Check out the latest Dana White's Contender Series Week 9 odds with my picks and predictions for each bout on the Tuesday, October 8, fight card.
DWCS Season 8 Episode 9 of Contender Series streams tonight on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) from the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas. This season's final Contender Series event takes place next week.
As with all UFC Contender Series events, some of the DWCS winners – and even some of the losers – from the 5-fight lineup could earn an official UFC contract tonight. In fact, the Contender Series has become the UFC's primary feeder system for new talent.
UFC President Dana White is cageside for each show, and after each event, the UFC boss will determine which fighters have earned a contract.
As a reminder, some sportsbooks can be slow to open Contender Series odds and betting markets, though nearly every major sportsbook eventually does post them. And don't forget that you can track your Contender Series bets in the Action App.
Dana White's Contender Series 9 odds as of Tuesday afternoon and via DraftKings. Bet on DWCS Week 9 with our DraftKings promo code.
Dana White's Contender Series Week 9 Odds & Best Bets
Flyweights: Anthony Drilich (+190) vs. Sean Gauci (-230)
Fighter walkouts: Approx. 8:05 p.m. ET
We kick off the penultimate episode of Season 8 of the Contender Series with an all-Australia flyweight matchup. This fight helps my personal theory that the majority of adults in Australia are professional MMA fighters, and it should be a fast-paced affair to start off the night.
The favored Sean Gauci is 9-1 as a pro and the current two-division Hex Fight Series champion at flyweight and bantamweight. Hex is probably the 1B in oceanic regional promotions, behind Eternal MMA.
Gauci also holds a win over UFC title challenger Steve Erceg, which speaks to the generally high level of opposition he's faced in his young career. At 28, he has a solid mix of youth and experience.
Gauci's most at home on the feet with five knockouts among his nine career wins. He won the Hex flyweight crown against a Japanese grappler, and he passed those tests with flying colors, defending a variety of takedowns in the 90-second bout. He also showed solid fight IQ by refusing to engage on the ground when his frustrated opponent attempted to pull guard.
While he doesn't train at City Kickboxing, his striking style seems inspired by the well-known gym. He pressures forward constantly, but he feints more than he throws while looking to set up big shots. I have some concerns with how judges will view his output, though. If he fails to produce big moments, he could give away a round or two with inactivity.
To his credit, he'll also mix in takedowns if opponents give space too willingly, which can help secure otherwise close rounds in his favor.
Perth's Anthony Drilich is 8-1, primarily for the other major Australian promotion Eternal MMA. He captured their flyweight crown late in 2023 with two title defenses this year.
Six of his eight wins are finishes, though his opponent quality is arguably slightly lower than Gauci's. The southpaw has a big left hand that he's finished his last two fights with. He likes to set it up by backing up and countering when his opponents advance forward, which creates an interesting dynamic with Gauci's forward movement.
Drilich, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, can also hold his own on the mat. He won the Eternal title with a fourth-round rear-naked choke victory, and he generally showed off solid grappling in that matchup. While he didn't initiate any of the wrestling, he got the better of the majority of the exchanges.
I'm not sure if either man will look to grapple here, but it likely favors Drilich slightly if we get there. The striking should also be close with both men looking to draw out counterstriking opportunities.
I'd make this line closer than it stands, and I have a suspicion the win over Erceg is influencing the public to Gauci. Therefore, I'll take the value side on what should be close to a 50-50 fight.
Prediction: Anthony Drilich defeats Sean Gauci via decision
The Bet: Anthony Drilich (+180 at DraftKings)
Welterweights: Vanilto Antunes (+600) vs. Islam Dulatov (-900)
Fighter walkouts: Approx. 8:25 p.m. ET
We have two of our obligatory DWCS squash matches this time around with Islam Dulatov going off between -600 and -700 betting odds against Vanilto Antunes.
Dulatov dropped his pro debut by decision but has since ripped off 10 straight victories, only one of which made it past the first round. Those 10 wins are a perfect mix of five knockouts and five submissions, and he mixed in a pro boxing win for good measure a year ago.
Dulatov is a 6-foot-6 German welterweight who somehow manages to both make weight and look decently muscled at 170 pounds. His pro boxing experience is immediately evident on tape; he claims the center of the cage well and keeps opponents at the ends of his punches.
With impressive speed and power, he's a nearly impossible challenge to solve on the feet. The best hope is probably waiting him out and hoping that the weight cut and his explosiveness sap his gas tank.
The other option is to try to take him down – but there's bad news on that front as well. I've watched him successfully defend plenty of takedowns in his last few fights, and one opponent was desperate enough to jump guard. Dulatov immediately passed said guard and submitted him with an arm-triangle choke.
Antunes is the reigning LFA champion at 170 pounds with a 16-6 overall pro record. Of those 16 wins, he has 14 knockouts. Of those six losses, four are submissions. It's pretty clear that the UFC wants Dulatov to have an opportunity to show off his striking in this matchup.
Antunes is a strong striker himself with the hyper-aggressive style that used to be so prevalent among Brazilian fighters. He's also just a blue belt in BJJ with a very limited ground game. If this one finds its way to the canvas one way or the other, Dulatov has a huge edge.
For that reason, it wouldn't shock me to see Dulatov pull off a submission here. We'll see what various lines settle at before making a final call, but that is was on my shortlist.
I wrote the above before any props were available. Evidently books agreed with my read, lining Dulatov at +160 for both his knockout and submission prop. The former is more likely in this matchup, but I was hoping for juicier odds on the latter. Since that's not the case, Dulatov's knockout line is the bet at ESPN Bet – though I'd also be fine laying -275 on his inside-the-distance prop at Betway.
Keep an eye on other books closer to fight time, as we might catch an even better number on either bet. I'll be waiting until this evening before placing mine.
