DWCS 2025: Episode 9 Breakdown and Predictions

The penultimate episode of Dana White’s Contender Series 2025 is upon us, with UFC CEO and President White close to handing out a record number of UFC contracts.

Among the UFC hopefuls in DWCS 2025 Week 9, Luke Fernandez, an unbeaten CFFC light heavyweight champion with plenty of raw talent. With a favorable set for Tuesday, the slow path could seem Fernandez blossom into a real star in the UFC’s 205lb weight class.

We’ve got our breakdown and predictions ready for the upcoming instalment of DWCS, so let’s get to it.

Flyweight, Imanol Rodriguez (5-0) vs. Roque Junior (10-2)

Notable Notes

• Rodrigues fought this past season on TUF
• Rodrigues has a 100% finish rate outside of his last TUF fight
• Rodrigues is 0-1 to the decision (TUF fight)
• Junior is 1-2 to the decision
• Both have questionable decision losses
• Both guys have all their finishes inside two rounds
• Both have a submission win a piece

Imanol Rodriguez

In my opinion (and many others), Rodriguez should’ve won his fight on TUF 33 to move to the finals. Instead, the guy he “lost” to ended up winning the show, and that’s why I think he’s getting this spot. He came into the show a bit too soon, we thought, but during the show proved he belongs.

At his core, Rodriguez is a striker. While he occasionally throws opponents to the mat, it’s more about resetting the pace than controlling position. His style is chaotic yet calculated—he thrives in wild exchanges, launching power shots with both hands, attacking the body, and mixing up angles. He’s relentless, with legitimate finishing ability, and when he hurts an opponent, he knows how to close the show. His durability and knockout power allow him to take risks, and he is willing to absorb damage in pursuit of the finish. That can also hurt him at the higher level because a vet could be able to pace themselves better and pull away on Rodriguez late in the fight.

Rodriguez’s game is straightforward—about 60% chaos, 40% technique. He’s the type of fighter you’d bet on because he puts everything on the line. However, there are still unanswered questions. How will he fare in deep waters? How will he handle an elite wrestler? What does his ground game truly look like? This fight may have come sooner than ideal, but regardless of the outcome, it’s a crucial learning experience for Rodriguez.

I had three big questions for Rodriguez going into the TUF house: How will he fare in deep waters? How will he handle an elite wrestler? And what does his ground game truly look like? And I believe he answered those. He can be taken down and put in a bad position and controlled for a bit. Also, he scrambled well and stays composed and defends subs well. Rodriguez’s ground game as a whole looked good. He knew when to explode out of positions, and in round three, he dominated Morales on the mat, which is a great feat for a young fighter.

Roque Junior

Going into the tape on Junior, I wasn’t expecting much given the level of Brazilian talent brought in this season—but I came away impressed. He has a 2020 loss to Hugo Paiva, a solid prospect at the time, so there’s no shame there. His more recent loss to veteran Denis Araujo was a fight I thought Junior should’ve won, which means he could realistically be riding a nine-fight win streak with no official losses in the past five years.

Junior is primarily a striker, and he’s got sharp hands. He would benefit from mixing in more kicks and body work instead of relying so heavily on head-hunting, since his attacks can get a bit repetitive. That said, he applies steady pressure, cuts off the cage well, and throws with real intent. Adding more target variety would make him even more dangerous, but he already does a nice job of throwing in volume and working from different angles.

His wrestling and ground game are harder to pin down, though he seems capable of holding his own everywhere. He shows good awareness in scrambles—hitting switches, defending takedowns, and working constantly to stand up when he’s on his back.

Prediction: This should be a fun clash between two skilled strikers. Junior has the edge in raw power, but that’s about it. Rodriguez is the more layered striker—he works the body better, carries more speed, and has the option to mix in takedowns if needed. Junior’s power and Rodriguez’s tendency to get reckless make him live for a big moment, but I lean the other way. I think Rodriguez’s pace and pressure eventually wear Junior down, leading to a late-round TKO.