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UFC Books Another Dana White's Contender Series Winner for Debut UFC Fight

The UFC hasn't wasted any time booking contract winners from the ongoing DWCS season.
Drew Beaupre|
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Another UFC contract winner from this year’s season of Dana White’s Contender Series already has his debut fight booked.

The long-running show that sees top MMA prospects fight for UFC contracts in front of Dana White is now in its tenth season, and last night Week 3 saw White award contracts to all five of the card’s winning fighters.

Anthony Wint became the first fighter from this DWCS season to make his UFC debut when he defeated Terrance Chatman at UFC Sacramento last weekend, and fellow contract winner Bilal Hasan is also set to make his own debut this Saturday at UFC Shanghai opposite Nilson Rojas.

Joe Kropschot Gets Debut UFC Fight After DWCS Victory

Wint and Hasan both secured UFC contracts with first-round finishes on Week 1 of DWCS, and on that same night Joe Kropschot kicked things off by handing Jon Kunneman the first loss of his career.

Kropschot’s performance was impressive enough for him to become one of the increasingly-rare DWCS fighters to get a UFC contract from White after winning via decision, and @sitoslimy5 was the first to report that “The Land Animal” has already been booked to make his UFC debut against Nick Klein at UFC Vegas 123.

The fight with Kunneman marked the first time that either he or Kropschot had gone the distance in their professional MMA careers, and Kunneman had never even gone past the second round prior to DWCS.

Kropschot is now on a five-fight win streak that dates back to 2023, and the 31-year-old also upset the previously-undefeated David Allakhverdiev in February to claim the LFA middleweight belt and earn himself a DWCS opportunity.

Nick Klein is 0-2 Since Joining UFC Off of DWCS

Also a contract winner on DWCS in 2024, Klein will be searching for his first UFC victory when he welcomes Kropschot to the promotion on October 31.

“Blue Collar” went 7-1 as an amateur fighter and also began his professional career with three-straight wins before he was stopped by Dorjan Dokaj in 2022 in a one-off outing with Canada’s BTC Fight Promotions.

Klein submitted Heraldo Souza in just 37 seconds to earn a UFC contract on DWCS, which marked his third-straight win via rear naked choke after he rebounded from the Dokaj fight with back-to-back victories in 2023.

The 30-year-old unfortunately hasn’t been able to replicate that success in the UFC thus far, as he was stopped with strikes in both of his outings against Mansur Abdul-Malik and Andrey Pulyaev last year.

UFC Vegas 123 currently still lacks a confirmed main event, but the card is now up to a total of six scheduled fights with the addition of Kropschot vs. Klein.

UFC Vegas 123 Fight Card

Yana Santos vs. Luana Santos

Julian Erosa vs. Jeong Yeong Lee

Gaston Bolaños vs. Francis Marshall

Andre Petroski vs. Azamat Bekoev

Tainara Lisboa vs. Lucia Szabová

Nick Klein vs. Joe Kropschot

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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