Dana White’s Contender Series Predictions, Picks Tonight – Week 9 (10/6/26)

Not many sports have a job audition on live television. Mixed martial arts and the UFC aren't like many other sports.

Every summer, Dana White scours local regional MMA scenes for the future stars of UFC, pitting the world’s top prospects against each other on Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) for 10 weeks.

These prospects can’t just win. To get a contract, they’ve got to impress the boss, making the bouts even more action-packed than weekly UFC events. As an even more unique twist, sometimes even losers of wild fights get signed.

The action goes down every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET on Paramount+, and we’re breaking down Season 10, Episode 9 with predictions, predictive analysis, and PrizePicks UFC picks.

Make your Dana White’s Contender Series predictions on PrizePicks and earn real money if you’re right on every fight!

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Dana White’s Contender Series Predictions Tonight for Week 9 – Tuesday, October 6

Before we get into our Dana White’s Contender Series predictions for tonight, here’s a brief intro on what you'll find below.

Season 10, Episode 9 of the Contender Series is expected to start at 7:00 p.m. ET, with the first fight on Paramount+. As usual, there are five fights scheduled. Here’s a full rundown of the proceedings:

• Featured Bout: Summer Onley vs. Alivia Bierley — Women’s Bantamweight
• Salhahuddin Everett vs. Ozzy Martin — Welterweight
• Roque Conceciao vs. Alexander Chavez — Flyweight
• Ryuho Miyaguchi vs. Mateus Soares — Bantamweight
• Preston LaGrange vs. Nell Ariano — Light Heavyweight

We’ll list the payouts for who will win each of these featured Contender Series fights, via PrizePicks Team Picks. For example, a 2x means the result will payout $200 on a $100 entry. A lower payout multiplier signals a higher implied probability of that result based on user picks.

PrizePicks Team Picks payouts are live at the time of writing and are subject to change. UFC winner markets are available in 36 states, including Florida, California, and Texas!

Roque Conceicao vs. Alexander Chavez Prediction for DWCS Tonight – Tuesday, October 6

Fight Winner Payouts: Roque Conceicao 1.81x | Alexander Chavez 1.85x (via PrizePicks)

Weight Class: Flyweight (125 lbs.)

Returning fighters to DWCS are sometimes paid actors for new, superior prospects, but Roque Conceicao was supposed to lose last year, so I'm glad to see him get a second chance in a more even matchup.

As Saturday proved, Imanol Rodriguez is one of the best prospects in the world, so in hindsight, the Brazilian, also known as "Roque Jr.", had quite the task on his hands. Imanol is a blur, and he's an extreme high-volume, high-pace fighter when Conceicao is significantly more measured.

Conceicao’s stance and shot selection remind me of the former 125-pound champion, Deiveson Figueiredo. He often throws just one or two at a time, exploding into pistons for right hands or jabs. Occasionally, he'll go to the body. But the design is to hurt, not push the pace.

This can result in huge misses that will tax the gas tank, but that's not why he lost a decision to Denis Araujo, which was a blind robbery in São Paulo. Roque had the center and landed more shots (plus harder ones) in all three rounds.

In terms of critiques, I would just like to see a little more activity from his legs. It feels like he often forgets his kicks, and I did not see much offensive grappling in the two fights I had access to. That's ultimately what made Figueiredo successful — not his limited but powerful standup.

We’ll see if Peru can do it again in the opposite corner. These guys from Pitbull Martial Arts Center (PMAC) in Lima seem like an endless supply. Following teammates Ian Escuza, Rodrigo Vera, Kevin Borjas and Nilson Rojas, and others, Alexander Chavez is next to try his hand.

"Penchia" is the undefeated former Inka MMA interim champion, but he has not faced particularly strong competition recently. His last five opponents are a combined 48-40 as pros.

He's got similar strong Muay Thai and continually works the body with both hands and feet. The beginning of the end in his most recent fight came from a liver kick.

Without his decision "wins" at Inka 52 and Inka 49 available on the internet, it’s difficult to get a gauge of his weaknesses.

