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.

Brandon Holmes (6-1 MMA)

Age: 29 years old

Height: 6’2″ / Reach: 74″

Weight Class: Middleweight (185lbs.)

First DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2025 (Week 2)

Old DW’s Contender Series Opponent: Cam Rowston (15-3 MMA)

Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2026 (Week 4)

New Opponent: Modestino Rodrigues (7-1 MMA)

 

First Contender Series Fight

Brandon Holmes had at least a four-fight amateur MMA career, including a title victory over a 3-1 fighter.

Holmes turned pro in 2023 and went 3-0 in the smaller promotions. With two finishes and a unanimous decision under his belt, Holmes took on a then 6-5, Zack Borrego on Fury FC 104 in May of 2024. Brandon delivered a finish with just two seconds to go in the fight. And even though Brandon had another fight booked on Fury FC the UFC called the middleweight up.

Brandon’s first Contender Series appearance was over pretty much as fast as it began. Brandon’s opponent immediately hurt him with a right hand then swarmed him with a barrage of well-placed strikes. When the dust settled Holmes had suffered the first loss of his pro career just over half a round.

First Contender Series Opponent

Cam Rowston, Brandon’s opponent, earned a contract as a result of his first-round finish. Rowston was actually a fighter looking redemption on the Contender Series from the 2024 season, so the signing wasn’t surprising.

The City Kickboxing fighter made his UFC debut a month and a week later as he fought a then 13-4 Andre Petroski. Rowston made quick work of Petroski, who was 8-3 with the promotion, stopping him midway through the first round.

Rowston appeared four months later at the end of January on the undercard of UFC 325. Cam took on the hyper-active Cody Brundage who was 6-6-1, 1 NC with the promotion heading into that bout. Cam stopped Brundage late in the second round with punches from back mount.

In Rowston’s most recent fight, he fought 18-6, Robert Bryczek to a unanimous decision victory. Bryczek entered that fight with a 1-1 promotional record, including a stoppage-victory over vet Brad Tavares.

Rowston is again scheduled to compete on a Volk card, this time on the prelims of UFC 333 in late October. Cam has drawn a ranked opponent this time as well, as he takes on the #14 ranked Abus Magomedov.

Cam has been putting in work in the middleweight division, and is super active, meaning this loss couldn’t have aged any better for Brandon at this exact moment.

The Road Back

Brandon has had one fight scheduled and competed one time since his first appearance on the Contender Series.

Rowston took on a 4-0 Preston LaGrange on the main card of Fury 112 back in January. Cam smoked his opponent, violently slamming him and stopping him with ground n’ pound punches midway through the first round. That performance in combination with all that his first Contender Series opponent has been doing since last year makes him a pretty easy fighter to bring back, especially within the middleweight division.

Gameplan/New Opponent

For his second appearance on the Contender Series, Brandon will be taking on Modestino Rodrigues. This isn’t Modestino’s second time being here, but he is more experienced in professional MMA than Brandon. Modestino is also a veteran of the K-1 Kickboxing Grand Prix 2025.

Rodrigues is very dangerous and gets the job done in a hurry more often times than not. His one loss was to a an 0-2 fighter that stopped him in one minute. His best win was against a 4-0 Virgilio Ailton in his most recent pro MMA fight (June 2025). Looks like Modestino is mostly blowing guys up in the first round, with his latest fight being 69 seconds into the second round. Fans should expect a true edge of your seat middleweight fight. And the winner is absolutely getting a contract.