Tag: Alexander Volkanovksi

UFC 260 adds Alexander Volkankovski vs. Brian Ortega title fight

The UFC featherweight championship will be on the line when the UFC hosts its second pay-per-view of March.

The next UFC featherweight title fight is set.

UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovksi[/autotag] will defend his title against [autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag] at UFC 260, which will take place at a location and venue still to be announced.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie on Saturday but asked for anonymity since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

The news was first reported by UFC broadcast partner ESPN, which also reported the promotion is aiming for Volkanovksi (22-1 MMA, 9-0 UFC) vs. Ortega (15-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) to be the co-main event to a UFC heavyweight title rematch between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.

The pay-per-view event is expected to take place March 27 and will be the promotion’s second in March, with UFC 259 taking place three weeks earlier.

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Volkanovski, 32, is riding a 19-fight winning streak into his second UFC title defense attempt. Following six straight wins to kick off his UFC tenure, Volkanovski defeated then-champion Max Holloway by unanimous decision at UFC 245 in December 2019.

Seven months later, at UFC 251 in July 2020, Volkanovski and Holloway fought for a second time. Volkanovski successfully defended his title for the first time when he defeated Holloway by split decision.

In October, Ortega, 29, returned from a 22-month absence from competition. Over the course of five rounds, Ortega dominated surging contender Chan Sung Jung for a unanimous decision and reentered the win column following a devastating title shot loss to Holloway in December 2018.

With the addition, the UFC 260 lineup includes:

  • Champion Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega – for UFC featherweight title
  • Jim Crute vs. Johnny Walker
  • Modestas Bukauskas vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk

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UFC 245 salaries: Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington top list of disclosed paydays

A total of 12 fighters made north of six figures Saturday at UFC 245, and that number increases when post-fight bonuses are factored in.

Main event combatants [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] and [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] each pocketed $500,000 for their respective efforts at UFC 245.

MMA Junkie recently obtained the list of the disclosed paydays for Saturday night’s card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas from the Nevada Athletic Commission, which oversaw the event.

UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovksi[/autotag], who won the belt in the evening’s co-main event, earned $250,000 for his performance. Former champion [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag], who lost the belt, took home a $350,000.

UFC women’s double champion [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] pocketed $450,000 for her bantamweight title defense against [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag]. Dutch challenger de Randamie earned $100,000.

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Former UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag] was the fourth highest-paid athlete on the card. Despite losing to [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] in his drop to bantamweight, Aldo earned $400,000.

The total disclosed payroll for the event was $4,096,000.

The full list of disclosed UFC 245 paydays included:

  • Kamaru Usman: $500,000 (no win bonus)
    def. Colby Covington: $500,000
  • Alexander Volkanovski: $250,000 (no win bonus)
    def. Max Holloway: $350,000
  • Amanda Nunes: $450,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus)
    def. Germaine de Randamie: $100,000
  • Marlon Moraes: $220,000 (includes $110,000 win bonus)
    def. Jose Aldo: $400,000
  • [autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag]: $122,000 (includes $66,000 win bonus) def. [autotag]Urijah Faber[/autotag]: $250,0000
  • [autotag]Geoff Neal[/autotag]: $62,000 (includes $31,000 win bonus) def. [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag]: $90,000
  • [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag]: $80,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus) def. [autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag]: $33,000
  • [autotag]Omari Akhmedov[/autotag]: $110,000 (includes $28,000 win bonus) def. [autotag]Ian Heinisch[/autotag]: $50,000
  • [autotag]Matt Brown[/autotag]: $160,000 (includes $80,000 win bonus) def. [autotag]Ben Saunders[/autotag]: $35,000
  • [autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag]: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus) def. [autotag]Daniel Teymur[/autotag]: $18,000
  • [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag]: $62,000 (includes $31,000 win bonus) def. [autotag]Kai Kara-France[/autotag]: $25,000
  • [autotag]Jessica Eye[/autotag]: $96,000 (includes $48,000 win bonus) def. [autotag]Viviane Araujo[/autotag]: $45,000
  • [autotag]Puna Soriano[/autotag]: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. [autotag]Oskar Piechota[/autotag]: $20,000

The figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, including the official UFC 245 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay. They also do not include any other “locker room” or special discretionary bonuses the UFC sometimes pays. They also do not include pay-per-view cuts that some top-level fighters receive.

For example, UFC officials handed out additional $50,000 UFC 245 fight-night bonuses to Yan and Aldana for “Performance of the Night,” and Usman and Covington for “Fight of the Night.”

In other words, the above figures are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.

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