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Akbar Abdullaev is finally staring at the UFC doorway, and he has to kick it open the hard way. The unbeaten former ONE Championship finisher is booked to meet Anthony Figueroa on Dana White’s Contender Series Week 6 on Sept. 15, giving the Contender Series model another violent little science project to throw in front of Dana White. Nolan King reported the matchup Tuesday, noting that Abdullaev enters at 13-0 while Figueroa brings a 9-1 record and the A1 Combat stink of a guy who has been living in tough regional rooms. That is not a soft landing. That is the UFC looking at a hype train and saying, cool, now drive it through traffic. Here is the booking note: Former ONE contender Akbar Abdullaev (13-0) will face Urijah Faber's A1 Combat standout Anthony Figueroa (9-1) on Dana White's Contender Series Week 6 (Sept. 15), per multiple sources pic.twitter.com/LO6lwgi1v5 — Nolan King (@mma_kings) August 18, 2026 Abdullaev has been one of those names hardcore fans bring up when they want to sound like they have been watching fights at 5 a.m. The 28-year-old debuted professionally in 2020, ran up an unbeaten record, then jumped into ONE Championship in 2023 and immediately started treating opponents like they owed him money. Abdullaev Brings A 100 Percent Finish Rate To The UFC Audition The selling point is not complicated. Abdullaev has never gone the distance. He needed just 44 seconds to smash Ho Taek Oh in his ONE debut, then came back later that year and stopped Aaron Canarte in 41 seconds. That is less a resume than a collection of emergency sirens. His ONE run also came with chaos. Abdullaev failed two hydration tests before a planned title opportunity at ONE Fight Night 27, shifting the fight into non-title territory, but he still finished featherweight champion Tang Kai in the final round. He later stopped Ibragim Dauev with ground and pound, keeping the finish-rate gimmick alive and making the obvious question louder. Why was this guy not already in the UFC? The answer, at least for now, is DWCS. The promotion has leaned on the show as its summer talent funnel, and Abdullaev has the kind of profile that makes the room sit up before the walkout music even hits. One clean finish on this stage can turn a regional killer into a signed UFC fighter before the sweat dries. Figueroa is not being brought in as a warm body, either. The Urijah Faber A1 Combat standout turned pro in 2018, had a Bellator appearance early in his career, and has won five straight since his lone loss. He beat Eugene Correa by unanimous decision in May at A1 Combat 35, though he missed weight and was not eligible to claim the interim lightweight belt attached to that fight. That makes this a proper Contender Series trap fight. Abdullaev has the undefeated record, the ONE highlight clips, and the scary finishing math. Figueroa has the upset lane, the regional seasoning, and the chance to steal all of that momentum in front of the boss. If Abdullaev really is the UFC-level problem people think he is, Sept. 15 is where he has to prove it without any more side quests. DWCS has always been a strange little pressure cooker, part job interview and part public execution. Abdullaev vs. Figueroa now joins a Week 6 slate that is expected to include Wushamo Hailai vs. Camila Reynoso, Mayton Perea vs. Zevan Hunt, Antonio Monteiro vs. Tyshawn Williams, and Hugo Guillon vs. Luis Hernandez. With White handing out contracts to finishers when the violence is right, Abdullaev has the exact kind of profile that makes this show dangerous. The only catch is that Figueroa gets to punch back. And with Faber still orbiting big combat-sports moments, from A1 Combat to his RAF back-and-forth with Arman Tsarukyan, this matchup has enough name value around it to matter before the cage door even shuts. One more Abdullaev finish and the UFC conversation goes from maybe to paperwork.