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Dana White’s Contender Series began back in 2017. Since then, the Contender Series has produced some big-name upcoming stars like Dan Ige, Sean O’Malley, Geoff Neal, Maycee Barber, and Edmen Shahbazyan. In short, it has been a huge success for finding talent. A Contender Series fight is one that has stakes like none other, where fighters must showcase their skills to impress the UFC president enough for a contract with the promotional giant. Holding the Contender Series with a smaller cage inside the UFC Apex venue makes for a tense atmosphere, and with only close friends and family of the competing fighters in attendance as spectators. Emotions always run high, as a limited number of contracts can be given out on any given night, and many fighters can potentially have their dreams snubbed out solely because of bad luck. In rare cases, however, a fighter gets a second look. This series will examine those. Kaik Brito (19-6 MMA) Age: 29 years old Height: 5’11″ / Reach: 72″ Weight Class: Welterweight (170lbs.) First DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2023 (Week 3) Old DW’s Contender Series Opponent: Oban Elliott (12-5 MMA) Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2026 (Week 2) New Opponent: Namo Fazil (10-1 MMA) First Contender Series Fight Kaik had some good experience before fighting on the Contender Series for the first time. Kaik had a first round stoppage victory over Robert Bryczek (currently 1-2 in the UFC). Brito also suffered a third-round stoppage loss to Mateusz Rebecki (5-4 UFC record), an eventual 2022 Contender Series alum. Kaik’s four losses ahead of his first Contender Series appearance were to Erivan Pereira (10-1), Mateusz Rebecki (9-1), Pavel Gordeev (16-2), and Petr Knize (12-1). The combined record of the fighters he lost to before the Contender Series was 47-5. Brito entered that first Contender Series fight with a 16-4 record. Kaik got into a closely contested war with his opponent where he was just edged out on the scorecards despite dropping his opponent and threatening him with an armbar in the second. The wrestling and ground ‘n pound of his opponent sealed the deal. First Contender Series Opponent Kaik faced Oban Elliott in his first appearance on the Contender Series, who earned a contract for his hard-fought majority decision. Elliott entered that Contender Series bout with an 8-2 record. Oban’s debut in the UFC came six months later as he took on a then 7-1, Val Woodburn, on the under card of UFC 298. Elliott logged a unanimous decision victory. Four months later, in June, Oban took on a then 11-4, Preston Parsons on the undercard of UFC 304. Elliott again ended up in the winner’s circle picking up another unanimous decision win. About four months after that, in November, Oban took on Bassil Hafez who entered the bout with a 9-4-1 record. Elliott scored his first finish with the promotion as he stopped Hafez with an overhand right and the follow up ground ‘n pound. The finish earned Elliott his first UFC performance bonus. In June of 2025 Elliott fought an 11-2, Seok Hyeon Ko. Seok handed Oban the first loss of his UFC career when he defeated him by unanimous decision. Due to an illness, fans didn’t see Oban in the octagon again until late January 2026 on the undercard of UFC 325. There Oban suffered the first stoppage loss of his UFC career at the hands of an 8-1, Jonathan Micallef. Miacallef submitted Elliott via a rear naked choke in the second round. And in his most recent fight, back in August, Oban took on a 9-0 Michael Oliveira. Michael made quick work of Oban as he floored the welterweight with a straight right and finished the fight with ground ‘n pound in the first round. This is a fight that has aged pretty well all things considered. Oban is 3-3 with the UFC and the opponents that he’s lost to have a combined UFC record of: 6-1. Considering Kaik and Oban had a close fight; it makes sense for the UFC brass to circle back around at take another look. The Road Back In the nearly three years since Kaik last appeared on the Contender Series he has competed four times and had one cancelled fight. In December of 2023, Kaik fought Dalton Ribeiro who entered the fight with an 8-8 record. Kaik stopped his opponent with ground ‘n pound less than two minutes into the bout. Kaik wouldn’t fight till a full year later, taking on a then 15-6 Ion Surdu under the OKTAGON promotional banner. Surdu stunned Kaik with a first round head kick finish to win the OKTAGON welterweight championship. In June of 2025 Kaik returned to take on Joilton Lutterbach, who entered the fight with a 39-10 record. Kaik made quick work of Joilton sitting him down with a right hook and a head kick, before finishing the job with ground ‘n pound. Fight was again over in under two minutes. And in his most recent fight, Kaik took on a 23-9, Ronald Paradeiser. This time, Kaik successfully captured the OKTAGON welterweight championship, finishing his opponent in the third round via a spinning back fist. Kaik had rebooked his cancelled fight from December of 2025 against Amiran Gogoladze for this September before he got the call to fight in the main event of the Contender Series 2026 Season Week 2. Gameplan/New Opponent For his shot at redemption on the Contender Series Kaik Brito will be taking on a 10-1, Namo Fazil. Namo is a veteran of the Cage Fighting League (CFL) and a one fight veteran of ONE Fighting Championships. Fazil is also a one fight veteran of the Karate Combat promotion. And, in his most recent fight, Fazil fought on the MVP MMA Netflix event, stopping a 6-1 Jake Babian on the prelims of a historic card. His sole loss in pro MMA came in his fourth pro fight back in 2022 when he lost a unanimous decision to Mohammad Alaqreaa, who was 3-0. Alaqreaa is now also 10-1, he’s also a six-fight veteran of the PFL where he won the PFL MENA welterweight tournament championship in 2025. This should be a high level and competitive fight. Fans should expect for the winner of this bout to receive a contract no matter the method. On paper both guys look UFC ready.