Andre Muniz relieved to snap skid at UFC Fight Night 233, vows to reach top of middleweight division

UFC middleweight Andre Muniz snapped a first-time two-fight skid, crediting a shift in training and mindset.

LAS VEGAS – It wasn’t how [autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag] envisioned a return to the win column, but he’ll take it.

After 15 minutes of close action against Junyong Park at UFC Fight Night 233, Muniz (24-6 MMA, 6-2 UFC) had to sweat out the reading of the judges’ split decision. After hearing two 29-28 scores in his favor, Muniz was relieved that his two-fight skid was snapped, but it wasn’t the performance he hoped for against Park (17-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC).

“Whenever you actually picture yourself having your hand raised, it’s obviously different,” Muniz told reporters through an interpreter at the post-fight news conference. “I picture myself having my hand raised after a great finish, but that’s what happened. You come out with a win, and let’s go back and work hard because 2024 is a year with a lot of promise.”

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Muniz is ready to put his 2023 campaign in the rearview. For the first time in his career, he lost back-to-back fights. As a result, Muniz said changes were made in his training camp to add more sparring to aid with his conditioning. A mental shift was also necessary, as he went back to the mindset of his days ahead of his Dana White Contender Series appearance in 2019.

“I came back to my Contender days here when you’re actually fighting for a contract, so that’s the approach that I had,” Muniz said. “The UFC knows my potential and I expect to actually come back, work hard, go at it, and in no time I’ll be back at the top of this division again.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.

UFC Fight Night 233 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $22 million

UFC Fight Night 233 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 233 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $159,500

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

The full UFC Fight Night 233 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Chris Gutierrez[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Nasrat Haqparast[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Jamie Mullarkey[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Su Mudaerji[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Kevin Jousset[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Song Kenan[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]HyunSung Park[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Shannon Ross[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Steve Garcia[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Melquizael Costa[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Luana Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Stephanie Egger[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Tatsuro Taira[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Carlos Hernandez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Talita Alencar[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Rayanne Amanda[/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 2331 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: $7,848,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $22,367,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.

UFC Fight Night 233 play-by-play and live results

Check out live play-by-play and official results from UFC Fight Night 233 in Las Vegas with Song Yadong vs. Chris Gutierrez.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 233 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streamed on ESPN+.

In the main event, Song Yadong (21-7-1 MMA, 10-2-1 UFC) took on Chris Gutierrez (20-5-2 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) in a bantamweight clash. In the light heavyweight co-feature, former title challenger Anthony Smith (37-19 MMA, 12-9 UFC) met Khalil Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC).

You also can get behind-the-scenes coverage and other event notes from on-site reporter Ken Hathaway (@1khathaway) on X.

Check out the full event play-by-play, results, and more below.

UFC Fight Night 233 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC Fight Night 233 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 233 took place Saturday with 11 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 Fight Night 233 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.

UFC Fight Night 233’s Junyong Park’s main goal is to stay calm vs. ‘strong ground fighter’ Andre Muniz

Junyong Park has a game plan for Andre Muniz that he plans to stick to at UFC Fight Night 233.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag] spoke to the media ahead of UFC Fight Night 233 at Wednesday’s media day with reporters.

Park (17-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) answered questions from MMA Junkie and other media members ahead of his middleweight bout with [autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag] (23-6 MMA, 5-2 UFC) about not panicking on the ground, being wary of Muniz’s longer reach in the southpaw stance, and more.

UFC Fight Night 233 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

Watch the video of Park’s complete pre-fight media availability above.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.

Andre Muniz plans to prove he’s still a top middleweight at UFC Fight Night 233

Coming off back-to-back losses, Andre Muniz aims to look more like the fighter who started 5-0 in the UFC.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag] is out to show everyone that he belongs at the top of the UFC middleweight division.

Muniz (23-6 MMA, 5-2 UFC) will aim to snap a two-fight skid when he meets streaking contender Junyong Park (17-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 233 main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

After a 5-0 start to his UFC tenure, Muniz has been stopped in back-to-back fights against Brendan Allen and Paul Craig, but the Brazilian jiu-jitsu standout remains unfazed.

“It’s showing to the organization, showing to the division, show people that I’m back in the win column active and that I’m going to go back to the top of this division,” Muniz told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday.

Muniz can relate to Park’s surge up the 185-pound ranks but looks to put a halt to his momentum.

“Tough guy coming off of consecutive wins,” Muniz said of Park. “Good at striking and good on the ground, as well. I’ve been in his position before. I’ve been in the moment that he’s in right now. But I see myself being able to pressure, impose my game, and put my game plan and my strategy on, and coming out with the win here in Las Vegas.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.

Video: UFC Fight Night 233 media day interviews

Before UFC Fight Night 233 on Saturday, watch as the main-card athletes speak to reporters at media day.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 233, 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 happen 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 233.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Sept. 25-Oct. 1)

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. 25-Oct. 1.

Andre Muniz vs. Junyong Park joins UFC’s Dec. 9 lineup

Andre Muniz will look to snap a two-fight losing skid against a rising contender.

[autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag] will look to snap a two-fight losing skid against a rising contender.

Muniz (23-6 MMA, 5-2 UFC) takes on [autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag](17-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 9, which does not yet have an announced date or location.

A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie, but asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Park’s management was first to report the news. Muniz also confirmed the news on his social media.

After going 5-0 to kickstart his UFC career and landing a spot in the middleweight rankings, Muniz suffered back-to-back stoppage losses to Brendan Allen, and most recently Paul Craig at UFC Fight Night 224 in July.

Winner of seven of his past eight, Park is on a four-fight winning streak, and has submitted his past three opponents. The South Korean fighter is coming off a second-round submission of Albert Duraev at UFC on ESPN 49 in July.

With the addition, the current UFC Fight Night lineup for Dec. 9 includes:

  • Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro
  • Su Mudaerji vs. Allan Nascimento
  • Andre Muniz vs. Junyong Park

UFC Fight Night 224 post-event facts: Multiple perfect records ruined in London

Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 224, which saw several fighters suffer their first career or octagon defeat.

The UFC made its 15th stop in London on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 224, which went down at The O2. It was the longest event of the year so far.

Many of the 15 fights on the docket went to decisions, but one man who didn’t need the judges was [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who effortlessly ran through [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag] (24-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC) for a first-round TKO in his return from a lengthy injury layoff.

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 224.