After a period of uncertainty, Ding Meng has a fight once again on the season opener of Dana White's Contender Series.
The Chinese welterweight will fight Rami Hamed on DWCS on August 13th, multiple sources confirm to MMA Ecosystem. Hamed is replacing Ding's original opponent, Islam Dulatov, who was moved to the October 1st episode of the show. All episodes of Dana White's Contender Series are set to take place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ding Meng (34-8) is a longtime Chinese MMA veteran who's fought multiple times for key organizations like JCK and WLF, and even a few times for ONE Championship. He's the former JCK welterweight champion, and only lost the belt by vacating it in preparation for bigger opportunities.
His inclusion in DWCS will mark the first time since 2021 that a Chinese fighter will make the jump across the Pacific to compete in the show.
His opponent, Lebanon's Rami Hamed, has been in the UFC's crosshairs for some time. He's been offered fights at Road to UFC and DWCS, but had to withdraw from DWCS last year due to injury. Hamed hasn't fought since December of 2022 and is on a four-fight win streak.
Hamed holds a seventy-five percent winning rate by knockout, and has fought in Brave CF and Titan FC. The thirty-three year old lives in trains in Florida, USA, training at the MMA Masters gym.
Dana White's Contender Series airs every Tuesday from August 13th to October 15th at the APEX, and airs on ESPN+. The first two episodes air at 7pm EST, while the remaining eight shift back to 8pm EST.
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