Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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.
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 a promotion from July 31-Aug. 6.
Chris Curtis doesn’t anticipate a points fight with Alexander Hernandez when they meet at UFC Fight Night on Sept. 16.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Chris Curtis[/autotag] doesn’t anticipate a points fight with [autotag]Alexander Hernandez[/autotag] when they meet at UFC Fight Night on Sept. 16.
Curtis (30-10 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will attempt to put a two-fight winless skid behind him when he takes on Hernandez (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in a middleweight bout at T-Mobile Arena. Hernandez enters the contest on a four-fight winning streak, with three of those coming by finish.
An opponent who doesn’t care to go to the judges is exactly what Curtis thinks he needs at this point. He expects Hernandez to meet him head on inside the octagon, and from there the result will be determined by who can dig deeper.
“I’m excited, man,” Curtis told MMA Junkie Radio on UFC X Radio Row earlier this month. “‘Fluffy’ is a dog. This is the kind of fight I love. I love in the fight grinding, trench war, and ‘Fluffy’ is that guy. ‘Fluffy’ doesn’t want to win on points. He wants to finish you. I want to finish you.”
Curtis and Hernandez have traveled somewhat in the same circles in recent years, but not enough to make accepting the fight awkward. Curtis primarily trains out of Xtreme Couture, and Hernandez has spent some time in the gym, as well.
They haven’t shared the mats at the same time, however, and Curtis said that makes things easier heading into fight night.
“I think we’ve never even run into each other, oddly enough,” Curtis said. “But with Xtreme you get a lot of guys in and out. Our paths just never crossed, which is fine.”
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Alexander Hernandez opens up about the reason behind his career setbacks.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Alexander Hernandez[/autotag] feels he’s had the hardware to succeed, but maybe perhaps not the software.
The once-promising UFC prospect thinks the career setbacks that have hindered him from achieving the expectations put onto him by the MMA community early into his UFC career trace back to his mental approach to the fight game. Hernandez (13-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC), who debuted in the UFC with a 42-second knockout win over top title contender Beneil Dariush, now finds himself on a two-fight losing streak and 1-3 in his past four outings.
The 30-year-old feels his mental game needs to be addressed if he wants to fight at his full potential.
“It’s never become more evident than now that this is not a physical issue, but a mental issue,” Hernandez told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 219 media day on Wednesday. “So, mentally, I’m really enthusiastic – I’m angry at myself, and I want to get redemption and I’m ready. I’m truly fired up. I’m excited.”
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Hernandez returns to the cage this Saturday against veteran Jim Miller (35-16 MMA, 24-15 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 219. He feels he has the tools necessary to get past that caliber of opponent. However, it all comes down to his mentality.
“Man, I’m a master sabotage sometimes,” Hernandez explained. “I’m having these awful dialogues with myself. I’m really working on that, on being more conscious and getting back in that flow state more than anything else and then just kind of finding my rhythm because when I’m there. Man, I’m sick with it.”
Hernandez is coming off a TKO loss to Billy Quarantillo in December. That bout marked his debut at 145 pounds. Although the fight against Miller is being contested at lightweight, Henandez intends to make featherweight his future home.
“Assuming I have a clean bill of health, I want to keep making my way down to 145,” Hernandez said. “If something tasty pops up on my way there, I’ll, you know, be ready to accommodate, but I am trying to make my way into 145.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 219.
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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 Feb. 6-12.
Alexander Hernandez will return to lightweight for a short-notice bout against Jim Miller at UFC Fight Night 219.
[autotag]Alexander Hernandez[/autotag] will return to lightweight for a short-notice bout at UFC Fight Night 219.
Gabriel Benitez has been forced out of his Feb. 18 matchup against [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] (35-16 MMA, 24-15 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and Hernandez (13-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) will step in on less than two weeks’ notice.
The UFC announced the fight Thursday. Cageside Press was first to report the news.
Hernandez is coming off back-to-back stoppage losses to Renato Moicano and most recently Billy Quarantillo at UFC 282 this past December. Prior to that, he scored a first-round knockout of Mike Breeden in October 2021.
Winner of his three in a row by finish, Miller is enjoying his best octagon run in years. At UFC 276 in July, he became the sole owner of the record for most wins in the promotion’s history when he submitted Donald Cerrone in the second round.
With the change, the current UFC Fight Night 219 lineup includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 219.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from December 2022.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from December 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for December.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
The best facts and figures to come out of UFC 282, including a rare title-fight draw, an 18-year-old winner and a historically quick knockout.
The UFC’s final pay-per-view of the year went down Saturday with UFC 282 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
After an incredible run of 10 consecutive finishes to start the card, the night ended in bizarre fashion with [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) and [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] (18-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) failing to determine a new UFC light heavyweight champion. The pair fought to a split draw in the vacant title headliner, which is a rarity in UFC history.
For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 282.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 282 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $215,500.
LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 282 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $215,000.
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 282 took place at T-Mobile Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
The full UFC 282 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag]: $32,000
[autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag]: $32,000
[autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jared Gordon[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Santiago Ponzinibbio[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Alex Morono[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Darren Till[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Raul Rosas Jr.[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jay Perrin[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Chris Daukaus[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Edmen Shahbazyan[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Dalcha Lungiambula[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Chris Curtis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Billy Quarantillo[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Alexander Hernandez[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]T.J. Brown[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Erik Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Cameron Saaiman[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Steven Koslow[/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 2022 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $8,147,000
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $14,324,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 282.
Billy Quarantillo spoiled Alexander Hernandez’s return to featherweight with a comeback finish at UFC 282.
[autotag]Billy Quarantillo[/autotag] spoiled [autotag]Alexander Hernandez[/autotag]’s return to featherweight with a comeback finish at UFC 282.
After losing Round 1 on all three judges’ scorecards, Quarantillo (17-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) rallied to deliver a standing TKO of Hernandez (13-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) at the 4:30 mark of Round 2 in the preliminary-card bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Check out the replay of the finish below (via Twitter):
WHAT A COMEBACK FOR BILLY Q 💥 #UFC282 pic.twitter.com/Lx18cbkt4F
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 11, 2022
With the victory, Quarantillo finds himself back in the win column. The 34-year-old’s past three wins have come by knockout. Meanwhile, Hernandez has now dropped two straight for the first time in his career.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 282 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 282.
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