LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - AUGUST 11: Joe Kropschot works for a submission against Jon Kunneman in a middleweight fight during Dana White's Contender Series Season 10, Week 1 at Meta APEX on August 11, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Dana White’s Contender Series returned to the airwaves on Tuesday night and Week 1 popped off with numerous impressive fights and wild finishes. In the first fight of the night, Joe Kropschot used a sharp jab and endless body shots to survive the donnybrooks of Jon Kunneman. The fight nearly ended in the dying seconds of the third round when Kropschot grabbed kimura and then turned it into an armbar, dislocating Kunneman’s elbow badly. But somehow Kunneman didn’t tap, giving the ref a thumbs up to keep things from being stopped. “It popped so many times in my arm,” Kropschot told Laura Sanko following the win. “I cannot believe he didn’t tap.That bent like … gross.” TOO MUCH ON THE LINE TO TAP 😤 Jon Kunneman vs Joseph Kropschot goes to the scorecards! LIVE NOW on @ParamountPlus! pic.twitter.com/UOpAYZ0Kd9 — UFC (@ufc) August 11, 2026 Following the fight, Dana White gave a UFC contract to Kropschot but passed on Kunneman. “How I got started in this sport was jiu jitsu. That’s how I got started,” White said at the post-fight presser. “And what happens to you if you don’t tap? Tapping is a part of the sport. It’s not anything that’s shunned down. Like, ‘Oh my god, that guy’s a pussy, he f–king tapped.’ That is not how this sport works. “The damage that can be done to your arm for the rest of your life? I’m cool with tapping,” he continued. “You know? Listen, do I respect and think that he’s a really f–king tough guy? Absolutely. And I was looking at his face. He didn’t even look like he was in pain. And he had his other thumb up like this.” Dude, your arm is going the other f–king way. Put your thumb down. Yes, I respect that he is that—king tough, but there is nothing wrong with tapping in this sport.” At the end of the press conference, White got an update. “It’s broken,” White said. “There you go. That’s for anybody that needed to hear it officially. There you go. His arm is broken. Tap.” Fortunately it sounds like Kunneman’s arm wasn’t mangled too badly. “I gotta get an MRI for the ligaments but the CT scan said there’s a small hairline fracture,” Kunneman said on an Instagram Live stream. “They’re saying probably six weeks until I’m good, it just depends on the ligament damage. No dislocation.”