Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from February 2024.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from February 2024: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for February.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
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Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 235, which saw Randy Brown continue his run of success in the loaded welterweight division.
The UFC opened its four-event February schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 235, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
[autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) achieved his first octagon main event win to close out the card when he outworked [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) to a majority decision in their matchup of ranked UFC middleweights.
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 235.
UFC Fight Night 235 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 235 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $170,500.
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 235 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 235 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
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[autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Randy Brown[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Muslim Salikhov[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Viviane Araujo[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Aliaskhab Khizriev[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Makhmud Muradov[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Charlie Radtke[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Gilbert Urbina[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Diana Belbita[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Charles Johnson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Azat Maksum[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Themba Gorimbo[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Pete Rodriguez[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jeong Yeong Lee[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Blake Bilder[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Julija Stoliarenko[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Marquel Mederos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Landon Quinones[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Thomas Petersen[/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 2351 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 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $615,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $23,322,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 235.
All the UFC 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.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 1-7.
Flyweight Charles Johnson has stepped up to replace the injured Nate Maness at the first UFC event in February.
Flyweight [autotag]Nate Maness[/autotag] is out of his scheduled bout at UFC Fight Night 235.
Maness (15-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) was set to meet undefeated Azat Maksum on Feb. 3, but an injury has forced him out of the bout. As a result, Charles Johnson will step up to face Maksum (17-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at the event which takes place at the UFC Apex.
Verbal agreements are in place for the new matchup, with contracts expected to be signed soon. Three people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the change, but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Johnson (13-6 MMA, 2-4 UFC) will look to right the ship early in 2024 after winning one of four bouts in 2023. “InnerG” started off the year with a TKO win over Jimmy Flick, but then lost decisions to Ode Osbourne, Cody Durden and Rafael Estevam.
Maksum made his UFC debut in July, when he picked up a split decision win over Tyson Nam to keep his professional record unblemished.
Maness will have to wait until he is healed from the undisclosed injury before building off of a first-round TKO finish against Mateus Mendonca in October.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night 235 lineup includes:
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All the UFC 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.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Dec. 4-10.
Flyweight Azat Maksum won his highly anticipated UFC debut against Tyson Nam at UFC on ESPN 49. Now he has his sights set on Joshua Van.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Azat Maksum[/autotag] beat Tyson Nam with a split decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 49 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Maksum, who stayed unbeaten and won his highly anticipated UFC debut.
UFC on ESPN 49 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 on ESPN 49 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $126,500.
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 on ESPN 49 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC on ESPN 49 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
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[autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Jack Della Maddalena[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Bassil Hafez[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Fransisco Prado[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ottman Azaitar[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Albert Duraev[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Norma Dumont[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Chelsea Chandler[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Nazim Sadykhov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Terrance McKinney[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Melsik Baghdasaryan[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tucker Lutz[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Viktoriia Dudakova[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Istela Nunes[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Melquizael Costa[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Austin Lingo[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Evan Elder[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Genaro Valdez[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Azat Maksum[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Tyson Nam[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Alexander Munoz[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Carl Deaton[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ashlee Evans-Smith[/autotag]: $6,000
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 $49,000 while title challengers get $49,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-49 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $4,555,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $19,144,000
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.
Check out what the UFC on ESPN 49 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – UFC on ESPN 49 took place Saturday with 13 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 on ESPN 49 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.
Find out who joined the UFC in April and learn more about them here.
The UFC roster is bigger than ever – and it continues to expand.
Fresh faces appear on nearly every card, whether onboarded as short-notice opening fillers, Dana White’s Contender Series signees, or the increasingly rare straight-up additions. Sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of the hustle and bustle of the mixed martial arts news beat, but here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got you covered.
“Fresh Ink” is your list of fighters added to the UFC roster the previous month and provides background on who they are and where they came from.
Check out the April 2023 list below.
