Tag: Blagoy Ivanov

2024 PFL 1 lineup gets makeover after two withdrawals, one fight scrapped, one fight added

The 2024 PFL 1 lineup looks quite different after a host of changes.

The 2024 PFL 1 lineup looks quite different today than it did yesterday.

On Tuesday, the promotion announced that [autotag]Bruno Cappelozza[/autotag] and [autotag]Denise Kielholtz[/autotag] have withdrawn from their regular season matchups. Reasons for their removals were not given.

2024 PFL 1 (ESPN2, ESPN+) takes place April 4 at Boeing Center in San Antonio.

In place of Cappelozza, former WSOF champion and UFC veteran [autotag]Blagoy Ivanov[/autotag] will step in to meet Sergey Bilostenniy in the heavyweight division. Bellator veteran [autotag]llara Joanne[/autotag] is replacing Kielholtz and will fight former UFC title challenger Taila Santos in a women’s flyweight bout.

In addition to the two withdrawals, PFL also announced that [autotag]Kaytlin Neal[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Vega Arteaga[/autotag] is off the card, while a new matchup of [autotag]Ty Johnson[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Bryce Meredith[/autotag] has been added.

With the changes, here is the 2024 PFL 1 lineup:

MAIN CARD (ESPN 2, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Ante Delija vs. Valentin Moldavsky
  • Denis Goltsov vs. Linton Vassell
  • Liz Carmouche vs. Juliana Velasquez
  • Tyrell Fortune vs. Daniel James

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)

  • Dakota Ditcheva vs. Lisa Mauldin
  • Blagoy Ivanov vs. Sergey Bilostennyi
  • Taila Santos vs. Ilara Joanne
  • Steve Mowry vs. Oleg Popov
  • Kana Watanabe vs. Shanna Young
  • Chelsea Hackett vs. Jena Bishop
  • Lucas Brennan vs. Dimitre Ivy
  • Tyson Johnson vs. Bryce Meredith

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UFC on ESPN 48 post-event facts: Grant Dawson’s numbers show title trajectory

Check out all the facts and figures from UFC on ESPN 48, where Grant Dawson joined an exclusive club by putting together a nine-fight unbeaten streak in the octagon.

The UFC’s loaded July schedule got off to a hot start on Saturday with UFC on ESPN 48, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and featured six stoppages out of 12 fights.

One of those finishes came in the main event, when [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) held serve as a top middleweight when he turned back [autotag]Abus Magomedov[/autotag] (25-5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) with a second-round TKO before calling for a title shot.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check out MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC on ESPN 48.

UFC on ESPN 47 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Sean Strickland, Kevin Lee get most money

UFC on ESPN 47 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 47 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $144,500.

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 47 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC on ESPN 47 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Abus Magomedov[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Grant Dawson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Damir Ismagulov[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Michael Morales[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Max Griffin[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Melissa Gatto[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Ismael Bonfim[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Nursulton Ruziboev[/autotag]: $4,000
def.[autotag]Brunno Ferreira[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Rinat Fakhretdinov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kevin Lee[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Joanderson Brito[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Westin Wilson[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Yana Santos[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Elves Brener[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ivana Petrovic[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Alexandr Romanov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Blagoy Ivanov[/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 $47,000 while title challengers get $47,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-47 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $4,109,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $18,698,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 47.

UFC on ESPN 47 pre-event facts: Kevin Lee returns with records intact

The best facts and figures about UFC on ESPN 47, which sees Kevin Lee return to the promotion with records on his resume.

The UFC’s rampant summer schedule continued on Saturday with UFC on ESPN 47, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN/streams on ESPN+.

Opening a four-event lineup in July will be a middleweight headliner between [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (26-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) and [autotag]Abus Magomedov[/autotag] (25-4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who are scheduled for five rounds.

For more on the numbers behind the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s prevent facts about UFC on ESPN 47.

* * * *

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (May 29-June 4)

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 a promotion from May 29-June 4.

UFC heavyweights Blagoy Ivanov, Alexandr Romanov set to collide July 1

Behemoths will collide July 1 at the UFC Apex when Blagoy Ivanov and Alexandr Romanov met in the cage.

Two ranked UFC heavyweights are set to collide July 1.

[autotag]Blagoy Ivanov[/autotag] will meet Romania’s [autotag]Alexandr Romanov[/autotag] at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the booking Thursday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

A former WSOF champion, Ivanov (19-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) was signed to the UFC in 2018 and thrown immediately in the deep end with a fight vs. former champion Junior Dos Santos, which he lost by unanimous decision. Since then, Ivanov has mixed results with wins over Ben Rothwell, Tai Tuivasa, and Marcos Rogerio de Lima.

