Tag: Bekzat Almakhan

UFC Fight Night 238 post-event facts: Umar Nurmagomedov on the rise in bantamweight books

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 238, which saw Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Muhammad Mokaev and Umar Nurmagomedov make noise.

The UFC opened its March schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 238, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The main event saw [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) overcome a slow start to batter [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a referee TKO stoppage after the end of the fourth round, putting him back on the winning track.

For more on the numbers behind the card, which featured six finishes in 11 fights – and a couple of them unique – check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $24 million

UFC Fight Night 238 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 238 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $133,500.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 238 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Vitor Petrino[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tyson Pedro[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Bekzat Almakhan[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Eryk Anders[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Vinicius Oliveira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Bernardo Sopaj[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Aiemann Zahabi[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Javid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Christian Leroy Duncan[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Claudio Ribeiro[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Ludovit Klein[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]A.J. Cunningham[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady[/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 2381 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: $1,362,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $24,069,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 results: Umar Nurmagomedov survives knockdown, wins decision, calls out Cory Sandhagen

Umar Nurmagomedov was almost knocked out by newcomer Bekzat Almakhan early at UFC Fight Night 238, but he overcame adversity for the win.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] faced the biggest scare of his career so far against [autotag]Bekzat Almakhan[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 238, but ultimately left with his undefeated record in tact.

Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who is considered by many to have future champion potential in the bantamweight division, took a big risk in accepting a fight with newcomer Almakhan (14-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at the UFC Apex. It almost backfired when he was knocked down in the opening seconds of the fight, but that was the only moment he faced threat.

The younger cousin of retired UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov went into grappling mode for the rest of the fight after the early knockdown, completely dominating Almakhan on the mat for the majority of the first, second and third frames en route to a unanimous decision victory by scores of 30-25, 30-26 and 30-26.

“I didn’t see this and I didn’t understand – I woke up,” Nurmagomedov said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “I hurt him. Almost too much I hurt him. I thought I would take him down and choke him for an easy fight. But this guy a monster. He’s tough and he tried to kill me.”

After the fight, Nurmagomedov called for a re-booking with Cory Sandhagen, who he was supposed to face in July before suffering an injury that forced him to pull out.

It remains to be seen when that can happen, though, because Nurmagomedov revealed he came into this fight injured, as well.

“I want to fight with Cory Sandhagen,” Nurmagomedov said. “It’s going to be I think a contender fight. I come to this fight with a lot of things. Hurt. I didn’t come here 100 percent. Maybe I was just 50 percent. I’m serious.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 238 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

Umar Nurmagomedov’s coach: Bekzat Almakhan ‘more dangerous than the vast majority of the UFC fighters’

Javier Mendez is not taking Bekzat Almakhan lightly ahead of UFC Fight Night 238.

Javier Mendez is not taking [autotag]Bekzat Almakhan[/autotag] lightly ahead of UFC Fight Night 238.

After struggling to net an opponent, [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) drew newcomer Almakhan (17-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in Saturday’s main card (ESPN+) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

For Nurmagomedov’s head coach Mendez, Almakhan presents more problems than most bantamweights on the roster do.

“He’s a dangerous guy. He is more dangerous than the vast majority of the UFC fighters,” Mendez said on his YouTube channel. “I’m telling you – this guy’s no joke. He’s one of those phenom-type guys that’s coming into the game, and you’re going, ‘Oh, he’s never been in the UFC.’

“Yeah, OK – keep thinking that way. You better look at him like a serious, serious opponent, and I don’t care about the rankings. I care about 17-1 and 85 percent knockout ratio. That’s something to be concerned about. If you’re not concerned about that, you’re an idiot.”

Kazakhstan’s Almakhan is on a nine-fight winning streak, seven by way of finish. Mendez sees him as a complete fighter.

“He comes in, good body clinch, control, takedowns, he’s got good ground game,” Mendez said of Almakhan. “He’s a well-rounded fighter – good boxing, good everything. He’s good everywhere. For me, it’s unfortunate for him that he’s fighting, to me, the future champion.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

Fresh Ink: Meet the 5 fighters the UFC signed in February 2024

Find out who joined the UFC in February 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 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 February 2024 list below.

Bekzat Almakhan relishing chance to upset, derail Umar Nurmagomedov in UFC debut

The odds are stacked against him at UFC Fight Night 238, and there’s no polite way to put it: Bekzat Almakhan is a massive underdog.

LAS VEGAS – The odds are stacked against him Saturday, and there’s no polite way to put it: [autotag]Bekzat Almakhan[/autotag] is a massive underdog.

Almakhan (17-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will be the latest bantamweight to try to give the unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) a test when they meet on the UFC Fight Night 238 (ESPN+) main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Although the 26-year-old Almakhan, from Kazakhstan, comes in with an impressive nine-fight winning streak and has 15 of his 17 wins by stoppage, Nurmagomedov is as much as a 16-1 favorite at the betting window. It probably didn’t help Almakhan’s cause when the oddsmakers set the initial line that he was taking a fight against a member of one of the sport’s elite families on less than a month’s notice, either.

