As part of the UFC’s Summer Kickoff press conference, the promotion unveiled a brand new series coming to UFC Fight Pass beginning on Tuesday, July 11th. For any boxing fans who remember ESPN’s famed Friday Night Fights series, this looks to be the UFC equivalent to that.
Here’s the official press release on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series:
UFC® today announced a new, live, and exclusive UFC FIGHT PASS® show titled: Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, set to launch Tuesday, July 11, 2017. The new weekly series will feature five live fights in each episode, showcasing up-and-coming talent, as well as athletes striving to revive their professional mixed martial arts careers.
“This sport continues to get bigger all over the world, and the more fights we can put on, the more talent we can find, the better the events will be for the fans,” UFC President Dana White said. “I love looking for up-and-coming talent. This show’s going to give us another opportunity to bring in young fighters who we think have potential to make it in the UFC or maybe even one day become world champions. It’ll also give some fighters who might be in a slump or on their way out of the organization an opportunity for that last shot. I truly can’t watch enough fights and I think our fans will love this new FIGHT PASS show.”
Scheduled to be filmed in The Ultimate Fighter® gym in Las Vegas, White, alongside UFC matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard, will be able to scout world-class talent right in the Fight Capital of the World. The Contender Series, which will be shot in front of a closed-studio audience, will serve as the ultimate vehicle to identify top prospects, and the next generation of UFC stars.
More details on this new weekly venture will be made shortly. At a minimum we know that these fights will be sanctioned by the Nevada Athletic Commission and the fights wil count towards the fighters’ professional records.
That these weekly cards are only five fights and on Fight Pass mean that fans can be treated to some UFC action without dedicating seven hours from prelim to main event. It’s certainly an interesting new avenue that the UFC is exploring and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
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