Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out which veterans of the UFC are competing in combat sports across the globe this weekend.
This week, the UFC is idle during Thanksgiving week.
Elsewhere, many other combat sports events are taking place that feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.
Check out which veterans of the global MMA leader are competing Nov. 23-24.
Scroll below to see how the UFC veterans fared last week, and see the names and details of this weekend’s competitors.
Upcoming event information from Tapology.
Following UFC departure, Askar Askarov signs with Absolute Championship Akhmat.
[autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] has a new home.
The former UFC flyweight title contender has signed a contract with Absolute Championship Akhmat. The news was officially announced by the promotion Saturday.
This comes following Askarov’s (14-1-1) departure from the UFC in October. The Dagestan fighter asked for his release from the promotion due to health issues and was granted his request. At the time, Askarov never officially retired from MMA, but did say his career would be put on hold until he sorted out his health issues.
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Askarov, 30, was last seen in action in March 2022 when he lost a unanimous decision to top contender Kai Kara-France at UFC on ESPN 33. The defeat was his first-ever professional setback and put an end to a 15-fight unbeaten run, which marked his entire MMA career.
Following the loss, Askarov tried to return in July against Alex Perez and then again in October against Brandon Royval, but both times had to withdraw due to health issues.
Askarov is a former ACB flyweight champion and has notable wins over Joseph Benavidez, Tim Elliott and Alexandre Pantoja. He also fought to a draw against current UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno back in 2019.
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A dozen fighters are no longer on the UFC roster after a series of releases, retirements, and contract completions.
The UFC roster has been trimmed as a dozen fighters have parted ways with the promotion in the past three days.
While many of the departures were that of fighters who were two or three fights into their promotional tenure, two athletes with double digits in the promotion were among those to split.
News of the departures were first reported by algorithm-based Twitter account, UFC Roster Watch, which monitors the rankings-eligibility of the promotion’s roster.
Scroll below to read about the 12 fighters who are now free agents after leaving the UFC. The designation of each athlete’s departure, whether it be a release, a completion of contract, or a retirement, is unknown unless noted otherwise.
Join us for this week’s live stream of “Spinning Back Clique” looking at the biggest news and topics in MMA.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Nolan King and Matthew Wells will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch this week’s episode in the video above.
UFC Fight Night 212 has lost a flyweight fight on the main card the day before the event.
UFC Fight Night 212 has lost a fight on the main card the day before the event.
Due to weight-cutting issues for [autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] (14-1-1 MMA, 3-1-1 UFC), his flyweight bout against [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has canceled. UFC play-by-play announcer Brendan Fitzgerald, acting as emcee at the official weigh-ins, made the announcement just before the start of the proceedings at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
UFC Fight Night 212, which takes place Saturday at the same venue and streams on ESPN+, will go on with 11 fights. The bantamweight fight between Raphael Assuncao (27-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) and Victor Henry (22-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will move up to to the main card from the prelims.
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Askarov, from Dagestan, missed weight in March 2021 for his fight at UFC 259 against Joseph Benavidez. He weighed in at 127 pounds for that fight and lost a percentage of his purse after his unanimous decision win.
In March, he lost for the first time in his pro career when Kai Kara-France upset him in Ohio. Kara-France got an interim title shot with the win, and Askarov went back to the drawing board.
The drawing board was supposed to start with Alex Perez in July, but Askarov pulled out of that fight. Now he’s on hold again after the weight issues for the Royval fight.
Royval posted on Twitter ahead of the official weigh-ins to say that he had heard Askarov was going to miss weight – and that the Royval offer of a catchweight was declined.
