UFC veteran has ‘high expectations’ for undefeated CKB teammate ahead of his Dana White’s Contender Series debut

The next episode of Dana White’s Contender Series will be broadcast tonight on ESPN+ with the latest sensation from City Kickboxing ‘expected’ to remedy those mid-week blues from Las Vegas.

Another week of DWCS, another prospect from City Kickboxing looks to join the likes of Israel Adesanya, Dan Hooker, and Kai Kara-France on the UFC roster – and if there was ever a prospect to keep an eye on, it’s Aaron ‘Tauzemup’ Tau.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCUndefeated CKB prospect Aaron Tau features in DWCS main event tonight31-year-old New Zealander Aaron ‘Tauzemup’ Tau headlines tonight’s episode of Dana White’s Contender Series against 6-1 American hopeful, Elijah Smith.

Whilst Smith is certainly no slouch in the octagon, he’s set to have a tough time at The Apex against the undefeated 8-0 bantamweight, who has won seven of his eight bouts via finish (five KOs and one submission).

With a spot on the UFC roster on the line, you might expect Tau’s teammates to be a voice of calm and reason; but the intimidating Kiwi comes from City Kickboxing, a team of champions, and that brings its own pressure.

UFC fighter Dan Hooker ‘expects’ Tau to join him on the roster ahead of debutWhen Aaron Tau does make his promotional debut on Dana White’s Contender Series later tonight, he’ll do so with veteran UFC fighter Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker in his corner.

“He’s looking good, it’s good to get back in the gym with Aaron and [we’re] just putting the finishing touches on training,” Hooker told ENGAGEIND earlier this week.

UFC 306: Israel Adesanya fell asleep during lackluster co-main event between Shevchenko and Grasso“He has obviously been working with all the other coaches while I’ve been on training camp as well and getting my face put back together but now, we’re back… Back in the gym in one piece, finishing touches are getting there and he’s looking sharp – he’s looking ready to go.”

Yet coming into his DWCS main event with an undefeated record and an iconic UFC fighter backing him up, there is already a serious amount of pressure on the young ‘Tauzemup’ – most of which originates with Hooker and the team at City Kickboxing.

“Yeah, I think it’s just expectations, like I’ve just got high expectations [for him]. I know we’ve set a high bar where we’re not only going into a fight and expecting to win but expecting to walk out of there with a UFC contract – that’s just what I expect to happen [on Tuesday].”

On a recent appearance on Sky Sport New Zealand, Hooker doubled down on the idea that being a CKB fighter raises anticipation tenfold, although he did also note that it’ll be interesting to see how Tau performs when there isn’t a large crowd cheering him on.

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“We do have high expectations, that’s part of coming out of City Kickboxing. We do have very high expectations; we are expecting two UFC contracts – not only victories but to walk away with Dana White handing them a contract.

“He’s a fighter who feeds off the crowd really well, if you’ve ever seen him live, he just gets the crowd on a whole different level, there’s so much energy that he draws from the crowd but it’s a different sphere in the Apex cause there’s only 20 or 30 people there, that’s lowkey.”

In truth, even if Tau can earn a UFC contract in impressive fashion later on tonight, it won’t be until his first big fight in front of a sold-out arena that Hooker will know how high his ceiling truly is.

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“A lot of the fighters on Dana White’s Contender Series, a lot of coming into the UFC, it’s not just the skill – obviously you need the skills to get there but it’s bigger than that, it’s who can do it under the [bright] lights, who can do it in front of 20,000 people.”

Dana White’s Contender Series 2024: Week 6 goes down from 8 PM ET on Tuesday, September 17 – Aaron Tau vs Elijah Smith is set for the main event of the evening.

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