Dana White's Contender Series 2025: Season 9 - Week 2 - Delano vs. Exposito is a mixed martial arts event to take place on August 19, 2025 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
Fight Card
Main Card (ESPN+)
Featherweight Manuel Exposito vs. José Mauro Delano Middleweight Brandon Holmes vs. Cameron Rowston Bantamweight Louis Lee Scott vs. Kaushik Saikumar Heavyweight Josh Hokit vs. Guilherme Uriel Featherweight Tommy Cuozzi vs. Ramiro Jimenez
Background
The best show of the week is back and stronger than ever! The second week promises to entertain and spark your emotions!
In the main event, featherweight contender Manuel Exposito, known for his lightning-fast combos and aggressive fighting style, takes on José Mauro Delano, a gritty and determined fighter with a strong wrestling background.
The rest of the card is just as promising, with power-hitting middleweight Brandon Holmes facing off against Cameron Rowston, while bantamweight prospects Louis Lee Scott and Kaushik Saikumar look to make a statement.
Heavyweights Josh Hokit and Guilherme Uriel promise to deliver a battle for the ages, and featherweights Tommy Cuozzi and Ramiro Jimenez will clash in a high-flying matchup.
Who will rise to the challenge and earn a UFC contract? The stakes are high, and the action is going to be non-stop!
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Post subject: Re: [Event] UFC Contender Series 2025 - S09E02 - Delano vs. Exposito - Aug 19
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2025 6:45 am
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Dana White's Contender Series Fight Preview
Week 2 Preview | Dana White’s Contender Series, Season 9
Previewing The Athletes Looking To Raise The Bar And Score Contracts In Week 2
By E. Spencer Kyte
UFC CEO and President Dana White wasn’t overly jazzed with how the first week of Season 9 played out last Tuesday night at the UFC APEX, but the beauty of this show is that seven days later, another crop of hopefuls turn up in Las Vegas and look to impress the boss with their performance in the cage.
It wasn’t quite a “Be Joe Pyfer!” level of frustration — and as Laura Sanko said, “Be Baisangur Susurkaev doesn’t roll off the tongue the same way” — but it will be interesting to see how the competitors set to make the walk this week respond and if that results in more action and excitement in Week 2.
As a reminder, I’m test-driving something called a “Since Score” this year, which is calculated by compiling the results of a fighter’s opponent since they fought and subtracting the losses from the wins, with draws counting as +0.5 and no contests as -0.5 towards the total.
Last week’s contract winners — Susurkaev (-6) and Ty Miller (+5) — were nearly the two ends of the spectrum and both looked great, while overall, the athlete with the greater Since Score won three of five bouts. We’ll keep tracking it all season and see what kind of takeaways we can glean at the end of the year.
With that squared away, here’s a look at this week’s matchups.
Manuel Exposito vs Jose Delano
South American featherweights face off here as Argentina’s Manuel Exposito shares the cage with Brazilian Jose Delano.
The 25-year-old Exposito arrives on a three-fight winning streak, having bounced back from consecutive losses to post a trio of victories last year. He has 10 finishes in his 13 career victories and a Since Score of +12.5, which is tremendously high for someone his age and with his level of experience, which indicates that Exposito fought a bunch of folks that have continued competing and found a good deal of success afterwards.
Delano represents Brazilian Top Team, one of the formative squads in the earlier years of the UFC and MMA as a whole, and similarly hits Las Vegas on a three-fight winning streak, with a 15-3 record overall. He’s won 14 of his last 15, with his lone setback coming against UFC featherweight Gabriel Santos, yet carries a Since Score of -6.5 into this one.
Brandon Holmes vs Cameron Rowston
Brandon Holmes puts his undefeated record on the line against returning hopeful Cameron Rowston in this middleweight scrap.
Sporting a 5-0 record since turning pro following a 4-0 run as an amateur, Gym-O’s Holmes looks to add a second straight win over a DWCS alum to his resume after beating Zack Borrego last time out. He’s faced limited competition thus far, but a Since Score of -1 is solid, considering he’s only been a pro for just under 21 months.
Rowston landed on the wrong end of things in a grappling-heavy bout with Torrez Finney last year, but has earned three straight wins since ahead of his return to Vegas this week. The City Kickboxing man is 11-3 as a professional (+6 Since Score) and the losses have all come to quality fighters with UFC ties.
Louis Lee Scott vs Kaushik Saikumar
Unbeaten bantamweights meet in the middle bout of Week 2 as Englishman Louis Lee Scott faces off with Kaushik Saikumar of India.
Training out of Manchester Top Team, the 25-year-old Lee Scott is 9-0 with seven finishes and a Since Score of -10. As always, you can only fight the person across from you and getting fights on the regional circuit is challenging, especially when you come from a great gym and have an unbeaten record, but it’s worth noting that “Lightning” looked quite sharp in his wins over Demarte Pena and Edgar “Pigmeu” Oliveira, his best opponents to date.
“The Pride of Chennai” actually trains in Falls Church, Virginia with former TUF winner and UFC vet Ryan Hall, and has crazy size for the division. Unbeaten in his first five outings as a pro (-1 Since Score), Saikumar has earned stoppages in four of his five wins, including each of his three victories last year.
Josh Hokit vs Guilherme Uriel
Josh Hokit and Guilerme Uriel become the first heavyweights to compete on Season 9 as they face off Tuesday night at the UFC APEX.
The 27-year-old Hokit is a fascinating prospect — a former D1 wrestler and football player who spent a couple years on the practice squad of the San Francisco 49ers before transitioning to MMA. Training out of the Jackson Wink MMA Academy, “The Incredible Hok” is 5-0 with five stoppages, the last four of which have come in the first round, and a Since Score of -1.
Uriel has yet to see the second round in seven professional fights. He’s gone 6-1 to begin his career (Since Score of 0) with his most noteworthy fight coming in a loss to DWCS alum Lucas Camacho, who fell to Portuguese prospect Mario Pinto last year.
Tommy Cuozzi vs Ramiro Jimenez
The second matchup of unbeaten talents in Week 2 takes place in the featherweight ranks, as Tommy Cuozzi faces off with Ramiro Jimenez.
Fighting out of his family gym in Eden, North Carolina, the 25-year-old Cuozzi is 8-0 as a professional, with finishes across the board and only one trip beyond the first round. His Since Score is -12.5, but as mentioned off the top — Baisangur Susurkaev had a sizeable negative score and looked outstanding last week, so there is surely some substance behind Cuozzi’s considerable sizzle heading into this one.
Jimenez has racked up 10 wins in as many appearances over the course of his six-year pro career, earning eight finishes, all in the first round, and a -1.5 Since Score. Training out of the UFC PI in Mexico City, the 26-year-old hasn’t fought since the end of 2023, so it will be interesting to see what kind of improvements he’s made in the last 20 months as he makes the walk on Tuesday night.
DWCS Week 2 Official Weigh-In Results:
Featherweight Main Event Bout: Manuel Exposito (145.5) vs Jose Delano (145)
Middleweight Bout: Brandon Holmes (184) vs Cam Rowston (185)
Bantamweight Bout: Kaushik Saikumar (135.5) vs Louis Lee Scott (136.5)*
Heavyweight Bout: Josh Hokit (229.5) vs Guilherme Uriel (249.5)
Featherweight Bout: Tommy Cuozzi Jr. (145.5) vs Ramiro Jimenez (144.5)
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