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Analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC 289, including Charles Oliveira’s potential error for an Islam Makhachev rematch.
What mattered most at UFC 289 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver? Here are a few post-fight musings …
The best facts and figures to come out of UFC 289, including Amanda Nunes’ retirement resume and Charles Oliveira’s insane stats.
The UFC made its long-awaited return to Canada on Saturday with UFC 289, which took place at Rogers Arena in Vancouver and featured a clean sweep of results from fighters competing out of “The Great White North.”
Despite the Canadian success, it was a Brazilian who closed the show strong. Double UFC champ [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) dominated [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] (14-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) for five rounds in the main event, winning a unanimous decision before announcing her retirement from MMA.
For more on the numbers behind Nunes’ resume, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 289.
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Amanda Nunes won’t leave the door open for a return to MMA after she announced her retirement at UFC 289.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] is done for good.
The UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion retired on Saturday night following her latest title defense, and she’s not leaving a door open for a return in the future – not even the slightest bit.
Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC), who defeated Mexico’s Irene Aldana in the main event of UFC 289, says the ride is over.
“Yeah, I’m gone,” Nunes told reporters at the UFC 289 post-fight press conference. “I’m good. I did everything and all is taken care of in my life.
“Thank you, UFC. They took care of me, and they’ll always take care of me, so I’m always going to be around. If I don’t do anything with them, I’ll still go up and down just to be around because I love this sport so much, and I did everything to be the best at it. And I proved it tonight. I retired with my two belts.”
Nunes didn’t make a hasty decision in walking away from the sport. She knew well before Saturday night that she was going to retire.
“When I signed the contract for this fight,” Nunes said when asked when she made the decision to call it a career. “I tried to hide it from you guys the whole week, but you guys were always on top of it. I just didn’t want to focus on that, I wanted to focus on my fight because I didn’t want to talk about the retirement all the time, and I still talked about it. Imagine if I would’ve said I was going to retire, it would’ve been all about that. So yeah, I knew the whole time.”
As far as the future of both divisions, UFC president Dana White said the women’s featherweight will likely be dismantled – given the lack of fighters in the weight class. The women’s bantamweight division is going strong, however, and will have a championship fight for the vacant title.
Nunes is excited to see how things shake out without her presence and thinks her rival Aldana (14-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) has a good chance at being the champion.
“The division has to move on,” Nunes said. “I think Aldana is going to be a good one in the future. I think she’s going to come back strong and she might get the belt. We’ll see, it’s going to be good to see. It’s going to be good for me to see the division play out. I’m very excited for the division.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
According to UFC president Dana White, it’s likely fans have seen the last of the promotion’s women’s featherweight division.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – As [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] walks into the sunset, she might bring a UFC division with her.
Following the conclusion of UFC 289 and Nunes’ retirement announcement, promotion president [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] was asked about the future of the UFC women’s featherweight division.
Over time, the division’s talent pool has dwindled to almost nothingness. White previously hinted the division would likely evaporate when Nunes decided to leave the UFC and he affirmed Saturday the plan will likely remain the same.
“The answer is probably yes,” White said. “I mean, I don’t make these decisions the night of the fight. … Yeah, I don’t know. But it makes sense.”
The division was announced in December 2016 with an inaugural fight between Germaine de Randamie and Holly Holm at UFC 208. After de Randamie won and became the division’s first champion, she vacated. This cleared the way for Cris Cyborg, who the UFC signed and who became champion shortly thereafter. Nunes defeated Cyborg for the title at UFC 214 in August 2017 and remained champion since.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 289 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $236,500.
VANCOUVER – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 289 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $236,500.
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 289 took place at Rogers Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
The full UFC 289 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
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[autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag]: $32,000
[autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Beneil Dariush[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Mike Malott[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Adam Fugitt[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Nate Landwehr[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Eryk Anders[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag]: $6,000
vs. [autotag]Chris Curtis[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Jasmine Jasudavicius[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Miranda Maverick[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Aiemann Zahabi[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Aori Qileng[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Kyle Nelson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Blake Bilder[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]David Dvorak[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Diana Belbita[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Maria Oliveira[/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: $3,650,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $18,239,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
While Amanda Nunes’ UFC 289 retirement caught many off guard, Dana White said he wasn’t surprised.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – UFC president [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] wasn’t among those caught off guard when double champion [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] announced her retirement Saturday.
Following her dominant UFC 289 title defense vs. Irene Aldana at Rogers Arena, Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) asked for a pair of scissors, removed her gloves, dropped her titles in the center of the canvas, and put her gloves next to her hardware.
