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DWCS 2026 Week 8 Preview & Predictions: Staines vs. Abushaar, Odds and Full Fight Card

DWCS 2026 Week 8 Preview & Predictions: Staines vs. Abushaar, Odds and Full Fight Card

Dana White's Contender Series reaches Week 8 of its 2026 season on Tuesday, September 29, with another five-fight card at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.

The lightweight matchup between George Staines and Loai Abushaar closes the show, but this is a deeper card than the main event alone suggests. Two undefeated featherweights with serious striking credentials appear in separate bouts, LFA champions Aieza Bertolso and Erick Visconde are both competing, and the heavyweight fight between Zaurbek Sabanov and Adama Diop brings together two men with plenty of finishing power.

UFC's official schedule has Contender Series 2026: Week 8 beginning at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, with Paramount+ carrying the event in the United States.

Betting markets are still developing at the time of writing on September 28. The clean sportsbook prices we could verify have Staines around -230 against Abushaar at +190, while Luca Borando is a narrow -122 favorite over Ian Escuza at +100. Widely available sportsbook moneylines have not yet settled across the other three matchups, so there is little point pretending that thin prediction-market pricing is the same thing as a dependable bookmaker line.

George Staines vs. Loai Abushaar

George Staines vs. Loai Abushaar is a good piece of Contender Series matchmaking because the two lightweights have taken very different routes to the same opportunity.

Staines arrives from Next Generation MMA Liverpool, the gym associated with Paddy Pimblett and a growing group of high-level British prospects. He had an extensive amateur career before turning professional, winning an IMMAF European title and reaching the podium at the world championships. His professional run has taken him through OKTAGON and Cage Warriors, and he comes into DWCS after submitting previously unbeaten Conor McCarthy in June.

Different record databases count some of Staines' earlier tournament bouts differently, but the important part isn't disputed: he has yet to lose as a professional.

 

 

Abushaar presents a completely different problem. The MMA Lab lightweight stands around 6-foot-3, unusually tall for the division, and has finished all seven of his professional victories. Four have come by KO or TKO and three by submission. He has also been active in 2026, stopping Scottie Stockman before submitting Alejandro Quero.

 

 

That 100-percent finishing rate makes Abushaar a dangerous underdog. Staines, however, has the more convincing body of work against established European opposition and has already shown he can win fights that require more than an early burst.

The market reflects that, with Staines currently around -230 and Abushaar +190. We agree with Staines being favored, although -230 is getting expensive enough that the winner pick and the betting pick don't necessarily have to be the same thing.

MMAtown pick: George Staines. At roughly -230, however, this is not our favorite value spot on the card.

 

 

Zaurbek Sabanov vs. Adama Diop

The heavyweight Sabanov vs. Diop matchup might not need much time to warm up.

Zaurbek Sabanov is an unbeaten 6-foot-4 heavyweight with a wrestling and sanda background. His recent work includes consecutive stoppages under the ARES banner, most recently a first-round TKO of Ivan Romanov in June.

Adama Diop has a background in Senegalese wrestling and enters at 6-1 with five wins by KO or TKO. More importantly, he has already had to show something beyond quick heavyweight violence: his January win over Prince Aounallah went five rounds, and he followed it by stopping Matunga Djikasa to win the EFC heavyweight title.

 

 

Sabanov is the cleaner prospect on paper and has the three-inch height advantage, but Diop is not the sort of heavyweight we would want to dismiss at a huge underdog number. Both men have stopped the overwhelming majority of their wins with strikes.

MMAtown pick: Zaurbek Sabanov. Betting lean: wait for a proper sportsbook line. If the eventual market makes Diop an extreme underdog, his power and five-round experience could make the price more interesting than the favorite.

Ian Escuza vs. Luca Borando could steal the show

If you're looking for the fight most likely to turn chaotic quickly, Ian Escuza vs. Luca Borando has an excellent case.

Ian Escuza is 7-0 and has never needed the judges. The Peruvian featherweight has five KO/TKO victories and two submissions, and his last five opponents have all been stopped in the opening round.

His latest performance lasted less than half a minute. Escuza captured the Inka FC featherweight title by stopping Octavio Lopez with a body kick and follow-up strikes in June.

 

 

Luca Borando is hardly being brought in to absorb that pressure. The Italian is 9-1 with eight finishes and has stopped five consecutive opponents. His recent résumé has also been built almost entirely inside Cage Warriors, giving him repeated exposure to a stronger regional stage than Escuza has generally faced in Peru.

Borando's only professional defeat came by submission to Matthew Elliott in 2024. Since then, he has responded with five stoppage wins, culminating in a first-round elbow TKO of Leandro Camargo in July.

