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Contender Series season finale ties UFC contract record at 46

Dana White's Contender Series closed its tenth season on October 13 by signing four more prospects, including former ONE Muay Thai world champion Smilla Sundell, matching the show's single-season record of 46 UFC contracts.

A close-up candid photograph of a smiling, bald Dana White wearing a black hoodie in a crowd.
Dana White in a photograph taken in 2008, well before this event. Archive file image, not from the October 2026 Contender Series card. Display crop and resize applied.Justin Moore / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

Dana White's Contender Series handed out four more UFC contracts at its Season 10 finale on October 13 at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, according to UFC's own recap of the card. The additions brought the season's total to 46 contracts, matching the show's single-season record, UFC and Yahoo Sports both reported.

Lightweight Greg Foster and welterweight Luis Francischinelli each earned deals, Foster via a unanimous decision over Jason Asher and Francischinelli via a first-round TKO of Will Rentz. Middleweight Douglas da Lapa stopped Davi Cabral in the third round to secure his contract. In the main event, featherweight Erick Visconde beat Ilias Bulaid by unanimous decision but did not receive a deal.

The most notable signing was women's bantamweight Smilla Sundell, who defeated Aline Pereira by unanimous decision to improve her professional MMA record to 3-0. Sundell is a former ONE Championship women's strawweight Muay Thai world titleholder who won that belt in April 2022 at age 17, becoming the youngest person to hold a Muay Thai world title, according to her Wikipedia biography. Bodylock MMA reported that White initially had reservations about signing the 21-year-old before matchmaker Mick Maynard pushed for the contract.

What it means

Tying the single-season contract record underscores how heavily the UFC now leans on the Contender Series to stock its roster, with ten weekly cards this season producing nearly five signings on average per show. Sundell's deal also extends a growing pipeline of fighters moving from Muay Thai and kickboxing promotions into UFC competition. None of the four new signees has a UFC bout announced yet.

The source file

Reporting & references

Follow the original reporting and records behind this article.

  1. UFCDana White's Contender Series Season 10, Week 10 Results
  2. Yahoo SportsDWCS Season 10, Week 10 results: Four contract winners, including a former ONE champion
  3. Bodylock MMASmilla Sundell Earns UFC Deal Despite Dana White's Doubts About Her Readiness
  4. WikipediaSmilla Sundell

By the Cage Dispatch editorial desk. Read our editorial policy or report a correction.