“Woke up at 127… before I started the weight cut I heard my opponents not going to make weight,” Royval posted. “They turned down a catch weight, so it looks like the fight is off. Heartbroken but thank you @tylermintonnutrition for another easy weight cut 🙏🏽 we stay professional on our end. 🥩🐶”
Woke up at 127… before I started the weight cut I heard my opponents not going to make weight. They turned down a catch weight, so it looks like the fight is off. Heartbroken but thank you @tylermintonnutrition for another easy weight cut 🙏🏽 we stay professional on our end. 🥩🐶
— Brandon (@brandonroyval) October 14, 2022
Royval has won back-to-back fights after consecutive losses to current interim flyweight champion Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja. In January, he took a split decision from Rogerio Bontorin to get back in the win column, and in May he choked out Matt Schnell and won a $50,000 bonus for Fight of the Night.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night 212 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 212.
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Ahead of his UFC Fight Night 212 bout, Brandon Royval explains why he wants to put himself through hell – in addition to Askar Askarov.
LAS VEGAS – Oftentimes fighters aim to take the littlest damage possible in a fight.
Saturday, [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] plans to do the opposite. Known for his hectic, wild fighting style, Royval (14-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) admitted at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday he expects to take damage to dish it against [autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] (14-1-1 MMA, 3-1-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 212.
“I’m going to fight and I want to make it hell for both of us,” Royval told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “If I feel the hell and I feel the pain of a fight, I know he’s feeling it. I want to put us both through hell and I want to come out the top person. That’s the whole entire goal of this fight, it’s to drag us to hell and come out lighting that fire.”
Shortly after his UFC signing in 2020, it was a rocket ship ride to contendership for Royval, who defeated Tim Elliott and Kai Kara-France in his first two promotional appearances. Losses to Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja followed, but Royval has bounced back recently with victories over Rogerio Bontorin and Matt Schnell.
Given the division and his momentum, Royval thinks this might be the most impactful fight of his career to date.
“This is a huge matchup for me,” Royval said. “This is a really skilled opponent. It feels bigger than others, honestly. It really does. The more of a statement I can make in this fight, the closer I can get to a title and that’s always the main goal for all of us fighters, anyway. It’s just (to) get to that championship belt as soon as possible and the smoothest way possible and hopefully I can make a statement and make a campaign toward that title shot or contender shot.
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Future title contention opportunities are paused as the UFC flyweight division awaits the victor of the first tetralogy in promotion history. Champion Deiveson Figueiredo and former champ Brandon Moreno are tied at one win, one loss, and one draw apiece. They’ll fight a fourth time Jan. 21 at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Royval recognizes past foe Pantoja is in front of him in the queue, so he’s not looking directly at titles. He wants to steal Pantoja’s spot.
“I think Pantoja got the backup spot, but I can ideally try to navigate and go out there and get a finish on Askarov,” Royval said. “I don’t see why that wouldn’t earn me a Pantoja rematch on the undercard or somewhere on that card. You know what I’m saying? That’s the goal, man – to win this fight and then line myself up with one of these guys. The winner or loser of that fight would be great. Or Pantoja would be great. The winner would be even better, but I don’t necessarily see that happening as of right now.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 212.
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Ahead of his UFC Fight Night 212 clash, Askar Askarov reflects on his first professional loss and previews his fight vs. Brandon Royval.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] concedes his most recent performance was not his best, but he has his reasons for that.
In March, Askarov (14-1-1 MMA, 3-1-1 UFC) lost for the first time as a professional when Kai Kara-France defeated him by unanimous decision. Askarov isn’t totally bummed out by the performance, but admits he wasn’t fully healthy – as he indicated he is Wednesday ahead of his UFC Fight Night 212 matchup Saturday vs. Brandon Royval (14-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex.
“The fight was good last time, but I felt that I wasn’t ready 100 percent because I wasn’t fighting for one year before my fight with Kai Kara-France,” Askarov told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at a pre-fight news conference. “But this fight, you’re going to see me different. I’m going to put my everything into this fight and this time will be different.”
“… Brandon is a really tough guy, tough opponent. I watched a lot of his fights. He’s good, but I’ve fought with tougher guys. I’ve fought with better guys. I’m going to show this, this Saturday. I’m ready.”
