Tag: Alex Morono

UFC Fight Night 229 pre-event facts: Grant Dawson’s streak ranks among elite company

The best facts about UFC Fight Night 229, where Grant Dawson brings an 8-0-1 octagon record into his main event vs. Bobby Green.

After a one-week hiatus, the UFC returns Saturday to kick off a loaded October schedule with UFC Fight Night 229, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.

A lightweight bout serves as the main event of the card. [autotag]Grant Dawson[/autotag] (20-1-1 MMA, 8-0-1 UFC) gets his first headlining opportunity when he takes on [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] (30-15-1 MMA, 11-9-1 UFC), who looks to build momentum off his submission win over Tony Ferguson.

For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC Fight Night 229.

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Video: ‘UFC Fight Night 229: Dawson vs. Green’ media day interviews

Before UFC Fight Night 229 on Saturday, watch as the main card athletes fighters speak to reporters at media day.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 229, which takes place at the UFC Apex with a card that streams entirely on ESPN+, goes down Saturday.

Before fight night arrives, though, notable athletes from the main card spoke to reporters Wednesday at media day.

If you happened to miss any of the individual sessions on the live stream, check below for the archived videos of each media day.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 229.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Sept. 4-10)

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 Sept. 4-10.

Joaquin Buckley vs. Alex Morono added to October UFC Fight Night event

A fun welterweight matchup between Joaquin Buckley and Alex Morono has been added to an October UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.

A fun welterweight matchup between [autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Morono[/autotag] is heading to a UFC Fight Night event next month.

On Oct. 7 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Buckley (16-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Morono (23-8 MMA, 12-5 UFC) are set to meet in what will be the second appearance of 2023 for both fighters. MMA Junkie confirmed the matchup with two sources following the bout appearing on the ESPN event schedule.

The UFC Fight Night event features a lightweight matchup between Grant Dawson and Bobby Green, and will air live on ESPN+.

Buckley, 29, won his first appearance of the year by stopping Andre Fialho with a vicious head kick at UFC Fight Night 224. The victory snapped a two-fight skid after losses to Chris Curtis and Nassourdine Imavov. Prior to that, Buckley won three straight, including stoppages of Antonio Arroyo and Albert Duraev, and a decision win over Abdul Razak Alhassan.

Morono, 33, also bounced back into the win column in his first 2023 appearance by submitting Tim Means with a guillotine choke in a slick fight-ending sequence. Prior to his loss against Santiago Ponzinibbio, Morono picked up four consecutive wins, defeating Donald Cerrone, David Zawada, Mickey Gall and Matthew Semelsberger.

With the addition, the current UFC Fight Night event on Oct. 7 includes:

  • Grant Dawson vs. Bobby Green
  • Joaquin Buckley vs. Alex Morono
  • Drew Dober vs. Ricky Glenn
  • Chris Gutierrez vs. Montel Jackson
  • Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Joe Pyfer
  • Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Kanako Murata
  • Bill Algeo vs. Alexander Hernandez
  • Johnny Munoz vs. Aori Qileng
  • Nate Maness vs. Mateus Mendonca
  • Khusein Askhabov vs. Daniel Pineda
  • Ion Cutelaba vs. Philipe Lins
  • Montana De La Rosa vs. Stephanie Egger

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MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for May: Kennedy Nzechukwu’s standing choke

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from May 2023.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from May 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for May.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

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Nominees

UFC on ABC 4 medical suspensions: Four fighters out indefinitely

Thirteen of the 22 competitors at UFC on ABC 4 were suspended due to injuries sustained in their bouts Saturday in Charlotte, N.C.

Four fighters are out indefinitely due to injuries sustained at UFC on ABC 4, which took place Saturday at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.

A document MMA Junkie obtained Tuesday from North Carolina Boxing and Combat Sports interim executive director Alvin Coley showed medical suspensions were handed out to 13 of the 22 competitors on the card.

[autotag]Tim Means[/autotag], [autotag]Mandy Bohm[/autotag], [autotag]Ji Yeon Kim[/autotag], and [autotag]Gabe Green[/autotag] are out indefinitely until their injuries are cleared by a physician.

The list of fighters who exited UFC on ABC 4 without a medical suspension include both headliners, [autotag]Jailton Almeida[/autotag] and [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag].

Scroll below to see the full list of UFC on ABC 4 medical suspensions. All suspended fighters are eligible to return prior to the conclusion of the durations handed out should they get cleared beforehand.

UFC on ABC 4’s Alex Morono explains why defeating Tim Means was ‘more meaningful than just a win’

At UFC on ABC 4, Alex Morono accomplished a personal hurdle to “level up” by getting past Tim Means.

UFC welterweight [autotag]Alex Morono[/autotag]’s return to the win column Saturday had a deeper personal meaning beyond just getting his hand raised.

