UFC on ESPN 46 post-event facts: Jared Cannonier, Marvin Vettori set striking records in main event

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.

[lawrence-related id=2651430]

UFC on ESPN 46 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Marvin Vettori’s $16,000 tops card

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.

UFC on ESPN 46 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC on ESPN 46 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

LAS VEGAS – UFC on ESPN 46 took place Saturday with 12 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

You can hear from all the UFC on ESPN 46 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 46.

UFC on ESPN 46 video: Alessandro Costa batters Jimmy Flick’s leg before TKO on ground

Alessandro Costa destroyed the leg of Jimmy Flick with kicks before finishing the job at UFC on ESPN 46.

[autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag] executed the perfect game plan against [autotag]Jimmy Flick[/autotag] on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 46.

After ruthlessly attacking the leg of Flick (16-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC) with kicks over the first round, Costa (13-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) took advantage of a sloppy takedown from his compromised opponent in the second before finishing the job with elbows and punches on the ground for the TKO stoppage at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Check out the replay of the finish below (via Twitter):

After the fight, an elated Costa said he hopes to continue to make his mark in the octagon after getting his first promotional win.

“I’m an athlete from the UFC, whatever they tell me, I fight,” Costa told Paul Felder through an interpreter in his post-fight interview. “I heard the UFC is going to be Brazil. … It would be an honor to fight in the UFC again if I can.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 46.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (March 20-26)

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 from March 20-26.

UFC Fight Night 216 post-event facts: Drew Dober ties Dustin Poirier’s knockout record

Drew Dober tied Dustin Poirier for the most knockout wins in UFC lightweight history with his finish of Bobby Green at UFC Vegas 66.

The UFC closed out its 2022 schedule on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 216, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The main event of the 42nd and final fight card of the year saw [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] (16-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) squeak out a split decision win over [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (25-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) in a matchup of middleweight contenders.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 216.

UFC Fight Night 216 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: How much was paid in 2022 total?

UFC Fight Night 216 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 216 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $204,500.

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 216 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 216 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Damir Ismagulov[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Amir Albazi[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Alex Caceres[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Michal Oleksiejczuk[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Cody Brundage[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Cory McKenna[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Cheyanne Vlismas[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Matthew Semelsberger[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jake Matthews[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Said Nurmagomedov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Saidyokub Kakhramonov[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Rafa Garcia[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Hayisaer Maheshate[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Rinat Fakhretdinov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Bryan Battle[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]David Dvorak[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Sergey Morozov[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Journey Newson[/autotag]: $4,500

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 2167 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2161 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 2022 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $8,351,000
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $14,529,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.

[listicle id=2605696]

UFC Fight Night 216 video: Amir Albazi uppercuts Alessandro Costa for TKO finish

At UFC Fight Night 216, Amir Albazi flattened Alessandro Costa with a slick uppercut – and pounded him out.

[autotag]Amir Albazi[/autotag] keeps rolling.

In a flyweight main card bout at UFC Fight Night 216, Albazi (16-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) finished newcomer [autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at the 2:13 mark of Round 3. The event took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

A wicked right uppercut from Albazi floored Costa. Two follow up punches put the lights out completely and a third punch (luckily for Albazi) missed. Referee Keith Peterson dove in and called off the fight and saved Costa.

The win was Albazi’s fourth win and third finish in four UFC appearances. He originally was scheduled to fight Brandon Royval, but Royval pulled out with an injury. Costa’s seven-fight winning streak came to an end.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 216 results include:

  • Amir Albazi def. Alessandro Costa via TKO (punches) – Round 3,
  • Alex Caceres def. Julian Erosa via knockout (head kick) – Round 1, 3:04
  • Drew Dober def. Bobby Green via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 2:45
  • Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Cody Brundage via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:16
  • Cory McKenna def. Cheyanne Vlismas via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Matthew Semelsberger def. Jake Matthews via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Said Nurmagomedov def. Saidyokub Kakhramonov via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:50
  • Rafael Garcia def. Maheshate via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Bryan Battle via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-27)
  • Manel Kape def. David Dvorak via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
  • Sergey Morozov def. Journey Newson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.

[vertical-gallery id=2605808]

UFC Fight Night 216 video: Hear from each winner backstage

Check out what the UFC Fight Night 216 winners had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 216 takes place Saturday with 13 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from the UFC Apex.

You can hear from all the UFC Fight Night 216 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

UFC Fight Night 216 predictions: Jared Cannonier or Sean Strickland in 2022’s finale?

Check out our staff members’ picks for the UFC Fight Night 216 card din Las Vegas, which features Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland.

