Dana White's Contender Series 2021: How to watch it and when does it start?

Dana White's Contender Series season five will commence this Tuesday, August 31, 2021. After ten episodes, the latest installment of the series will come to an end on November 21.

Season 5 of DWCS will be streamed live on ESPN+ in the United States.

DWCS has been instrumental in recognizing the talented fighters competing outside of the UFC. Ever since the series began in 2017, a host of up-and-coming mixed martial artists who featured on DWCS have gone on to achieve stardom in the Dana White-led promotion.

As usual, all the fights are scheduled to take place inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The August 31 fight card will be headlined by light heavyweights Azamat Murzakanov and Matheus Scheffel. Murzakanov, who hails from Russia, holds a 9-0 professional MMA record. Well known for his punching prowess, the Russian has finished seven of his nine fights.

Standing across Murzakanov will be Scheffel, a 28-year-old fighter from Brazil. His MMA record stands at 14-6. Having fought in multiple regional promotions, Scheffel has come out strong in the latter part of his young career, winning six of his last seven fights.

On DWCS, the Brazilian will be competing in his first MMA fight since October 2019.

Notable UFC fighters who featured on Dana White's Contenders Series

The first season of Dana White's Contenders Series began in 2017. The showstopper of the entire season was undoubtedly Sean O'Malley. 'Sugar' produced a sweet knockout of Alfred Khashakyan in the first round, which guaranteed him a UFC contract.

No.10-ranked UFC welterweight Geoff Neal also competed on DWCS season one, along with the likes of Julian Marquez, Alex Perez, Karl Roberson and Matt Frevola.

The following year, Greg Hardy, Maycee Barber, Antonina Shevchenko, Edmen Shahbazyan, Jimmy Crute and Ryan Spann earned their UFC contracts as well.

Last season, 37 fighters from DWCS were signed to the UFC - the highest in the history of the series. Fighters from season four of Dana White's Contenders Series who are already making waves in the UFC include Adrian Yanez, Phil Hawes and Dustin Jacoby.

This year, fans are keeping a close eye on bright prospects such as Aaron Jeffery, Jake Hadley and Kledyson Rodrigues.