The current moneyline is close, with Borando around -122 and Escuza +100. That feels much more playable than laying more than two-to-one on Staines. Escuza's early violence is impossible to ignore, but Borando has more experience in sustained, competitive fights and has shown that his offense carries into later rounds.

MMAtown pick: Luca Borando. At roughly -122, Borando is our favorite currently available moneyline of the card, although this is still a volatile matchup between two aggressive finishers.

Aieza Bertolso vs. Camila Reynoso

Aieza Bertolso enters Bertolso vs. Reynoso as one of Week 8's most credentialed prospects.

The unbeaten Brazilian is the reigning LFA women's strawweight champion and a two-time IMMAF world champion. She won the LFA belt in September 2025 by submitting Lany Silva with a second-round armbar, moving her professional record to 7-0.

Camila Reynoso is younger at 23 and brings considerably more professional appearances at 9-1. The Argentine has won three straight and last fought in December 2025, when she stopped Maria Luiza Feitosa de Abreu late in the third round.

This is a worthwhile test for Bertolso because Reynoso isn't simply being fed to an unbeaten champion. She has four KO/TKO wins, two submissions and has only lost once, by decision. Still, Bertolso's amateur pedigree and proven submission game are difficult to overlook.

MMAtown pick: Aieza Bertolso. A stable sportsbook moneyline wasn't widely available when we checked, so there is no reason to attach a betting recommendation to a price that may change substantially when books open the market.

Ilias Bulaid vs. Erick Visconde is the toughest fight to pick

Week 8 starts with a matchup good enough to sit much higher on plenty of regional cards.

Ilias Bulaid is unbeaten in professional MMA and comes from an extensive kickboxing background. The Moroccan-Dutch featherweight compiled a 25-6 kickboxing record before focusing on MMA and has five knockout victories among his nine MMA wins. He also owns clear physical advantages here, standing around three inches taller than his opponent.

But Erick Visconde is by far the more experienced MMA fighter. The Brazilian is 17-3, currently holds the LFA featherweight championship and has an unusually balanced finishing record: six victories by KO/TKO and six by submission.

That is what makes Visconde vs. Bulaid so interesting. Bulaid should have the cleaner kickboxing at range, but Visconde has fought a deeper MMA schedule and gives Bulaid far more to think about once wrestling, scrambling and submissions enter the equation.

If Visconde eventually opens as a meaningful sportsbook underdog, that would get our attention. With no reliable mainstream moneyline available yet, though, we're treating it as a matchup lean rather than manufacturing a betting play.

MMAtown pick: Erick Visconde, narrowly. Bulaid's striking makes this one of the least comfortable predictions on the card.

DWCS Week 8 odds and MMAtown picks

Fight Current odds MMAtown pick
George Staines vs. Loai Abushaar Staines -260 / Abushaar +205 George Staines
Zaurbek Sabanov vs. Adama Diop Sabanov -590 / Diop +410 Zaurbek Sabanov
Ian Escuza vs. Luca Borando Escuza +100 / Borando -122 Luca Borando
Aieza Bertolso vs. Camila Reynoso Bertolso -400 / Reynoso +300 Aieza Bertolso
Ilias Bulaid vs. Erick Visconde Bulaid +104 / Visconde -128 Erick Visconde

Odds are a September 28 snapshot and can move quickly during DWCS fight week. Staines, Sabanov and Bertolso are all clear favorites, but their current prices make them considerably less attractive from a betting-value perspective. Borando at roughly -122 remains our favorite moneyline on the card, while Visconde at around -128 is another relatively affordable option in what we expect to be a much closer fight.

DWCS 2026 Week 8 full fight card

DWCS 2026 Week 8 FAQ

When is Dana White's Contender Series Week 8 in 2026?

DWCS 2026 Week 8 takes place on Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.

Who is fighting in the DWCS Week 8 main event?

Undefeated British lightweight George Staines faces MMA Lab finisher Loai Abushaar in the final fight of Dana White's Contender Series Week 8.

What are the George Staines vs. Loai Abushaar odds?

At the time of writing on September 28, George Staines is approximately a -230 favorite, with Loai Abushaar around +190. Odds can change before the fight.

What is the best betting pick for DWCS Week 8?

Our preferred currently priced moneyline is Luca Borando around -122 against Ian Escuza. Borando has won five straight fights by stoppage and has considerably more Cage Warriors experience, although Escuza's 7-0 record with seven finishes makes it a high-risk matchup.

Where can you watch DWCS Week 8?

UFC lists Paramount+ as the U.S. streaming home for Dana White's Contender Series Season 10. Broadcast availability can differ by country.

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