That doesn’t bother Almakhan one bit, though. In fact, he said it just makes what he’s up against even more exciting.

“Why do I have to be scared? I’m a fighter,” Almakhan said through an interpreter at Wednesday’s media day. “Why did I start a fighting career? Why would I be a UFC fighter and be scared of somebody? Everyone has two hands, two legs, one head. We’re going to do our best. Everybody is human. No one has three hands or something like that.”

Almakhan said he was in shape, but not in an actual training camp for a fight when he got the call to take on Nurmagomedov, who had been eyeing a title eliminator fight against Cory Sandhagen. Between last-minute visas and travel arrangements, he got to Las Vegas just in time for fight week commitments after a flight that took an entire day and night on its own.

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But he said Nurmagomedov will find out about the spirit of a Kazakh fighter.

“I respect him as a fighter. I know Umar is a high-level fighter on the ground, striking – everywhere. He’s a complete fighter. But I’m a complete fighter, and I’m going to show what’s up with Kazakhstan.

“… Expect everything from me: striking, wrestling, interviews – just be ready. guys. I’m coming for everything and I’ll show the Kazakh spirit.”

Check out Almakhan’s full interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (Feb. 5-11)

Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights 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, PFL, and Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Feb. 5-11.

Umar Nurmagomedov finally gets a fight as UFC newcomer Bekzat Almakhan steps up

There were no willing opponents for Umar Nurmagomedov in the UFC – so the promotion reached outside of its roster.

The search to find [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] a willing opponent has finally concluded.

After multiple attempts and failures to book him against ranked opposition, UFC matchmakers needed to go outside the promotion to find Nurmagomedov (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) a dance partner, as Kazakhstan’s [autotag]Bekzat Almakhan[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has agreed to the task. The two fighters will collide March 2 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. The news was first reported by @FrontKicked on X.

Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, of Dominance MMA, posted on X that the matchmaking process ahead of this fight was unlike any other he’s witnessed. Additional sources told MMA Junkie that at least two top-10 contenders turned down the Nurmagomedov fight.

“I never seen UFC working hard to find somebody to fight,” Abdelaziz wrote. “He’s a lot more harder to get Fight! for then Islam, Kamaru Usman, and Khabib.”

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Nurmagomedov, 28, is the younger cousin of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. He’s made quite the impact in the span of only four fights, as he’s viewed in the promotion’s eyes as a fighter worthy of top-10 matchups. Nurmagomedov was expected to headline an event vs. Cory Sandhagen in August, but withdrew due to injury. His UFC wins to date include Raoni Barcelos, Nate Maness, Brian Kelleher, and Sergey Morozov.

Almakhan, 26, has 15 finishes in 17 victories including 13 knockouts. He enters the promotion on a nine-fight winning streak that dates back to June 2021. Almakhan most recently competed under the Octagon and UAE Warriors banners.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for March 2 includes:

  • Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev
  • Bekzat Almakhan vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
  • Muhammad Mokaev vs. Alex Perez
  • Yanis Ghemmouri vs. Vinicius Oliveira
  • Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Loik Radzhabov
  • Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett
  • Joel Alvarez vs. Ludovit Klein
  • Javid Basharat vs. Aiemann Zahabi
  • Josefine Knutsson vs. Julia Polastri
  • Brendon Marotte vs. Mohammad Yahya
  • Tyson Pedro vs. Vitor Petrino
  • Stephen Erceg vs. Matt Schnell
  • Christian Duncan vs. Claudio Ribeiro

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for the UFC Fight Night event March 2.

On the Doorstep: 5 fighters who could make UFC with February wins

For those who make it to the highest stage, the journey starts long before they strap on UFC or Bellator gloves.

Every champion in MMA history started out somewhere.

For those who make it to the highest stage, the journey begins long before they strap on UFC, Bellator, or PFL gloves. Modern-era fighters progress through the regional ranks with hopes of accomplishing the highest accolades. Many will try, few will succeed.

This month, five fighters on the verge of achieving major promotion notoriety – one for the second time – return to the cage for what could be their stepping-stone fight. There are dozens of fighters close to making the jump in the coming weeks, but these five are particularly exemplary.

  • An exciting Australian flyweight was hindered by visa issues when the UFC first showed interest, but when the promotional brass attend his fight Saturday he aims to make his signing undeniable.
  • A featherweight from a small Louisiana town plans to welcome  striking and make his opponent pay on the ground en route to a UFC contract through Fury FC.
  • Day-by-day, week-by-week, year-by-year, a seasoned Texas-based welterweight has put in the works – and he thinks he’s on the verge of finally cashing in his street credit for a UFC contract.
  • A Dana White’s Contender Series alumnus from Spain continues his mission to prove his loss on the show was not a representation of his actual abilities.
  • A proud Kazakh looks to continue his country’s momentum with a big win in the Middle East.