At UFC on ABC 4 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., Morono (23-8 MMA, 12-5 UFC) stepped into the octagon to face an opponent he’s watched for years in well-respected veteran Tim Means. There was no animosity in this matchup. For Morono, this was about proving to himself that he could get over the hurdle of facing a fighter who he has looked up to since the early days of his professional career.

“I got a lot of respect and admiration for Tim Means,” Morono said during a post-fight news conference (via FanSided). “For those that don’t know, I watched him fight live in Houston about 10 years ago. So, I was maybe 21, 22 years old, like maybe 1-0, 2-0 pro. I watched him take out Houston’s No. 1 prospect, a guy I had trained with, and the guy gave me a lot of trouble – and Tim finished him, and got resigned to the UFC. So, I always not only thought highly of him, but I was always like a little – I don’t want to say intimidated, but like, if I had to fight him, I wouldn’t have been thrilled about it.

“Sure enough, just as a man, and as a martial artist, getting this fight was like a task for me to effectively level up just as a human and as a martial artist. I was ready for the task, I trained my butt off. Now, to be fair, every fight camp has been maximized in terms of preparation, but this one was a bit more personal for my own reasons. Getting the victory, it was more meaningful than just a win.”

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At 2:09 of the second round, Means (32-15-1 MMA, 14-12 UFC) tapped from a tight guillotine choke that Morono slapped on out of nowhere after missing with a spinning backfist. Immediately after the referee signaled for Morono to release the hold, the fighters embraced, displaying the mutual respect between lifelong martial artists. Morono cleared the hurdle.

“Normally, I don’t care who I fight,” Morono said. “Even back in my non-UFC days, I would fight anyone they would ever offer. Even in the UFC, I couldn’t imagine someone they’d want me to fight and I wouldn’t be excited. This match with Tim Means, I was just like when I took it, there was like a feeling of caution opposed to a feeling of excitement – and then I knew if I could get the win and conquer this task, then it would be quite valuable on a personal level, and certainly it was.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 4.

UFC on ABC 4 post-event facts: Matt Brown ties Derrick Lewis’ all-time KO record

Check out all the facts and figures from UFC on ABC 4, including some notable feats from Matt Brown and Jailton Almeida.

The UFC retuned to North Carolina on Saturday with UFC on ABC 4 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

In the main event, [autotag]Jailton Almeida[/autotag] (19-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) continued his emergence as a heavyweight contender when he flawlessly ran through [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) en route to a first-round submission and staying unbeaten inside the octagon.

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 on ABC 4.

UFC on ABC 4 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: 2023 total passes $3 million

UFC on ABC 4 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ABC 4 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $211,500.

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 on ABC 4 takes place Saturday at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. The main card airs on ABC following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

The full UFC on ABC 4 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Jailton Almeida[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Ian Garry[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Daniel Rodriguez[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Ihor Potieria[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Alex Morono[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Tim Means[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Matt Brown[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Court McGee[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Karl Williams[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Chase Sherman[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Douglas Silva de Andrade[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Cody Stamann[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Mandy Bohm[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ji Yeon Kim[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Bryan Battle[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Gabe Green[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Tainara Lisboa[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jessica-Rose Clark[/autotag]: $6,000

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 $40,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-40 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $3,035,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $17,624,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 4.

UFC on ABC 4 video: Alex Morono spins, slaps on tight guillotine choke to tap Tim Means

Alex Morono picked up a slick submission finish of Tim Means at UFC on ABC 4 in Charlotte.

[autotag]Alex Morono[/autotag]’s improvisation paid huge dividends against Tim Means.

On the main card of UFC on ABC 4 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., a missed strike by Morono (23-8 MMA, 12-5 UFC) led to the finishing sequence against Means (32-15-1 MMA, 14-12 UFC) at 2:09 of Round 2.

Means was having success early in the fight by controlling the center of the cage and picking his shots. Meanwhile, Morono scored with strikes as he stuck and circled on the outside. This dynamic would ultimately lead to the finish, as Morono looked to time a spinning backfist.

The spinning attempt caught nothing but air as Means ducked the strike, but Morono smoothly transitioned into a guillotine choke attempt as Means looked for a takedown. Morono jumped on the choke, and the tap soon followed after sinching it up tighter.

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

With his second UFC submission, Morono bounces back into the win column after dropping his previous outing to Santiago Ponzinibbio. That result snapped a four-fight win streak for Morono, that saw him pick up wins over Donald Cerrone, David Zawada, Mickey Gall, and Matthew Semelsberger.

After the conclusion of the fight, Morono respectfully called for a bout against Bryan Barberena.

“We’ve already agreed to fight,” Morono said during his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “He always stands and bangs, I like to stand and bang, like the good lord intended. So, that would be a really fun fight.”

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Up-to-the-minute UFC on ABC 4 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 4.