Dana White’s Contender Series began back in 2017. Since then, the Contender Series has produced some big-name upcoming stars like Dan Ige, Sean O’Malley, Geoff Neal, Maycee Barber, and Edmen Shahbazyan. In short, it has been a huge success for finding talent.
A Contender Series fight is one that has stakes like none other, where fighters must showcase their skills to impress the UFC president enough for a contract with the promotional giant. Holding the Contender Series with a smaller cage inside the UFC Apex venue makes for a tense atmosphere, and with only close friends and family of the competing fighters in attendance as spectators. Emotions always run high, as a limited number of contracts can be given out on any given night, and many fighters can potentially have their dreams snubbed out solely because of bad luck.
In rare cases, however, a fighter gets a second look. This series will examine those.
Wes “Party Time” Schultz (7-2 MMA)
Age: 29 years old
Height: 6’2″ / Reach: 76″
Weight Class: Middleweight (185lbs.)
First DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2024 (Week 1)
Old DW’s Contender Series Opponent: Mansur Abdul-Malik (5-0 MMA)
Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2025 (Week 10)
New Opponent: Mario Mingaj (7-0 MMA)
First Contender Series Fight
Wes went 6-1 as an amateur, winning multiple middleweight championships in the process from 2019 to 2021.
Schultz turned pro in late 2021, with his first three opponents having a combined record of 21-24. Some very experienced matchups for a fighter starting out as a pro, with two of those fights being under the Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) banner— a Texas, USA based promotion and leading producer of UFC talent. In his next fight, Wes lost a unanimous decision to then 4-1 fighter Dylan Budka. Dylan would go on to go 1-1 in his next two before winning a contract on the 2023 season of DWCS (Granted, Dylan went 0-3 with the UFC and was released earlier this year, but still).
Wes would bounce back ripping off a three-fight win streak, logging two victories in the LFA, all first round finishes. This attracted the attention of the UFC, and he was invited to the 2024 season of the Contender Series.
In the fight itself, Wes put up a valiant effort but was overwhelmed and finished deep in the second round via ground n’ pound.
First Contender Series Opponent
In Schultz’s first appearance on the Contender Series, he took on Mansur Abdul-Malik. Mansur won a contract as a result of his finish against Wes. Abdul-Malik would make his UFC debut a few months later stopping a then 12-4 Dusko Todorovic. The first-round finish earned Mansur a performance bonus in the process. Earlier this year, Mansur stopped a then 6-1, Nick Klein, in the second round of their bout.
Most recently, Mansur logged an ultra-controversial majority decision victory against Cody Brundage. The decision was overturned to a draw after the fact (incomplete rounds were scored, which goes against Georgia Athletic Commission rules).
Mansur is currently scheduled to take on Antonio Troccoli in December. So, all things considered, this is a loss that has aged exceptionally for Wes and is obviously a large part of why he is back.
The Road Back
In the year and two months since Wes last appeared at the APEX he has competed once and had two fights cancelled.
Wes was actually scheduled for redemption immediately as he was supposed to fight in week 10 of the same season of the CS. But instead, Wes withdrew from his fight against Heraldo Souza. Souza, then 9-1-1, would go on to be submitted in just over 30 seconds, by short-notice replacement, Nick Klein. Klein would receive a UFC contract (and later lose to Mansur Abdul-Malik).
Schultz took on 7-4, Dustin Pape, in Michiana Fight League (MFL) based out of Indiana, USA. Wes smoked Dustin, subbing the fighter with a guillotine in under a minute. This fight was back in April.
“Party Time” was scheduled to fight 4-14, Blake Breitsprecher, at heavyweight to stay busy in July. That fight was supposed to be under the Pure FC (PFC) banner based out of Wisconsin, USA. The bout fell through as another event was scheduled and Blake was rebooked with another opponent.
Gameplan/New Opponent
For his shot at redemption on the Contender Series, Schultz will be taking on another undefeated fighter in Mario Mingaj.
Mario is a towering figure at 6’4″ tall and has a good amount of experience in the cage. Mingaj was actually 2-3 in amateur MMA and started his amateur career in 2016.
Mario is a four-fight veteran of the Venator Fighting Championship (VFC) based out of Italy and a two-fight veteran of Cage Warriors FC based out of England. He’s got some good experience. As a professional, Mario started his career in 2021. Mario’s best opponent was his most recent fight against then 7-2 fighter Zura Zarnadze. Mario submitted Zura with a triangle choke in under two minutes of the first round of their fight in November 2024. In the fight prior to that, Mingaj’s Cage Warrior’s debut, he submitted undefeated Qendrim Pallata via triangle choke at the end of the second round.
Mario has finished all but one of his opponents, of those finishes, five were submissions, of those submissions, four were triangle choke. He’s nasty with the technique and finds himself in a position to execute it often.
Wes is drawing a difficult opponent for his shot at redemption but a victory by any means is a guaranteed ticket to the UFC.