The Peruvian just doesn't seem to have the physical, overwhelming power of his teammate Escuza (at lightweight). He's much more like Borjas — a slow builder over the course of 15 minutes. Plus, the flyweight entrants have been hit-and-miss as grapplers from his camp.

Conceciao has faced tougher competition, but his volume against a guy from a gym whose hallmark is usually output could draw concern. Chavez looks put together running over cans, but it's difficult to diagnose what went wrong in 15-minute affairs where he didn't.

In general, the favorite's durability seems reliable, so this could be a tough fight for a contract unless it's a total banger. If Chavez is willing to play Roque's slow dance, this likely doesn't benefit him. If he's not, it's possible the Brazilian has a changeup to grapple.

Predict the Conceciao vs. Chavez winner for DWCS Week 9 on PrizePicks.

Conceciao vs. Chavez Pick for DWCS Week 9 on PrizePicks

Alexander Chavez – 46.5 Significant Strikes

An obstacle in this fight for Conceciao will be volume. Alexander Chavez is a high-output striker, which is a trait we’ve come to know from PMAC in Lima.

But I don’t really have any cardio concerns, either. The prospect has three full decision wins, visible or not, with pace that’s maintained at an even rate throughout the fight.

This could be a battle of power against output in this flyweight battle, which is easily the best fight on the card.

Make your Conceciao vs. Chavez pick for DWCS Week 9 on PrizePicks!

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Salhahuddin Everett vs. Ozzy Martin Prediction for DWCS Tonight – Tuesday, October 6

Fight Winner Payouts: Salhahuddin Everett 1.69x | Ozzy Martin 2.04x (via PrizePicks)

Weight Class: Welterweight (170 lbs.)

Just when you think we’ve seen it all with this promotion and this show, they throw another one.

Salhahuddin “Sal” Everett is actually a UFC employee. I'm serious. Though not exactly confirmed, he is somewhere between security staff and Dana White's personal assistant, and he fights and trains MMA off the clock.

Everett is 8-0 (and 4-0 as a pro) across an MMA career that just started in 2023. By all accounts, he's extremely raw, and the level of competition he's faced with Tuff-N-Uff in Las Vegas is amateur-level.

His best and most recent win came over a fighter who is 1-3 in MMA since the start of 2023 and has zero grappling credentials.

However, Everett is on a trajectory that would have gotten him an opportunity on merit.

At 6'3", he's big for the division and seems like a quality athlete. He trains somewhere across Freestyle MMA and/or Xtreme Couture and has shown really nice work on a back take, and Everett has also displayed tremendous power (for this level) to score knockouts in seconds.

If he wasn’t a UFC employee, he’s just not ready. Can he take a punch? Will he handle a step up in competition? Those are unknowns because we've hit the fast-forward button so quickly.

Ozzy Martin, a rising striker from New Hampshire, is looking to spoil the Cinderella story if he can. There is extensive kickboxing experience on Martin's resume, but no opponent on the American's resume is a submission threat of any kind. Given Everett’s tendency to work the back, that could be intentional.

Of course, there's nothing the promotion can do if Everett gets folded by a guy with two professional KOs inside 30 seconds. Presumably, "Toro" has the standup edge here.

If you get one guy who is a horrible grappler against one who is a horrible striker, you should always take the grappler. If they can eat one shot and get into the clinch, there is no equivalent of "eating a shot" when it comes to defending chokes. Say a fighter doesn't know how — you're going to get tapped.

We’ll see if Dana White — biased by default — is able to shake his assistant’s hand for a different reason at the end of the night.

Predict the Everett vs. Martin winner for DWCS Week 9 on PrizePicks!

Everett vs. Martin Pick for DWCS Week 9 on PrizePicks

Ozzy Martin – 14.5 Significant Strikes

Perhaps Sal Everett is more ready for a war on the feet than most anticipate, but there appears to be a clear and obvious path here.

Martin’s four pro MMA opponents are a combined 0-7 to submissions. UFC brass might have scoured the globe for an equally experienced opponent who can’t grapple at all, giving Everett a decent pathway to a quick finish.

