burroughs opponent for the event is set as he'll face Azamat Nurykau from their classic matchup during the 2019 world championships — which Burroughs won in dramatic fashion.

RAF Abu Dhabi is headlined by a cruiserweight crossover championship match between Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev.

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