Contender Series watch: Meet the nine DWCS alums set for action at UFC on ESPN 9

The UFC on ESPN 9 card features nine fighters who previously have competed on Dana White’s Contender Series.

Not all of them earned contracts from their appearance on the show, but those who didn’t certainly remained on the UFC’s radar until they eventually got the call.

Some of the former Contender Series athletes will get to revisit a familiar place when they compete Saturday at the UFC Apex, which has been the home of the talent-finding series since Season 3.

Here are the nine Contender Series alums who will be in action Saturday:

Augusto Sakai (vs. Blagoy Ivanov)

Augusto Sakai earned a UFC contract on the first edition of Dana White’s Contender Series Brazil in 2018 when he stopped Marcos Conrado Jr. in the second round.

Since then, Sakai (14-1-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has scored three big wins over Chase Sherman, Andrei Arlovski and Marcin Tybura, earning a spot in the UFC’s top 15 heavyweight rankings as a result.

He will take on Bulgarian veteran Blagoy Ivanov in the co-main event as he looks to establish himself as one of the rising contenders in the division.