Dana White’s Contender Series Season 4 Week 8, Odds & Picks

• After a hiatus due to the trip to Fight Island, Dana White’s Contender Series returns
• The event goes down on Wednesday, November 4, 2020, instead of Tuesday to avoid the election
• See the odds and betting preview for Week 8, below

Dana White’s Contender Series has been must-watch TV for MMA fans who have had the chance to see future UFC stars earn their way into the promotion. The show has produced the likes of Geoff Neal, Sean O’Malley, and Grant Dawson among others.

In the main event of Week 8, Carlos Ulberg takes on Bruno Oliveira at light heavyweight. The card airs live on ESPN+ and TSN at 8 PM EST on Wednesday, November 4, 2020.

Dana White’s Contender Series Week 8 Odds

Odds taken Nov. 3

Will Ulberg Be The Lastest City Kickboxing Fighter In The UFC?

Carlos Ulberg (2-0) has a decorated kickboxing background but has not fought in MMA since December of 2018. However, he does come from a good camp in City Kickboxing where he is teammates with the likes of Israel Adesanya, Dan Hooker, and Brad Riddell among others.

HUGE WIN for Oliveira over Gooden
Middleweight action #TitanFC55 pic.twitter.com/IJ1gWKRecs

— Titan FC (@TitanFighting) June 29, 2019

In his last three kickboxing bouts, he finished all three by knockout. In MMA, he does have one knockout and one decision win, but he has not fought the highest level of competition.

Bruno Oliveira (8-1) is on a three-fight winning streak and coming off a very impressive 53 second TKO win over current UFC fighter Jared Gooden. He is a natural middleweight but will be moving up to light heavyweight for this fight.

Ulberg vs Oliveira Key Stats

This is a very intriguing matchup and one that I do not understand the odds for. Ulberg is no doubt the better striker. He will have a size advantage as the Kiwi has fought at heavyweight, while Oliveira is a natural middleweight. However, the MMA experience is something that is worrying for me on Ulberg’s side as I don’t know what his takedown defense will be like.

On paper, this looks like a setup fight for Ulberg to get a win and get into the UFC as he is the main training partner of Adesanya. However, I like the underdog in Oliveira to win this fight. He has proven he has legit knockout power, and he will have a speed advantage where he will be able to move in and out and pick apart Ulberg. On the ground, Oliveira is solid at jiu-jitsu and should look to shoot early and see what Ulberg’s ground game is like.

There are just too many unanswered questions on Ulberg for me to bet on. Oliveira is well-rounded, and I like him to eventually get Ulberg down to submit him and earn a UFC deal.

Pick: Bruno Oliveira (+175)

Other DWCS Week 8 Picks:

1. Ignacio Bahamondes (-450): Bahamondes is a much better striker and should score a KO win. However, at -400 there is no way you can lay that chalk. At 23, I’m uncertain if he will get a UFC contract.
2. Vince Murdock (+140): I like Murdock to be able to close the distance and use his wrestling to get the fight to the ground and score a submission win or a TKO to earn a UFC deal.
3. Jared Vanderaa (-260): Vanderaa should end this fight early by knockout and get a UFC deal.