UFC CEO Dana White didn’t hold back on middleweight Neemias Santana after his performance on the Contender Series.
Week 1 of the 2025 season of Dana White’s Contender Series featured some ups, with plenty of downs, to kick off the latest installment of the show. Two fighters, middleweight Baysangur Susurkaev and welterweight Ty Miller, walked away with UFC contracts and are expected to make their debuts in the coming months.
The headlining bout of Week 1 featured a middleweight matchup between Ilian Bouafia, a teammate of Ciryl Gane and Nassourdine Imavov, and talented Brazilian Neemias Santana. The fight was expected to be a war for as long as it lasted, but it fell well short of expectations.
Just minutes into Round 1, Santana headbutted Bouafia during a grappling exchange that briefly stopped the fight. After many feared the fight would be immediately stopped with Bouafia unable to continue, Bouafia continued fighting, albeit to a unanimous decision win that featured few actionable moments.
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Dana White goes off on Neemias Santana after DWCS loss
UFC CEO Dana White looked visibly upset with Santana as the replay of his infraction was played throughout the UFC Apex arena. As White announced contracts to two fighters, he went on a rant about Santana’s headbutt.
During his post-event interview with Laura Sanko, White didn’t hold back on Santana’s infraction.
“Santana thought it was 1993! Absolute deliberate headbutt to the face,” White said.
“Santana did a lot of yelling, that’s about it. For a guy that just lost a point, he should’ve came out and tried to finish the fight. He didn’t do anything, either. The fight was a draw [in my opinion], the fight was weird, and I’m not interested in either one of those guys.
“So go back to the drawing board, and maybe we’ll see you again.”
Santana was unbeaten through four consecutive fights before the loss to Bouafia on DWCS. He earned back-to-back knockout victories prior to Tuesday night’s bizarre performance.
Meanwhile, Bouafia remains unbeaten in his career and could potentially earn a second chance on DWCS in the future.
On the flip side, one of the night’s biggest winners was a top teammate of UFC 319 headliner Khamzat Chimaev.
Khamzat Chimaev’s longtime teammate ‘saved’ Dana White’s Tuesday with wild KO
Susurkaev finished Murtaza Talha with a body kick just minutes into their middleweight bout on the DWCS undercard. Chimaev’s longtime teammate took the fight on four days notice, flattening the DWCS returning Talha in the first round.
The UFC matchmakers plan to move fast to book Susurkaev’s UFC debut. During his post-fight presser, White confirmed matchmaker Mick Maynard’s plans to offer Susurkaev a fight on an upcoming card.
Out of Susurkaev’s nine career victories, seven have finished inside the first round. He earned five consecutive first round finishes to begin his career, including knockouts in as fast as 36 seconds.
Despite a bizarre night overall at the UFC Apex, Susurkaev and Miller saved the show and are the latest top prospects to join the UFC roster.