UFC CEO Dana White did not stop in the middleweight Neemias Santana after his performance on the Contender series.
Week 1 of the 2025 season of the Contender Series of Dana White contained some ups, with many downs, to start the latest episode of the show. Two hunters, middleweight baysangur susurkaev and welterweight ty Miller, walked away with UFC contracts and are expected to make their debut in the coming months.
The Headliner match of week 1 contained a middleweight matchup between Ilian Bouafia, a teammate of Ciryl Gane and Nassourdine Imavov and talented Brazilian Neemias Santana. The fight was expected to be a war for as long as it lasted, but it was well short for expectations.
Only a few minutes in the round 1, Santana Bouafia headed during a gripping exchange that stopped the fight briefly. After many feared that the fight would immediately be stopped with Bouafia who was unable to continue, Bouafia continued to fight, albeit for a unanimous decision that contained few usable moments.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Dana White goes off on Tnekeias Santana after losing DWCS
UFC CEO Dana White visibly looked angry at Santana while the repetition of his violation was played in the UFC Apex Arena. While White announced contracts to two hunters, he went on a tirade about Santana's headbump.
During his interview after the event with Laura Sanko, White did not hold against the violation of Santana.
“Santana thought it was 1993! Absolute intentional headbump in the face,” said White.
Welcome to the UFC 👊 @danawhite reveals the latest additions to the selection with @laura_sanko after #dwcs! pic.twitter.com/zaj00ifecf
– UFC (@UFC) August 13, 2025
“Santana screamed a lot, it is about. For a man who just lost a point, he should have come out and try to end the fight. He did nothing too. The fight was a draw [in my opinion]The fight was weird and I am not interested in one of those guys.
“So go back to the drawing table, and maybe we'll see you again.”
Santana was unbeaten by four consecutive fights before the loss for Bouafia on DWCs. He achieved back-to-back knockout victories prior to the bizarre performance on Tuesday evening.
In the meantime, Bouafia remains unbeaten in his career and could possibly earn a second chance of DWCs in the future.
On the other hand, one of the biggest winners of the night was a top teammate of UFC 319 Headliner Khamzat Chimaev.
Khamzat Chimaev's old teammate 'saved' Dana White's Tuesday with Wild Ko
Susurkaev finished Murtaza Talha with a Body Kick for a few minutes in their middleweight fight on the DWCS -Undercard. The old teammate of Chimaev informed the fight on four days, causing the DWCs to return to Talha in the first round.
The UFC Matchmakers are planning to go quickly to book the UFC debut of Susurkaev. During his post-fighting prints, White confirmed the plans of matchmaker Mick Maynard to offer Susurkaev a fight on an upcoming map.
From Susurkaev's nine career victories, seven ended in the first round. He earned five consecutive first round to start his career, including knockouts in as fast as 36 seconds.
Despite a bizarre night in the UFC Apex, Susurkaev and Miller have stored the show and are the latest top perspectives to participate in the UFC selection.