Cannonier
vs.
Strickland
Ismagulov
vs.
Tsarukyan
Albazi
vs.
Costa
Caceres
vs.
Erosa
Dober
vs.
Green
Brundage
vs.
Oleksiejczuk
MMA Junkie readers’
consensus picks
192-116
cannonier2022
Cannonier
(62%)
tsarukyan2022
Tsarukyan
(66%)
albazi2022
Albazi
(85%)
erosa2022
Erosa
(55%)
dober2022
Dober
(66%)
oleksiejczuk2022
Oleksiejczuk
(71%)
Ken Hathaway
@kenshathaway
204-109
trophy copy 2018 Champion
cannonier2022
Cannonier
tsarukyan2022
Tsarukyan
albazi2022
Albazi
erosa2022
Erosa
dober2022
Dober
oleksiejczuk2022
Oleksiejczuk
Matthew Wells
@MrMWells
195-118
cannonier2022
Cannonier
tsarukyan2022
Tsarukyan
albazi2022
Albazi
caceres2022
Caceres
dober2022
Dober
oleksiejczuk2022
Oleksiejczuk
Abbey Subhan
@kammakaze
193-120
cannonier2022
Cannonier
tsarukyan2022
Tsarukyan
albazi2022
Albazi
erosa2022
Erosa
green2022
Green
oleksiejczuk2022
Oleksiejczuk
Farah Hannoun
@Farah_Hannoun
191-122
cannonier2022
Cannonier
tsarukyan2022
Tsarukyan
albazi2022
Albazi
erosa2022
Erosa
dober2022
Dober
oleksiejczuk2022
Oleksiejczuk
Mike Bohn
@MikeBohn
191-122
trophy copy 2014 Champion
strickland2022
Strickland
tsarukyan2022
Tsarukyan
albazi2022
Albazi
erosa2022
Erosa
dober2022
Dober
brundage2022
Brundage
Matt Erickson
@MMAjunkieMatt
189-124
cannonier2022
Cannonier
ismagulov2022
Ismagulov
albazi2022
Albazi
caceres2022
Caceres
dober2022
Dober
oleksiejczuk2022
Oleksiejczuk
Simon Samano
@SJSamano
188-125
strickland2022
Strickland
tsarukyan2022
Tsarukyan
albazi2022
Albazi
erosa2022
Erosa
dober2022
Dober
oleksiejczuk2022
Oleksiejczuk
Brian Garcia
@thegoze
182-131
trophy copy 2017 Champion
strickland2022
Strickland
tsarukyan2022
Tsarukyan
albazi2022
Albazi
erosa2022
Erosa
green2022
Green
brundage2022
Brundage
Nolan King
@mma_kings
180-133
cannonier2022
Cannonier
tsarukyan2022
Tsarukyan
albazi2022
Albazi
caceres2022
Caceres
green2022
Green
oleksiejczuk2022
Oleksiejczuk
George Garcia
@MMAjunkieGeorge
172-141
strickland2022
Strickland
tsarukyan2022
Tsarukyan
albazi2022
Albazi
erosa2022
Erosa
green2022
Green
brundage2022
Brundage
Danny Segura
@dannyseguratv
154-159
noanswer2022
N/A
noanswer2022
N/A
noanswer2022
N/A
noanswer2022
N/A
noanswer2022
N/A
noanswer2022
N/A

The UFC stays in its home base this week, and middleweights are atop the promotion’s final card of the year.

UFC Fight Night 216 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, recent title challenger [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) takes on [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (25-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC). The fight nearly is a pick’em at Tipico Sportsbook. Cannonier is the slight favorite at -115; the comeback on Strickland is -105. Our 10 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have Cannonier with a narrow 6-4 picks lead.

In the co-feature, [autotag]Damir Ismagulov[/autotag] (24-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) meets [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag] (18-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at lightweight. Tsarukyan is a -190 betting favorite and a near-unanimous pick at 9-1.

Also on the main card, our lone unanimous pick is [autotag]Amir Albazi[/autotag] (15-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in his flyweight bout against [autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC). Albazi is the biggest favorite on the entire card at -450.

[autotag]Alex Caceres[/autotag] (19-13 MMA, 14-11 UFC) takes on [autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag] (28-9 MMA, 6-5 UFC) in a featherweight fight. Erosa is a mild favorite at -170 and has a 7-3 lead in the picks.

[autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag] (25-11 MMA, 11-7 UFC) and [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] (29-13-1 MMA, 10-8-1 UFC) clash in a fight between longtime UFC lightweights. Dober is a -150 favorite, but he has just a slim 6-4 lead in the picks.

And to open the main card, [autotag]Cody Brundage[/autotag] (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) takes on [autotag]Michal Oleksiejczuk[/autotag] (17-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) at middleweight. Oleksiejczuk is a big -280 favorite, but three of our pickers are taking Brundage in an upset.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Cannonier (62 percent), Tsarukyan (66 percent), Albazi (85 percent), Erosa (55 percent), Dober (66 percent) and Oleksiejczuk (71 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.