DWCS 2026 Midseason Recap: 24 UFC Contract Winners & Weeks 6–10 Preview
Dana White’s Contender Series has reached the halfway point of its 2026 season, and Season 10 has already produced 24 new UFC contracts from its first 25 fights. This midseason video looks back at the prospects who turned a Tuesday night at the Meta APEX into a place on the UFC roster before the second half of DWCS 2026 begins.
The numbers tell part of the story. Through five episodes, 18 of the 25 fights have ended inside the distance and 10 have finished in Round 1. Weeks 3 and 4 produced contracts for every winner, while Week 2 went one step further: Dana White signed all five winners and also gave a contract to Taner Trembley after his decision loss to Roman Gabriel Puga.
That leaves Season 10 on serious record pace. The highest total for a Contender Series season is 46 contracts, reached in Seasons 7 and 9. With 24 already handed out and five episodes remaining, the 2026 class has a realistic chance to push beyond it.
DWCS 2026 Week 1: Wint and Hasan make an immediate impression
DWCS 2026 Week 1 produced four contracts: Anthony Wint, Bilal Hasan, Thomas Pagliarulo and Joe Kropschot.
Wint needed only 34 seconds to stop Matt Adams with ground strikes in the heavyweight main event. Hasan was almost as quick, dropping Mridul Saikia and finishing with punches after 45 seconds in their flyweight bout. Pagliarulo stopped Ananias Mulumba at 4:24 of Round 3, while Kropschot earned his contract with a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jon Kunneman.
The interesting part is how quickly the season began feeding talent directly into UFC cards. Wint made his UFC debut only 11 days later in Sacramento and submitted Terrance Chatman with an arm-triangle at 4:29 of Round 1. Hasan followed on August 29 in Shanghai, knocking out Nilson Rojas at 2:28 of Round 2. Two fighters from the opening episode had already collected UFC victories before Season 10 reached Week 4.
Kropschot is also the first member of this contract class with another confirmed UFC assignment on the calendar. He is booked to face Nick Klein in Joseph Kropschot vs. Nick Klein at the October 31 UFC Fight Night.
Week 2 sets the season high with six UFC contracts
If Week 1 established the standard, DWCS 2026 Week 2 showed how generous White was prepared to be when the fights delivered.
Kaik Brito knocked out Namo Fazil just 12 seconds into Round 3 after an entertaining welterweight main event. Trent Miller returned to the Contender Series and submitted Douglas Rodrigues with a Von Flue choke at 1:04 of Round 2. Cristian Perez stopped Logan Paxton at 1:06 of the second, while Alik Lorenz rebounded from his previous DWCS defeat by overwhelming decorated grappler Mahamed Aly for a first-round TKO.
Roman Gabriel Puga defeated Taner Trembley 29-28 on all three scorecards in the opener, but the fight was good enough that both featherweights left with contracts. Trembley remains the only losing fighter signed through the first half of Season 10.
That six-contract episode took the season total to 10 after only two weeks.
Alex Apodaca delivers the biggest upset of DWCS Season 10
DWCS 2026 Week 3 had the season’s defining upset so far. Bella Mir entered the main event as an enormous favorite, but Alex Apodaca won all three rounds 29-28 to hand Mir her first professional MMA defeat and earn a UFC contract.
The rest of the card was almost entirely about finishes. Guilherme Uriel, returning after an unsuccessful Contender Series appearance in 2025, rendered Mario Piazzon unconscious with a standing guillotine only 50 seconds into their heavyweight fight. Sean Clancy Jr. stopped Gary Balletto with ground strikes at 3:54 of Round 2. Ronald Humphrey submitted Alexis Miranda by rear-naked choke at 4:03 of Round 1, and Nick Galanti knocked out Carlos Petruzzella in only 35 seconds.
Five fights, five winners and five contracts pushed the running total to 15.
DWCS Week 4 produces another five-for-five night
The contract streak continued at DWCS 2026 Week 4, with Adam Darby, Modestino Rodrigues, Silvestre Sanchez, Gabriel Lorenco and Adam Livingston all joining the UFC.
Darby used his 6-foot-3 frame and long-range striking to systematically break down Patrick Rivera before the fight was stopped on medical advice at 2:42 of Round 3. Dana White described the Irish welterweight’s performance as a “masterclass,” particularly the way Darby built his offense around the jab and leg kicks.
Rodrigues barely gave anyone time to settle in, blitzing Brandon Holmes for a 15-second TKO. Lorenco also made his heavyweight opportunity count, knocking out Charlie Cleveland with an elbow and hammerfists at 2:02 of Round 1.
