How to Watch DWCS 2022, Week 9

The penultimate episode of the 2022 season of Dana White's Contender Series features the expected handful of undefeated blue-chippers as well as a former contestant looking to prove how far he has come since his demoralizing series debut.

DWCS 2022, Week 9, which takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams live to ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, features an undefeated fighter in all five bouts, including the middleweight tilt between once-beaten Leon Aliu of Italy and the 8-0 Brunno Ferreira, who goes by the extremely apt nickname of “Hulk.” Given the wide-open state of the 185-pound division, an impressive victory on Tuesday could catapult either man well beyond the gen-pop pool of Contender Series graduates that awaits winners in most weight classes.

The same holds true—and then some—for the big boys, as even in the UFC heavyweight renaissance of the last few years, it seems anyone is just three or four wins away from the Top 15. That being the case, Tuesday’s scrap between Austen Lane and Richard Jacobi has metaphorical heft to match the literal. The unbeaten Jacobi (6-0-1) is a titanic-but-raw Brazilian slugger, and if Lane’s name sounds familiar, it’s likely due to his appearance on Season 2 back in 2018, when he was flattened by Greg Hardy in under a minute. The 6-foot-6 Lane didn’t turn things around immediately, but it’s all come together for him over the last two years, during which he has gone 5-0 on his way to picking up the Fury Fighting Championship heavyweight belt and a UFC veteran scalp in Juan Adams.

A closer look at the DWCS 2022, Week 9 particulars:

THE LINEUP

185: Leon Aliu (10-1) vs. Brunno Ferreira (8-0)
135: Raul Rosas Jr. (5-0) vs. Mando Gutierrez (7-1)
HW: Austen Lane (11-3) vs. Richard Jacobi (6-0-1)
155: Nurullo Aliev (6-0) vs. Josh Wick (12-5)
125: Roybert Echeverria (7-0) vs. Jafel Cavalcante Filho (13-2)

Related Coverage »
• DWCS 2022, Week 1 Results
• DWCS 2022, Week 2 Results
• DWCS 2022, Week 3 Results
• DWCS 2022, Week 4 Results
• DWCS 2022, Week 5 Results
• DWCS 2022, Week 6 Results
• DWCS 2022, Week 7 Results
• DWCS 2022, Week 8 Results