Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.
MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.
But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.
Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC, PFL, and Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 29-Feb. 4.
Coach Francisco Grasso left a big imprint in MMA, as he was responsible for some of the biggest moments this 2023.
The name [autotag]Francisco Grasso[/autotag] probably didn’t ring a bell entering 2023, but leaving the past calendar year, it’s associated with UFC gold and Mexican MMA history.
Francisco, or better known as “Pancho,” truly let his work speak for himself. In a sport where media attention or public narrative often sways the appreciation of fighters or moments in time, Francisco left a big imprint in 2023 without ever doing an English-language interview and very limited interviews in Spanish.
Francisco had his hand in many important moments this 2023, but most notably he made history with his niece – [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag]. Under the tutelage of Francisco, Alexa became the first-ever Mexican female champion in the UFC, and they did it when many thought it was impossible.
Alexa was up against an all-time great, one of the most dominant champions in UFC history, regardless of gender and weight class. Alexa and her team, led by Francisco, had the tough task of dethroning Valentina Shevchenko, who at that point had seven consecutive title defenses and had never lost at flyweight.
The Grasso bloodline ended up pulling off one of the biggest upsets of 2023, and made history for their home country. Against all odds, Alexa submitted Shevchenko in March at UFC 285. It was a remarkable moment that highlighted the great work being done at Lobo Gym in Guadalajara. The two would return six months later in September to fight Shevchenko to a draw.
Even though it wasn’t a win, the fact that Grasso retained her belt and fought Shevchenko in a highly competitive decision, proved that the upset in March was no fluke and that Francisco and his team had truly leveled up to a world-class gym.
Francisco’s work as a coach was responsible for MMA Junkie’s Female Fighter of the Year and one of the biggest upsets as well. It’s incredible how much impact Lobo Gym had in MMA, given it’s not in a country with a strong history in MMA and is relatively small compared to titans such as American Top Team, AKA, Kill Cliff, and others.
On top of the historic win of Alexa, other results accompanied Francisco’s success as a coach in 2023. It wasn’t Alexa’s rise alone:
Francisco was responsible for MMA Junkie’s Female Fighter of the Year, and also MMA Junkie’s Newcomer of the Year.
[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] had a huge impact in 2023 and enters 2024 as one of the most interesting prospects. Working with Francisco as both a fighter and assistant coach, Lopes showed brilliance every second he was in the octagon.
He gave a wild, Fight of the Night against unbeaten title contender Mosvar Evloev, a fight he took on 4 days’ notice. Following his debut, Lopes picked up a first-round submission win over Gavin Tucker in August and then a first-round KO over Pat Sabatini in November. He won $50,000 Performance of the Night bonuses in both finishes.
[autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag] made history with Lobo Gym in 2023. She became the woman with the most wins in a calendar year, having her hand raised four times in the octagon.
Francisco took Loopy Godinez under his wing mid-2023, but Godinez had worked part-time with Lobo Gym for fights earlier in the year. There’s no denying that Godinez turned a corner with Lobo Gym, as she looked highly dominant and got herself in the top 10 of the UFC official strawweight rankings with her win over Tabatha Ricci in November.
Francisco got top UFC women’s bantamweight contender [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] to challenge Amanda Nunes for her title at UFC 289. Certainly, it was a disappointing performance from Aldana, who was dominated from bell to bell. However, people forget that just getting to a UFC title fight alone is a big achievement few fighters accomplish in their careers.
Aldana would return to UFC 296 in December to redeem herself and defeat Karol Rosa while delivering arguably the best female fighter of the year.
[autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag] picked up a big win over Jimmy Flick in June, putting him away with some nasty elbows. He then took on ranked fighter Steve Erceg and lost a competitive decision. Although Costa closed out the year with a loss, he still shows promise in the UFC’s flyweight division.
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Nineteen indefinite suspensions were handed out after UFC 295, per the New York State Athletic Commission.
UFC 295 took place Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York and featured 13 fights.
On Monday, MMA Junkie acquired a list of athlete medical suspensions from the New York State Athletic Commission, the sanctioning body that oversaw the event. Most injury specifics were not disclosed.
Nineteen of the 26 combatants were given indefinite suspensions and will need to be cleared by a doctor before they return. That’s a high number of indefinite suspensions compared to the average UFC event, although the NYSAC may have different safety protocols compared to other regulatory bodies. All 26 fighters were also given mandatory suspensions, which vary from seven days to 90 days.
Check out the full list of medical suspensions from UFC 295 below.
The best facts from UFC 295, which saw Alex Pereira join the two-division title club in less fights than the eight names before him.
The UFC’s penultimate numbered event of the year, UFC 295 from Madison Square Garden in New York, proved to be arguably the best of the bunch.
Two new champions were crowned to close out a lineup that saw eight stoppages in 13 fights. In the main event, [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) picked up the vacant light heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] (29-4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), while [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) claimed the interim heavyweight strap in the co-main event with a 69-second knockout of [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] (17-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC).
