Dana White’s Contender Series | Season 8 Week 3 Preview
Setting The Table For Tuesday’s Return To The UFC APEX
By E. Spencer Kyte, on X @spencerkyte
Through the first two weeks of Season 8, eight of the 10 victorious fighters have been awarded the opportunity to compete inside the Octagon going forward.
After Lone’er Kavanagh, Jose Delgado, Bruno Lopes, and Mansur Abdul-Malik impressed UFC CEO Dana White in the opening week of the season, bantamweights Cody Haddon and Cortavious Romious, heavyweight Rizvan Kuniev, and welterweight Andreas Gustafsson followed suit last Tuesday, with Romious joining Lopes as returning competitors to turn their second chances into contracts.
This week, two more returning athletes are amongst the field of 10 slated to make the walk to the cage in hopes of impressing the UFC brass and joining the Class of ’24.
Here’s a look at this week’s matchups.
Andrey Pulyaev vs Liam Anderson
For the second time in three weeks, middleweights headline at the UFC APEX, as Andrey Pulyaev faces off with Liam Anderson.
The 26-year-old Pulyaev arrives on a four-fight winning streak, having earned stoppages in each of those victories, including three in the opening round. He's spent the majority of his career competing under the Shlemenko FC banner against relatively inexperienced competitors before stopping 50-fight veteran Well Oliveira last time out.
Anderson started his career splitting his first four appearances, sandwiching wins between a pair of setbacks, but has since registered four straight victories. Each of those wins came inside the distance, with him advancing to 6-2 earlier this year with a first-round stoppage win over Maurice Morris at LFA 177.
Michael Aswell vs Bogdan Grad
Texas prospect Michael Aswell lines up opposite the returning Bogdan Grad in an intriguing featherweight pairing.
Aswell is a protege of UFC vet Daniel Pineda, arriving with a 9-1 record, including a pair of finishes already this year. All 10 of his fights have come with Fury Fighting Championship, either in the main promotion or their Challenger Series events, including his April featherweight title win over Nate Richardson.
Fighting out of Welz, Austria, Grad makes his return to Dana White’s Contender Series after facing off with Tom Nolan last season. Since that setback, the 28-year-old has registered a pair of victories, finishing each of his opponents inside the distance to advance to 13-2 for his career, with 11 finishes.
Matthieu Letho Duclos vs Marco Tulio
The first middleweight tandem to hit the Octagon on Tuesday features Frenchman Matthieu Letho Duclos taking on returning Brazilian Marco Tulio.
Duclos arrives in Las Vegas with a 6-2 record, having earned stoppage victories in each of his last four outings, all of which have come inside the Hexagone MMA cage. He’s yet to face an opponent with more than seven professional appearances, with just one of his previous adversaries having logged more than five career fights.
Tulio looks to collect his second DWCS victory after getting the better of kickboxer Yours Belgaroui last season. The Chute Boxe Diego Lima representative added a second-round stoppage win to his resume in January, extending his winning streak to seven.
Adam Bramhald vs Malcolm Wellmaker
Adam Bramhald and Malcolm Wellmaker square off in a battle of prospects in the 135-pound weight division, with each hoping to join Haddon and Romious as bantamweights earning contracts this season.
The 30-year-old Bramhald returned from a nearly two-year hiatus last September, collecting a unanimous decision win that extended his winning streak to 11 and his record to 13-2 overall. His two setbacks came early in his career against fighters that have competed for titles under the Cage Warriors banner, Scott Malone and Luke Shanks, but he’s faced limited competition since.
Wellmaker went 9-1 as an amateur, winning his final six fights, and has added seven straight victories since turning pro, five by way of stoppage. Last time out, the Faglier’s MMA representative registered a second-round finish over fellow Georgia-based hopeful Chase Boutwell.
Jack Duffy vs Nick Piccininni
Like the opening event of the season, unbeaten flyweights kick off Week 3, as well, with Jack Duffy and Nick Piccininni locking horns at the UFC APEX.
Representing Team Alpha Male and Nexus Jiu Jitsu, Duffy touches down with a 7-0 mark that includes six finishes. Originally scheduled to face Mitch Raposo before the Ultimate Fighter alum was called up to the UFC, the 28-year-old is now on his third opponent, eager to build on his January win over Devon Jackson at Urijah Faber A1 Combat 17.
Piccininni is a four-time Big 12 champ and three-time All-American, having earned six straight wins to behind his professional career. The 26-year-old Fortis MMA representative earned a fourth-round submission win over Jomar Pa-ac in June, and looks to become the latest member of the Dallas-based outfit to graduate to the UFC roster.
Week 3 Official Weigh-In Results
Middleweight Featured Bout: Andrey Pulyaev (185) vs Liam Anderson (185)
Featherweight Bout: Bogdan Grad (145.5) vs Michael Aswell (145)
Middleweight Bout: Marco Tulio (184) vs Matthieu Duclos (185)
Bantamweight Bout: Malcolm Wellmaker (135.5) vs Adam Bramhald (135.5)
Flyweight Bout: Jack Duffy (125) vs Nick Piccininni (125)
Contract winners:
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