Theo Haig, Dana White’s Contender Series Season 10, Week 7 Credit: Patrick Danna/Cageside Press
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.
Age: 30 years old
Height: 6’2″ / Reach: 77.5″
Weight Class: Middleweight (185lbs.)
First DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2025 (Week 4)
Old DW’s Contender Series Opponent: Cezary Oleksiejczuk (17-3 MMA)
Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2026 (Week 7)
New Opponent: Norbert Novenyi Jr. (10-1 MMA)
First Contender Series Fight
Theo has been fighting in MMA since at least 2020. Haig turned pro in 2022, when he made his debut at Bellator 277 as an undersized light heavyweight. Theo submitted his opponent in a little over two minutes with a rear naked choke. In his next fight the following year, his last Bellator appearance, Haig submitted a 2-2 opponent via guillotine choke, three minutes into the first round. Theo would rack up another four wins, all via submission, three in the first round and one in the second. Two of those bouts were under the LFA’s banner.
Haig’s opponents had a combined record of 11-20 (47%-win rate)
In Haig’s first Contender Series fight, he was very quickly overwhelmed by his opponent. Haig was hurt pretty much immediately by punches, dropped to the canvas, and the fight was finished with hammer fists. 36 second TKO with Haig never able to get his grappling (or anything) going.
First Contender Series Opponent
In his first appearance on the Contender Series, Theo faced Cezary Oleksiejzuk. Cezary was a veteran of the Poland-based promotion, Fight Exclusive Night (FEN) where he was a former defending champ. Cezary’s 2025 first-round finish of 8-fight UFC veteran, Tom Breese, punched his ticket to the Contender Series.
Oleksiejzuk earned a contract with his first-round finish of Theo Haig.
Cezary took a fight a little over three months later and scored a unanimous decision victory over Cesar Almeida. Cesar is now 3-3 with the UFC, with one of those losses being a split decision to Roman Kopylov.
Solid debut win for Oleksiejzuk. A loss that has aged well for Haig.
The Road Back
Since his loss, Haig has fought one time in pro MMA. The fight came in February when Haig took on a 7-4, Lance Wright, under the LFA’s banner. Wright was strangled via rear naked choke, 63 seconds into the second round.
That, combined with Theo’s fight history before his DWCS appearance, and Oleksiejzuk’s UFC debut, was enough to get Haig a return ticket.
Gameplan/New Opponent
For his shot at redemption on the Contender Series, Haig will face Norbert Novenyi Jr. Norbert turned pro back in 2018 and his opponents have a combined record of: 82-35 (70% win rate)
Novenyi is 7-fight veteran of the Bellator promotion. Norbert’s one loss with the UFC came to Dalton Rosa who went 9-1 with Bellator and is 2-3 with the PFL.
Norbert is tested, despite being just 10-1, and only being a 26-year-old. This should be a good scrap, and fans can expect the UFC to take whichever fighter comes out on top. Both guys have a lot of upside.