For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 295.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 295 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $272,500.
NEW YORK – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 295 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $272,500.
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 295 took place at Madison Square Garden. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.
The full UFC 295 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag]: $32,000
[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag]: $32,000
[autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Pat Sabatini[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Tabatha Ricci[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Roosevelt Roberts[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Nazim Sadykhov[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Viacheslav Borshchev[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Jared Gordon[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Mark Madsen[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]John Castaneda[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Kyung Ho Kang[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kevin Borjas[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jamall Emmers[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Dennis Buzukja[/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 2011 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 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $7,305,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $21,824,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
Alessandro Costa is proud to share UFC 295 card with Lobo Gym teammates.
[autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag] will be sharing the historic card of UFC 295 alongside teammates [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] and [autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag].
This Saturday, Costa (13-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) returns to the octagon on the preliminary card of UFC 295, which celebrates the promotion’s 30th anniversary, to take on Stephen Erceg (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a flyweight bout. He’ll be the third Lobo Gym fighter competing at the event, something that fills Costa with joy.
“On top of this being a special event, I’ll also be fighting with my teammates Diego Lopes and Loopy Godinez,” Costa told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “For us, this is huge. This is super special to be fighting on a card like this and also to be able to have three athletes of the same team fighting on the same card and one of us is on the main card.”
Not long ago, Lobo Gym wasn’t on the minds of many MMA fans. However, today it’s a much more different story as the Guadalajara team has a UFC champion in Alexa Grasso, a former UFC title challenger in Irene Aldana, and promising fighters such as Costa, Lopez and Godinez.
The team’s success is fueling Costa ahead of UFC 295.
“For us, it’s more motivation,” Costa explained. “The team is going and on its way up, and our coach is very happy with the work that he’s doing with us. I think this is the fruit of the labor that we’ve put in for so many years training and dedicating ourselves 100 percent to training. This is huge to be fighting in a card like this.”
Costa has been training with Lopes for years. They two have been cornering each other through their rise in MMA, which is why Costa had to double-check with the team before accepting his fight at UFC 295.
“Yeah, of course (I had to consult with the team),” Costa said. “When Jason (House, my manager) called me to ask me about this fight, the first thing I did was consult with Diego to see what he thought. Diego is the one that’s managed my career from the start, so I spoke to him. We had also been training for his camp, so he told me, ‘You’ve been training, you’re ready, and this is a good fight, so you can enter the rankings.'”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
Alessandro Costa is eying top 15 status with a win over Stephen Erceg at UFC 295.
[autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag] believes there’s a chance he can be a ranked fighter come next week.
Fighting Stephen Erceg this Saturday at UFC 295 in New York, Costa (13-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) believes a win could get him on the UFC’s official flyweight rankings. Costa is coming off a TKO win over Jimmy Flick this past June, and he thinks if he could pair that with a good win over Erceg (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who’s ranked, he could enter the top 15.
“I think it can happen because he beat someone that’s ranked and is now at No. 14 (in the UFC’s official rankings),” Costa told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I’m right there, and I’m confident that if I get a good win, which is what I’m searching for, the UFC could notice me, and maybe I get in the rankings.”
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Costa thinks there are things he can exploit in Erceg’s game in order to not only get his hand raised, but also impress.
“He’s someone that’s long, so he’ll likely want to maintain the distance,” Costa said. “We’ve been working on cutting the distance and fighting him up close. But more than anything, I’ve been studying his holes, and he has many flaws. I’ve also been fixing my own errors from previous fights, so that’s how we’ve been preparing.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.
MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.
But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.
Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Oct. 23-29
The UFC on ESPN 46 main event between Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori set a new bar for strikes landed in a middleweight bout.
UFC on ESPN 46 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas proved to be a historic night.
The main event saw [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] (17-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC) emerge from a key matchup of former middleweight title challengers with a unanimous decision win over [autotag]Marvin Vettori[/autotag] (19-7-1 MMA, 9-5-1 UFC) in which he set a new single-fight record for most significant strikes landed in a divisional contest.
The Fight of the Night delivered, but for more numbers on the entire card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC on ESPN 46.
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UFC on ESPN 46 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 on ESPN 46 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $140,000.
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 on ESPN 46 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC on ESPN 46 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Marvin Vettori[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Joaquim Silva[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Armen Petrosyan[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Christian Duncan[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Pat Sabatini[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Lucas Almeida[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Manuel Torres[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Nikolas Motta[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Nicolas Dalby[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Muslim Salikhov[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag]: $4,000
def [autotag]Jimmy Flick[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Kyung Ho Kang[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Cristian Quinonez[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Carlos Hernandez[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Denys Bondar[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Tereza Bleda[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Gabriella Fernandes[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Dan Argueta[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Ronnie Lawrence[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Modestas Bukauskas[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Zac Pauga[/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 2011 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 $46,000 while title challengers get $46,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-46 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $3,790,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $18,379,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 46.