“First of all, she looked incredible,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “It was an amazing performance. She completely shut her down. I think one of the guys was telling me tonight that it was the most punches landed or something like that. It was the most punches ever landed. I think she passed Sara McMann tonight for takedowns, so more records for her.
White received the signal from Nunes immediately following the final horn that the retirement announcement was coming. But even before that, White said he suspected the possibility Nunes wouldn’t fight much longer.
“I’m not shocked that she retired,” White said. “I’ve been saying for a while, she’s made a lot of money and her life was a lot different than it was 10 years ago. … This must be what Amanda wants, so I’m definitely happy for her. Would I like to see her stick around and do some more? Absolutely. She’s been incredible to work with. She’s such a good human being and a great champion. Obviously, she’s the greatest female fighter of all time. I’d love to keep her around. But if she’s ready to go, you have to be happy for her.”
In MMA, retirements happen often but seldom stick. For Nunes, a fighter who has likely made more money than many other women in MMA history, White indicated he firmly thinks UFC 289 was a legitimate curtain call.
“Oh yeah, she’s definitely (done),” White said. “Listen, everybody spins every f*cking thing I say, but I kind of felt this. She made a very good living. She’s made a lot of money. She’s going to be good.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
Check out these photos from Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in Vancouver.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag]’ bantamweight title defense against Irene Aldana at UFC 289 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Photos by Sergei Belski, USA TODAY Sports)
Amanda Nunes has decided to go out on top, as she retired following UFC 289 in Vancouver.
[autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] retained the UFC women’s bantamweight title in a near adversity-less affair Saturday in Vancouver, British Columbia – and she left both gloves and both belts in the cage.
In the UFC 289 main event at Rogers Arena, Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) defeated Mexico’s [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-43). The win was her seventh career title defense.
The bout was largely one-sided, outside of a hard punch Aldana nailed Nunes with in the opening minutes. For the 20-plus minutes that followed, Nunes was in her zone. Her boxing was crisp and confident. Her jab battered and bloodied Aldana for the majority of 25 minutes, with takedowns mixed in.
But the most historic moment of the entire event came after the official decision. From the start of her in-cage interview with Daniel Cormier, Nunes signaled she had an announcement.
After the premises were searched for a pair of scissors, which were eventually located, Nunes had the following to say, as she took off her gloves.
“My mom has been asking me so much to do this for so long,” Nunes said. “She can not take it anymore, my family, as well. Nina has been around me for so much with me, my whole career. She’s pregnant now. We’ve been in this road for so long. I decided right now, I’m still going to enjoy everything that I’m making. I’ve got to travel a little bit with my family. I’ve got to spend more time with my family in Brazil as well. I left them so young to come here and chase this dream and everything. It was never a doubt in my mind that I’d become champion. But when I became a champion it was unbelievable – a double champion, as well.”
The GOAT has called time on her career 🐐
Happy trails @Amanda_Leoa and thanks for the memories! 🫶#UFC289 pic.twitter.com/FfrAPWxyTW
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) June 11, 2023
In her parting words, Nunes also called on her fellow countrymen and countrywomen to claim UFC gold. No other Brazilian fighter currently holds UFC gold.
“I have one more thing to say,” Nunes started. “I come from a small city in Brazil. The name is Pojuca. Nobody knows where it is in Brazil, but I made it here. I’ve become a champion and the only champion Brazil has right now. So, Brazilian fighters, get your sh*t together. Come get a belt, all right? I’m leaving. Thank you.”
Nunes, 35, retires as the fighter many believe to be the greatest female MMA combatant of all time. Her resume includes wins over former UFC champions Cris Cyborg, Valentina Shevchenko, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, Germaine de Randamie, and Julianna Peña. Her only two losses under the promotion’s banner came against Cat Zingano (September 2014) and Peña (December 2021).
Amanda Nunes has retired from MMA after her #UFC289 title defense. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/MJPBLavXTm
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) June 11, 2023
Full UFC 289 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
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The MMA community reveled in the greatness of Amanda Nunes after she retirement from MMA after the UFC 289 headliner.
[autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] is once again a defending champion in the women’s bantamweight division after she defeated [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] in Saturday’s UFC 289 headliner.
Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC), who also holds gold at women’s featherweight, registered the first defense in her second reign at 135 pounds with a unanimous decision victory over Mexican challenger Aldana (14-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) in the main event at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
After the fight, Nunes retired from MMA competition.
Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Nunes’ title defense over Aldana at UFC 289.
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Check out what the UFC 289 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – UFC 289 took place Saturday with 11 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner and guest fighter interviews from Rogers Arena.
You can hear from all the UFC 289 winners and more by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
