Four New UFC Deals on DWCS Week 8, But One Came With a Caveat

Week 8 of Dana White's Contender Series Season 10 handed out four UFC contracts from a four-bout card at the APEX in Las Vegas on Tuesday, September 9. England's George Staines, Senegal's Adama Diop, Peru's Ian Escuza and Brazil's Aieza Bertolso all walked away with deals — though not every signing was a clean call.

The night's standout was Bertolso, a 25-year-old strawweight who arrived unbeaten at 8-0 and left with her record intact. She opened the card by closing distance with her striking, dragging Camila Reynoso to the canvas and locking up an inverted D'Arce choke for a first-round finish. It was exactly the kind of tidy, decisive performance the show is built to reward.

An Easy Yes

White didn't need convincing. He praised Bertolso's work on the feet and the floor, noted she'd entered as a 5-to-1 favorite — odds he said he rarely believes but made an exception for here — and told her she'd be a strong addition to the 115-pound ranks. Bertolso, for her part, thanked her family and framed the contract as just the opening chapter of what she plans to do in the UFC.

The Messy One

Escuza's night was the opposite of tidy. The Peruvian featherweight stopped in-form Italian prospect Luca Borando in 32 seconds, hurting him with knees to the body and head. The problem: with Borando down on one knee, Escuza landed an illegal knee to the head. Referee Herb Dean missed the foul in real time and waved it off as a TKO.

Cageside conversations between Dean and commission officials followed. The ruling held — the illegal knee was deemed not to have changed the outcome — but White openly disagreed, arguing the bout should have been a no contest. He said he didn't think the foul was intentional, then pointed out matchmaker Sean Shelby had gone to bat for Escuza in the back, insisting the prospect was worth the risk.

So Escuza got his contract anyway, with a warning attached: don't make Shelby regret it. Backstage, Escuza promised he'd earn it, admitted he'd been nervous about how White would rule, and maintained the knee was an accident he never saw coming. Four fighters, four deals — but only one of them got in without an asterisk hanging over the finish.