Plus, Martin has those two quick knockouts mentioned, and a sub-60-second finish at distance wouldn’t help his significant strike totals either.

Make your Everett vs. Martin pick for DWCS Week 9 on PrizePicks.

Summer Onley vs. Alivia Bierley Prediction for DWCS Tonight – Tuesday, October 6

Fight Winner Payouts: Summer Onley 1.56x | Alivia Bierley 2.32x (via PrizePicks)

Weight Class: Women’s Bantamweight (135 lbs.)

For the second time this season, women’s 135 is featured in the main event.

The domestic product here is Alivia Bierley from Fury FC, who had an almost identical path through that promotion that Alex Apodaca had before her upset win over Bella Mir this season.

Bierley actually submitted Apodaca in a 2023 amateur fight, but I don't know how much stock I put into that, given the latter's evolution at Tiger Beetle.

In fact, Bierley’s 60% pro finishing rate with Fury is something rarely seen for this weight class, but you see it come from just a massive frame. She's 5'7" with a powerful lower half, and her big, looping punches generate a lot of power.

Bierley wants to fight technically, which is likely why she often comes out with minimal output. She tries to work behind her jab and her low kicks. Frankly, she could be far more imposing to this division if she just lets her hands go and overwhelms foes. 

As a grappler, she secured a takedown in her last fight and, ultimately, used ground-and-pound to end it.

Her physicality reminds me a lot of Ailin Perez, but she does not turn to her wrestling all that often. That may be a good pivot in certain matchups because takedowns have come relatively easily.

Summer Onley might be just a level above her currently, though. The unblemished 32-year-old from FCC in England has actually fought the toughest test of these two by a mile.

Myllena Messias, a training partner of Amanda Ribas in Brazil, was 6-1 as a pro, looking for her own DWCS bid. Onley denied that despite Messias giving her some issues at range in Round 1, checking kicks and flowing well at distance.

All of that went out the window when the Englishwoman landed a couple of tight check hooks and dropped her, securing an early Round 2 (T)KO.

"Tight" and “technical” are definitely words that come to mind relative to Bierley in this matchup. She is quick down the pipe, and everything is coiled with better defensive fundamentals.

Her kicks to all three levels are extremely fluid. Her footwork to circle out is really impressive.

She just is more comfortable, whereas you see Bierley having to think and remember. Onley is also the better athlete. She's faster and lighter on her feet.

This is a battle of power against skill, and the former can definitely win out in a women’s bantamweight fight between ladies with 12 combined pro appearances.

I'd love to see a good enough fight to add both of these ladies to a weak women's bantamweight roster. Both have more upside than several existing members.

Predict the Onley vs. Bierley winner for DWCS Week 9 on PrizePicks.

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Onley vs. Bierley Pick for DWCS Week 9 on PrizePicks

Summer Onley – 49.5 Significant Strikes

If she desired, Summer Onley could pick away at distance and win a clean decision with her speed advantage here.

Balancing that with trying to secure the knockout that makes Dana White go “wow” is always the challenge of this show, but Bierley isn’t going to go out quietly. The American has never been finished as a pro or an amateur.

Onley’s takedown recovery seems solid on tape, so even if Bierley pivots to a wrestling strategy, it might not greatly compromise the Englishwoman's striking totals.

Make your Onley vs. Bierley pick for DWCS Week 9 on PrizePicks.

Make DWCS Predictions and Fight Picks on PrizePicks

For 10 weeks, Dana White’s Contender Series goes down every Tuesday, with a group of high-level prospects trying to impress the boss and earn a UFC contract.

Lock in your DWCS predictions for today's main card, which starts at 7:00 p.m. ET on Paramount+.

Just go to the PrizePicks app and pick More or Less on two or more UFC fighter projections for Dana White’s Contender Series and lock in your lineup to win real money on the fights if you're right.

Every week, you can predict UFC fight winners, method of victory, and more on PrizePicks Team Picks to earn real money, available in 36 states!

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