Sanchez had to work considerably longer. After a competitive lightweight fight with Liam McCracken, Sanchez landed the left hook that ended it at 2:44 of Round 3. Livingston opened the event by edging Hunter Smith via split decision.
For deeper coverage of that episode, MMAtown has the complete DWCS 2026 Week 4 results and the accompanying Week 4 highlights.
Week 5: four undefeated prospects get the call
DWCS 2026 Week 5 finally broke the run of every winner receiving a contract, but it still added four more undefeated fighters to the UFC roster.
Quentin Pasley closed the show by stopping fellow unbeaten light heavyweight Arlind Berisha with elbows at 4:41 of Round 1. The 3-0 Pasley entered with relatively little professional experience, but his combination of size, athleticism and finishing ability drew particularly strong praise from White.
Isaac Moreno stayed unbeaten with a 29-28 unanimous decision over Reginaldo Junior. Martin Kozak stopped Christian Echols with punches at 1:32 of Round 2, while Christian Natividad stepped in on short notice and folded Colton Loud with a body shot after only 70 seconds.
All four earned contracts. Apollo Gomes also won, taking a unanimous decision over Kwon Won Il, but White elected not to sign him and encouraged him to gain more experience.
That leaves the official halftime number at 24. MMAtown’s DWCS 2026 Week 5 results break down the full card, while the Week 5 highlights collect the performances that produced the latest four UFC signings.
Who are the 24 DWCS Season 10 contract winners so far?
The first-half class is Anthony Wint, Bilal Hasan, Thomas Pagliarulo, Joe Kropschot, Kaik Brito, Trent Miller, Cristian Perez, Alik Lorenz, Roman Gabriel Puga, Taner Trembley, Alex Apodaca, Guilherme Uriel, Sean Clancy Jr., Ronald Humphrey, Nick Galanti, Adam Darby, Modestino Rodrigues, Silvestre Sanchez, Gabriel Lorenco, Adam Livingston, Quentin Pasley, Isaac Moreno, Martin Kozak and Christian Natividad.
It is a broad class rather than one concentrated in a single weight range. Season 10 has already added prospects at flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight, plus Apodaca at women’s bantamweight.
There is also no single template for getting signed. Fifteen-second knockouts obviously help, but Kropschot, Apodaca, Moreno and Livingston all showed that a decision can be enough when White and the matchmakers like what they see. Trembley demonstrated something even rarer: occasionally a fighter can lose and still make such a strong impression that the UFC signs him anyway.
DWCS 2026 Week 6 starts the second half
The next wave arrives at DWCS 2026 Week 6 on September 15. The current five-fight card is headlined by unbeaten Zevan Hunt against Inka FC champion Mayton Perea at welterweight.
Oscar Ravello faces Igor Cavalcanti at middleweight, unbeaten Akbar Abdullaev meets Ednilson Barros Santos at lightweight, Luis Hernandez takes on Hugo Guillon at middleweight, and Tyshawn Williams faces Antonio Monteiro at featherweight.
From there, the season continues without a break. DWCS Week 7 is scheduled for September 22, followed by Week 8 on September 29, Week 9 on October 6 and the DWCS 2026 Week 10 finale on October 13.
The currently listed later cards contain another deep group of prospects, including unbeaten Alvi Dasuyev and Jaden Ortega in the Week 7 main event, George Staines against Loai Abushaar in Week 8, and unbeaten welterweights Salhahuddin Everett and Ozzy Martin atop Week 9. The final weeks remain subject to the usual Contender Series changes as injuries, visas and late replacements reshape cards.
Can DWCS Season 10 break the contract record?
That becomes the cleanest statistic to follow through the second half. Seasons 7 and 9 each produced 46 UFC contracts. Season 10 already has 24 after five episodes. Another 23 signings over Weeks 6–10 would establish a new record; matching the first-half output of 24 would take the season to 48.
That does not mean White will hand out contracts simply to chase a number. Week 5 already showed that winning alone does not guarantee one. Gomes won clearly and still left without a deal. But the overall quality and finish rate have created a season in which the UFC has found very few reasons to say no.
The embedded midseason recap catches these fighters at the point where a regional résumé becomes a UFC career. For some, that transition is already complete: Wint and Hasan have won inside the UFC since earning their contracts. Kropschot already has his next UFC date booked against Klein. For most of the other Season 10 graduates, their first UFC matchup is still ahead.
And with 25 more DWCS fights scheduled across the final five weeks, the 2026 class is only halfway built. The second half begins with Week 6 on September 15 and runs through the Week 10 finale on October 13, giving Season 10 five more opportunities to add to an already unusually large UFC rookie class.