Prediction: Islam Dulatov defeats Vanilto Atunes via T/KO
The Bet: Islam Dulatov via KO/TKO/DQ (+160 at ESPN BET)
Heavyweights: Mario Pinto (+490) vs. Lucas Camacho (-675)
Fighter walkouts: Approx. 8:55 p.m. ET
The other potential squash match on the card is a heavyweight bout – which should immediately raise some eyebrows if you've followed this column this season.
The heavy (pun intended) favorite is Mario Pinto, an 8-0 Portugal-born striker who trains out of London. He's on the smaller side for a heavyweight, weighing in around the mid-240s for most of his bouts.
Pinto hasn't been as dominant as I was expecting based on the betting odds with all of his wins against .500+ fighters coming via decision or late stoppage. Two of those fights also had strange round structures with one being three three-minute rounds and another three two-minute rounds. Those are effectively amateur fights, so I'd expect some better showings against lesser competition.
To his credit, his most recent win was a 25-minute decision, so his cardio is solid. While he was the clear winner there, he wasn't especially dominant and mostly chipped away at an opponent who was desperate, but unable, to take him down.
Lucas Camacho, meanwhile, is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who trains out of the famed Nova Unaio gym in Brazil, and he was one of the sport's premier camps in the early part of the millennium. He's finished five of the six wins on his perfect record with two of those coming under the LFA banner.
Camacho is not what anybody would describe as a technical striker due to his pawing punches and somewhat limited defensive abilities. Both of his LFA wins had a bit of "rope-a-dope" in which he allowed his opponent to tire himself out by punching him in and around the face – but he managed to survive each time. He also won the more recent of the two via his opponent suffering a shoulder injury.
Still, Camacho has enough power to get the job done when he lands, and he should have a grappling edge here. I'm not sure if or how he'll get it there – but he has it.
Pinto is certainly the rightful favorite here and whom I'd be picking here straight up. The line should be more like -200 than -700, though, so the bet is on Camacho.
Prediction: Mario Pinto defeats Lucas Camacho via knockout
The Bet: Lucas Camacho +500 (BetMGM/BetRivers)
Lightweights: Kody Steele (-298) vs. Chasen Blair (+240)
Fighter walkouts: Approx. 9:25 p.m. ET
Kody Steele was originally supposed to fight on Week 5 this season before his opponent pulled out due to an apparent panic attack.
As promised, he's been given another shot just four weeks later.
Normally that quick turnaround time would be a slight knock on a fighter I was high on. However, his opponent this time, Chasen Blair, fought 10 days after that original booking.
Blair is a former NCAA Division I wrestler at the University of North Carolina who moved to Liverpool to train with Paddy Pimblett and company to pursue an MMA career. The entirety of his professional career to date has been with the U.K.-based Cage Warriors promotion.
Blair has the prototypical boxer-wrestler style, loading up on heavy strikes on the feet knowing that his opponents likely can't or won't want to take him down. The twist is that his time in Liverpool has paid off, giving him excellent submission skills as well. His last two wins came via a triangle and an armbar, both of which he executed from mount.
Blair's proven to be a solid "hammer" in the grappling department, but he could find himself as a nail against an elite black belt in Steele. Blair holds a loss to Week 6 Contender Series competitor Ahmad Hassanzada by submission, and he showed a fairly basic lack of submission defense (at least against leg locks) in that one. He also made what some might consider technical mistakes even in his submission wins, particularly the armbar – which came against a guy wearing boxing gloves in his Tapology picture, if that tells you anything about his skill set.
Point is the grappling of Steele is (many) levels ahead of Blair. Both rely on their natural athletic gifts as well as trust in their ground games to power their striking, with no huge edge for either fighter there.
That's enough that I'd be comfortable laying the juice on Steele (best odds -230 at FanDuel). However, I'm splitting my exposure between his inside-the-distance prop at Betway, and his submission prop at BetRivers.
Prediction: Kody Steele defeats Chasen Blair via submission
The Bets: Kody Steele by Finish (+150 at Betway, 0.5u) | Steele by submission (+360, 0.25u)
Light Heavyweights: Artem Vakhitov (-500) vs. Islem Masraf (+380)
Fighter walkouts: Approx. 9:55 p.m. ET
It wouldn't be a proper Dana White's Contender Series event without a former Alex Pereira kickboxing opponent, so fortunately we have Artem Vakhitov on the card. The former Glory kickboxer split a pair of decisions with Pereira in 2021, reclaiming his light heavyweight (209 pounds in Glory) title in the rematch.
The 33-year-old is getting the fast track to the promotion via the Poatan Pipeline™ with just a 2-1 pro MMA record. The loss in his debut was due to an injury (and can thus reasonably be ignored), but his three MMA opponents had a combined 1-1 record coming into their fights with him.
His two wins took less than two minutes combined. One opponent desperately shot from a zip code away, gave up and rolled to his back, and then got finished by Vakhitov from mount. The other was a 22-second TKO via leg kicks, which Vakhitov needed just two of.
Islam Masraf also has just three pro MMA fights, though he's amassed a comparatively massive seven minutes of cage time in those bouts. The most recent of those was strange with his opponent ambling to the center of the cage with his hands down and not appearing to realize he was in a fight:
I don't see how Masraf finds any success on the feet here against the much more credentialed and explosive Vakhitov. While he has a submission win, it was more of a "club and sub" than a display of grappling prowess.
At the same time, I'm not willing to lay -500 on a 2-1 fighter whose toughest opponent was 1-0, even with his impressive kickboxing background. We'll see if we can get a decent price on his knockout or early-round props, but if not, I'm staying away.
Prediction: Artem Vakhitov defeats Islam Masraf by KO
The Bet: Artem Vakhitov in Round 1 -115 (DraftKings)
