The lineup for the opening two weeks of the 10th season of
Dana White's Contender Series has been unveiled.

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship announced the bout order during
the
UFC Abu Dhabi broadcast, confirming 10 fights across the first
two episodes of the annual prospect series, which returns to Meta
Apex in Las Vegas on Aug. 11. Each event will stream live on
Paramount+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

DWCS Season 10 opening fights feature Anthony Wint vs. Matthew
Adams and 10 UFC hopefuls

Dana White’s Contender Series has become one of the UFC’s primary
talent pipelines, producing numerous ranked contenders and
champions, including current light heavyweight king Carlos
Ulberg.

The upcoming season opener is headlined by a heavyweight clash
between Anthony
Wint and Matthew
Adams, while lightweight prospects Fabrizio
Escarrega and Abe
Alsaghir meet in the co-main event. The second episode's
headliner sees Namo Fazil
taking on Kaik Brito,
with
Dougles Henriques Rodrigues and Trent
Miller set to collide in the co-main event.

Here are the bouts featured in the first two weeks:

Week 1

Anthony
Wint vs. Matthew
Adams (heavyweight)
Fabrizio
Escarrega vs. Abe
Alsaghir (lightweight)
Bilal
Hasan vs. Mridul
Saikia (flyweight)
Tom
Pagliarulo vs. Ananias
Mulumba (featherweight)
Jonathan
Kunneman vs. Joseph
Kropschot (middleweight)

Week 2

Namo
Fazil vs. Kaik Brito
(welterweight)

Dougles Henriques Rodrigues vs. Trent
Miller (middleweight)
Logan
Paxton vs. Cristian
Perez (lightweight)
Alik
Lorenz vs. Mahamed Aly
(light heavyweight)
Roman
Puga vs. Taner
Trembley (featherweight)

It’s almost Tuesday Night time for the
return of DWCS! 🤩

Here’s the official bout order for Season 10’s first 2 weeks of the
show!

[ LIVE ON @ParamountPlus
] pic.twitter.com/2L3vcUw5st

— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount)
July 25, 2026

Jean
Silva won't desert his teammate out of fear of getting
embroiled in controversy.

Silva's
Fighting Nerds teammate Ilay
Barzilay (7-1) is from Israel, and like some athletes from the
country, Barzilay is facing backlash amidst the ongoing
Israel-Palestine conflict. Barzilay is scheduled to fight Lucas
Almeida (15-5) at
Gordon Fight Nights 1 on July 27 at Menorah Mivtachim Arena in
Tel Aviv and Silva is set to corner Barzilay for his upcoming
fight.

A fan recently noted that Silva being in the Israeli capital will
likely see him be labeled a ‘Zionist' in Brazil. However, the

Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight refused to part
ways with his longtime teammate. “Lord†also says that he had to go
to Israel as none of their other Fighting Nerds teammates could
make it. The Brazilian also believes a win over Almeida could earn
Barzilay a spot on
Dana White's Contender Series.

“I’m here 100% because of the fight of the Fighting Nerds fighter
Illay, who’s one of my main sparring partners,†Silva wrote on X.
“Nobody could make it, and this fight could take him to the
contender series. He shows up for all my fights, I knew it was
gonna be controversial but I chose not to ditch my brother of many
years. I know the hate that’s already going around with me about
this, but I didn’t wanna abandon my partner of years in one of the
most important fights of his life because of hate.â€

Barzilay is coming off his lone career loss in a failed
Legacy Fighting Alliance lightweight title bid against Richie
Miranda last August. Meanwhile, his upcoming opponent, Almeida,
went 2-4 in the UFC and was released this past February on a
two-fight slump.

Eu tô aqui 100% por causa da luta do lutador
da fighting nerds Illay, que é um dos meus companheiros de sparring
principais
Ninguém conseguia ir, e essa luta pode o levar pro contender. Ele
vai em todas as minhas lutas, eu sabia que ia ser controversio mas
escolhi não abandonar… https://t.co/I89sN1hQWw

— Jean “Lord” Silva (@Jeansilvamma96)
July 26, 2026

Eu tô aqui 100% por causa da luta do lutador
da fighting nerds Illay, que é um dos meus companheiros de sparring
principais
Ninguém conseguia ir, e essa luta pode o levar pro contender. Ele
vai em todas as minhas lutas, eu sabia que ia ser controversio mas
escolhi não abandonar… https://t.co/I89sN1hQWw

— Jean “Lord” Silva (@Jeansilvamma96)
July 26, 2026

Magomed Ankalaev has heard the criticism of his UFC Abu Dhabi fight against Bodgan Guskov, but he refuses to take blame for it.

Ankalaev finished Guskov in the fifth round of their light heavyweight headliner this past Saturday. Guskov was widely panned for not making the most of his short-notice opportunity, filling in for Khalil Rountree. On the other side, Ankalaev has also gotten flak for playing it safe and not trying to finish Guskov far sooner.

“Big Ank†spoke to Red Corner MMA, and he said that he simply had a job to do and it was a success.

“Whether the fight was boring or not wasn't up to me,†Ankalaev said. “I was pressing forward. I wanted to fight, but my opponent stayed on the back foot and kept moving away. So I decided to wrestle and finish him on the ground.â€

Ankalaev then turned his attention to Paulo Costa, who recently made his return to the 205-pound division. “Borrachinha†has been has been calling for a big fight at light heavyweight, but Ankalaev isn't convinced that he wants the smoke.

“Costa didn't perform well in his division, then moved up, won one fight, and got loud. If he's ready to come forward, we'll be waiting for him. But if he's going to run and shy away, I see no point in fighting him.â€

After losing the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in a rematch against Alex Pereira, Ankalaev is on the road back to the title. While Daniel Cormier believes so many changes have happened in the weight class that Ankalaev could get another title fight, others feel he should have at least one more fight.

At the moment, reigning 205-pound champion Carlos Ulberg is recovering from a torn ACL. His goal is to return in early 2027, but time will tell if the UFC brass books an interim title bout before 2026 comes to a close.

Do you put some of the blame for the lackluster UFC Abu Dhabi main event on Magomed Ankalaev, or is it mostly on Bogdan Guskov? Share your thoughts in the comments below.