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The loss to Kara-France in March was difficult, not just because of the results but the stakes, too. An unofficial title eliminator, Kara-France earned a crack at Brandon Moreno in July – with an interim title up for grabs.
One fight removed from a title eliminator opportunity, Askarov remains focused. Gold is on the long-term agenda, but the short term is solely the task at hand.
“I don’t want to think about the title shot for now because Brandon is a really tough guy,” Askarov said. “When I win this fight, I’ll see. I was ready for a title fight for a long time. Because of my injury, surgery, it took a long for me. I just want to concentrate (on) Brandon for now, then we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 212.
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Askar Askarov has his first assignment after falling short in a title eliminator earlier this year.
[autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] has his first assignment after falling short in a title eliminator earlier this year.
Askarov (14-1-1 MMA, 3-1-1 UFC) is targeted to take on [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in a key flyweight bout set for a UFC Fight Night event Oct. 15. The promotion has not yet formally announced the card, or the bout, but a person with knowledge of the booking confirmed the fight’s plans to MMA Junkie on Wednesday. Royval’s management team posted the matchup on social media, as well.
Askarov dropped a decision to Kai Kara-France in March. Kara-France went on to an interim flyweight title fight this past Saturday at UFC 277, but was stopped by Brandon Moreno. It was his first loss as a pro and came after three straight wins over Tim Elliott, Alexandre Pantoja and Joseph Benavidez. Askarov settled for a split draw with Moreno in his promotional debut nearly three years ago after a perfect 11-0 pro start with 11 stoppage wins.
Royval started his UFC tenure with a submission of former title challenger Elliott in 2020, then submitted Kara-France at UFC. Both wins earned him Fight of the Night bonuses. But he was stopped with one second left in the first round by Moreno at UFC 253 and submitted by Pantoja in his follow-up.
Since then, though, he’s back on the upswing. He took a split decision from Rogerio Bontorin in January, and at UFC 274 in May he got another Fight of the Night bonus for his first-round submission of Matt Schnell for back-to-back wins.
Askar Askarov vs. Alex Perez has been rescheduled for July.
[autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag] has been rescheduled.
Askarov (14-1-1 MMA, 3-1-1 UFC) meets Perez (24-6 MMA, 6-2 UFC) on July 16 at a UFC event which doesn’t yet have a publicly known venue or location.
A person with knowledge of the booking confirmed new date to MMA Junkie after an initial post by Perez’s management Iridium Sports Agency on social media. Askarov on Thursday posted the matchup to his own accounts
The pair originally was scheduled to face off in July 2021 at UFC on ESPN 28, but Askarov withdrew due to injury. Perez then had multiple bookings with Matt Schnell rescheduled, but the fight never came to fruition.
Their UFC 269 matchup was scrapped when Schnell wasn’t medically cleared and their UFC 271 matchup fell apart when Perez missed weight by two pounds and Schnell refused to fight him at a catchweight.
Perez hasn’t competed since he was submitted in a title fight against flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 255 in November 2020.
Askarov is coming off a close decision loss to Kai Kara-France at UFC on ESPN 33 in March. It was the former ACB flyweight champ’s first setback of his professional MMA career.
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UFC on ESPN 33 was one of the rare events in the modern climate where disclosed fighter salaries have trickled into the public.
UFC on ESPN 33 was one of the rare events in the modern climate where fighter salaries have trickled into the public.
Curtis Blaydes (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC), who defeated Chris Daukaus (13-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) by second-round TKO in the main event of the card this past Saturday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, was the highest paid athlete on the card, netting $262,000 in disclosed earnings from the event.
The total salaries from the 12-bout card was $1,434,000, with just four names cracking the six-figure mark with their payouts.
MMAFighting.com received salary information from the Ohio State Athletic Commission on Tuesday.
Check out the full fight purses for UFC on ESPN 33.
