How to Watch DWCS 2021: Week 8

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream Dana White’s Contender Series live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

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If you tune in to this week’s offering from Dana White's Contender Series and find yourself thinking, “Why does that guy look familiar,” no, you aren’t losing your mind.

Just three weeks after taking a unanimous decision over Aaron Jeffrey in an entertaining scrap at DWCS Week 5, Brazilian middleweight prospect Caio Borralho takes on Jesse Murray this Tuesday in the now-familiar environs of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Like Aspen Ladd and Lupita Godinez at last Saturday’s “UFC Vegas 40,” Borralho will be stepping up a weight class for this light heavyweight bout. Despite the short turnaround and move up in weight, the oddsmakers seem to believe the second time will be the charm, as the 28-year-old is the biggest favorite on the card at -400 or greater.

The rest of the five-fight lineup is sprinkled with solid prospects, several of whom could easily have stepped into the Octagon before now, either through the Contender Series or as short-notice call-ups to the UFC. Notable among them is 6-0 strawweight prodigy Piera Rodriguez, whose combination of athleticism and killer instinct is reminiscent of Maycee Barber or Aspen Ladd at that point in their respective careers.

Dana White’s Contender Series 2021: Week 8 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Oct. 19, and airs live on ESPN+ at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

THE LINEUP

170: Solomon Renfro (8-1) vs. Jonny Parsons (7-2)
115: Valesca Machado (8-2) vs. Piera Rodriguez (6-0)
205: Caio Borralho (9-1) vs. Jesse Murray (8-3)
205: Armen Petrosyan (5-1) vs. Kaloyan Kolev (10-0)
135: James Barnes (14-4) vs. Pedro Falcao (14-3)