UFC Fight Night 238 post-event facts: Umar Nurmagomedov on the rise in bantamweight books

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 238, which saw Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Muhammad Mokaev and Umar Nurmagomedov make noise.

The UFC opened its March schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 238, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The main event saw [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) overcome a slow start to batter [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a referee TKO stoppage after the end of the fourth round, putting him back on the winning track.

For more on the numbers behind the card, which featured six finishes in 11 fights – and a couple of them unique – check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $24 million

UFC Fight Night 238 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 238 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $133,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC Fight Night 238 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 238 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Vitor Petrino[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tyson Pedro[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Bekzat Almakhan[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Eryk Anders[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Vinicius Oliveira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Bernardo Sopaj[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Aiemann Zahabi[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Javid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Christian Leroy Duncan[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Claudio Ribeiro[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Ludovit Klein[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]A.J. Cunningham[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady[/autotag]: $4,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2381 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $1,362,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $24,069,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 video: Ludovit Klein lives up to ‘Mr. Highlight’ nickname with rare TKO finish

Ludovit Klein scored just the third finish in UFC history stemming from a front kick to the body at UFC Fight Night 238.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Ludovit Klein[/autotag] showed once again why his nickname is “Mr. Highlight” with a dominant performance against [autotag]A.J. Cunningham[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 238.

Cunningham (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UF)C stepped into the lightweight bout at the UFC Apex on just four days’ notice, and he was a massive betting underdog. The result reflected those variables, with Klein (21-4-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) turning in a destructive striking performance en route to a TKO at 4:36 mark of Round 1.

Klein landed all sorts of punches and kicks throughout the brief bout, but the end came when he landed a front kick to the body that folded Cunningham. It was just the third finish of its kind in UFC history, joining Alexander Volkov and Dan Hooker.

Check out the replay below (via X):

Now undefeated in his past five fights dating back to March 2022, the 29-year-old Klein said he’s looking upward in the lightweight division.

“I want to be champion some day,” Klein said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 238 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

Dana White’s Contender Series 62 results: Five UFC contracts awarded on all-time episode

Season 7, Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series may have been one of the best in history. Five fighters will join the UFC as a result.

LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie was at Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series 62 event at the UFC Apex.

Dana White’s Contender Series cards see prospects fighting for the opportunity to sign a UFC deal, with UFC president Dana White on hand to make the decisions.

The sixth episode of Season 7 saw 10 fighters compete for their shots at UFC contracts. When the dust settled, UFC CEO White offered contracts to all five winners: bantamweight Jean Matsumoto, strawweight Julia Polastri, featherweight Steven Nguyen, heavyweight Jhonata Diniz, and lightweight James Llontop.

The action, particularly through the first three fights, had White and the matchmakers on their feet. White even entered the cage following the conclusion of the opening bout between JeaMatsumoto and Tanner, which was a three-round striking war.

Two losing fighters, Tanner and A.J. Cunningham, were paid their win bonuses for their efforts, according to White.

Full results of Dana White’s Contender Series 62 include:

  • James Llontop def. Malik Lewis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
  • Jhonata Diniz def. Eduardo Neves via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 3:15
  • Steven Nguyen def. A.J. Cunningham via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:06
  • Julia Polastri def. Patricia Alujas via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:05
  • Jean Matsumoto def. Kasey Tanner via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

LFA 102 results: Souza outworks Johns, Gregory Rodrigues reaches tourney final

Bruno Souza continued to climb in the featherweight division and Gregory Rodrigues made a statement to reach the middleweight tournament final at the top of LFA’s latest card Friday. At LFA 102 at Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in Shawnee, Okla., Souza …

[autotag]Bruno Souza[/autotag] continued to climb in the featherweight division and [autotag]Gregory Rodrigues[/autotag] made a statement to reach the middleweight tournament final at the top of LFA’s latest card Friday.

At LFA 102 at Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in Shawnee, Okla., Souza outworked [autotag]Elijah Johns[/autotag] with a split decision in the headliner. And in the co-main event, Rodrigues picked up a brutal knockout of [autotag]Al Matavao[/autotag] in the 185-pound tournament semifinals to reach the final against Josh Fremd.

Check out results from the fights below.