Dana White’s Contender Series was expected to begin its fourth season this week, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed those plans.
According to a report from MMAjunkie.com, Season 4 is now expected to debut on Aug. 4 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and stream via ESPN+ on Tuesdays through September. Previous seasons of the Contender Series featured 10 episodes, but it’s currently unclear if the upcoming iteration will follow suit.
Fighters such as Adrian Yanez, Josh Parisian, Leomana Martinez, Joseph Pyfer, Chad Johnson and Jerome Rivera that were targeted for the upcoming season are still expected to compete, per the report. Others, like Brandon Royval, Anthony Ivy and Kyle Daukaus were tabbed as short-notice replacements for UFC bouts.
The Contender Series has showcased a number of notable talents in its first three years, including Sean O’Malley, Geoff Neal, Maycee Barber, Greg Hardy, Dan Ige, Alex Perez, Edmen Shahbazyan, Johnny Walker and Kevin Holland, to name a few.