Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 8, Week 1: Odds, Picks And Predictions (2024)

The eighth season of Dana White’s Contender Series kicks off on Tuesday, August 13 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. This season, Season 8 of the Tuesday night fight cards runs for 10 weeks. The fighters are competing to earn a UFC contract. Five fights are scheduled for this week’s event in five weight divisions.

Since the DWCS began in 2017, White has awarded 245 contracts to participants. In the first season, 16 fighters, including current UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley, earned contracts. In 2023, that number jumped to 46 fighters.

Season 8, Episode 1 of the DWCS airs on ESPN+ at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Below, we look at the matchups, betting odds, picks, and predictions for the August 13 DWCS fight card.

Meng Ding vs. Rami Hamed

A welterweight bout between Meng Ding (34-8) and Rami Hamed (12-3) is set for Tuesday night. The 29-year-old Ding fights out of China. He has 27 knockout wins, two submission victories, and five decisions. Ding’s losses have come by KO (two), submission (four), and decision (two). He is on a two-fight winning streak heading into the DWCS card.

The 33-year-old Hamed fights out of Beirut, Lebanon He has eight knockouts, one submission, and three decisions. All three of his losses have come by submission. He has won his past four outings. Hamed accepted this fight on very short notice.

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The betting line for this matchup has Ding as the -192 favorite over the +160 Hamed.

The betting pick is Ding to win via knockout.

Jose Delgado vs. Ernie Juarez

The matchup between Jose Delgado and Ernie Juarez is a featherweight contest. Delgado (7-1) is a 26-year-old competing out of Phoenix, Arizona. He has three knockouts and four submissions. His only career loss was the only time he went to the scorecards. Delgado has wins in his past four scraps. He took this matchup on short notice.

Juarez (8-0) is an unbeaten 26-year-old. Juarez has four decision wins to go with two knockouts and two submissions. He competes out of Elk Grove, California.

The betting odds for this bout have Delgado as the -285 favorite over the +230 Juarez.

The pick for this matchup is Delgado to pick up a decision win.

Lone'er Kavanagh vs. An Tuan Ho

In this flyweight scrap we have two fighters with perfect 6-0 records in Lone'er Kavanagh and An Tuan Ho.

Kavanagh is 25 and fights out of London, England. He has three knockouts, two decisions, and one submission. Ho hails from Vietnam, and his victories were obtained in the same manner as those of his foe.

Kavanagh is the -180 betting favorite, and Ho is the +150 betting underdog.

The betting pick is for Kavanagh to win via decision.

Mikheil Sazhiniani vs. Bruno Lopes

Also on the DWCS card is a light heavyweight matchup between Mikheil Sazhiniani and Bruno Lopes. Sazhiniani (13-2) fights out of Georgia and is riding a six-fight winning streak. Twelve of his wins are by knockout, and he has one decision victory. His losses have come by knockout and submission. Sazhiniani is 27 years old.

Lopes (12-1) competes out of Brazil. The 31-year-old has five knockout wins, five submission victories, and one decision. His only loss came in 2023 when Brendson Ribeiro knocked him out on a DWCS fight card.

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The betting line for this contest has Lopes as the -198 favorite over the +164 Sazhiniani.

The pick is for Lopes to win via submission, but a Sazhiniani knockout win is not out of the question.

Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Wes Schultz

The main event of the first DWCS card of the 2024 season is a middleweight fight. In that bout, Mansur Abdul-Malik (5-0) faces Wes Schultz (6-1)

The 26-year-old Abdul-Malik has four knockouts and one decision. He fights out of Columbia, Maryland. He has never left the first round. The 28-year-old Schultz has wins by knockout (two), submission (three), and decision (0ne). His sole setback was a 2023 decision loss under the LFA banner in 2023. He has won three fights since then, all by first-round stoppage.

Abdul-Malik is the -345 favorite over the +275 Schultz.

The betting pick is for Abdul-Malik to win by knockout, but if the fight gets out of the first round, it might be worth considering Schultz for an in-fight wager.