Romanov (16-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) looks to snap a two-fight losing skid, which followed a 16-fight winning streak start to his pro MMA career. Following a majority decision loss to Marcin Tybura, Romanov was quickly finished with ground-and-pound by Alexander Volkov in his most recent fight in March.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for July 1 includes:

  • Abus Magomedov vs. Sean Strickland
  • Rinat Faakhretdinov vs. Kevin Lee
  • Melissa Gatto vs. Ariane Lipski
  • Khusein Askhabov vs. Joanderson Brito
  • Max Griffin vs. Michael Morales
  • Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Brunno Ferreira
  • Luana Carolina vs. Ivana Petrovic
  • Grant Dawson vs. Damir Ismagulov
  • Blagoy Ivanov vs. Alexandr Romanov
  • Elves Brener vs. Jordan Leavitt
  • Ismael Bonfim vs. Benoit Saint-Denis

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

UFC Fight Night 218 post-event facts: Derrick Lewis’ struggles continue

Derrick Lewis, the UFC’s all-time knockout record holder, is on a personal worst losing skid after UFC Fight Night 218.

The UFC opened its February schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 218, which went down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The main event saw [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) continue his climb as a heavyweight contender when he halted former title challenger [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] (26-11 MMA, 17-9 UFC) with a first-round submission.

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 218.

UFC Fight Night 218 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Derrick Lewis’ $21,000 tops card

UFC Fight Night 218 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 218 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $136,000

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

The full UFC Fight Night 218 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Devin Clark[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Da-un Jung[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Blagoy Ivanov[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Dooho Choi[/autotag]: $6,000
vs. [autotag]Kyle Nelson[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Adam Fugitt[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yusaku Kinoshita[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Anshul Jubli[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jeka Saragih[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jeong Yeong Lee[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yi Zha[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Rinya Nakamura[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Toshiomi Kazama[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Sung Hyun Park[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Seung Guk Choi[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Tatsuro Taira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jesus Santos Aguilar[/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 2187 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2181 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: $632,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $15,151,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 217.

Photos: UFC Fight Night 218 weigh-ins and faceoffs

Check out these photos of the UFC Fight Night 218 official weigh-ins and faceoffs at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Check out these photos of the UFC Fight Night 218 official weigh-ins and faceoffs at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. (Photos by Ken Hathaway, MMA Junkie)

UFC Fight Night 218 predictions: Have our Derrick Lewis-Serghei Spivac picks changed?

Check out our staff members’ picks for UFC Fight Night 218, including the rebooked Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac heavyweight main event.

Lewis
vs.
Spivac		 Clark
vs.
Jung		 Ivanov
vs.
Tybura		 Choi
vs.
Nelson		 Fugitt
vs.
Kinoshita
MMA Junkie readers’
consensus picks
5-5		 lewis2023
Lewis
(54%)		 jung2023
Jung
(80%)		 tybura2023
Tybura
(82%)		 choi2023
Choi
(86%)		 kinoshita2023
Kinoshita
(72%)
George Garcia
@MMAjunkieGeorge
8-2		 lewis2023
Lewis		 clark2023
Clark		 tybura2023
Tybura		 choi2023
Choi		 kinoshita2023
Kinoshita
Matthew Wells
@MrMWells
7-3		 lewis2023
Lewis		 jung2023
Jung		 tybura2023
Tybura		 choi2023
Choi		 kinoshita2023
Kinoshita
Simon Samano
@SJSamano
7-3		 lewis2023
Lewis		 clark2023
Clark		 tybura2023
Tybura		 choi2023
Choi		 kinoshita2023
Kinoshita
Matt Erickson
@MMAjunkieMatt
6-4		 spivac2023
Spivac		 jung2023
Jung		 tybura2023
Tybura		 choi2023
Choi		 fugitt2023
Fugitt
Brian Garcia
@thegoze
6-4
trophy copy 2017 Champion		 spivac2023
Spivac		 clark2023
Clark		 ivanov2023
Ivanov		 choi2023
Choi		 fugitt2023
Fugitt
Danny Segura
@dannyseguratv
6-4		 lewis2023
Lewis		 jung2023
Jung		 tybura2023
Tybura		 choi2023
Choi		 kinoshita2023
Kinoshita
Ken Hathaway
@kenshathaway
5-5
trophy copy 2018, 2022 Champion		 lewis2023
Lewis		 clark2023
Clark		 tybura2023
Tybura		 choi2023
Choi		 fugitt2023
Fugitt
Farah Hannoun
@Farah_Hannoun
5-5		 lewis2023
Lewis		 jung2023
Jung		 tybura2023
Tybura		 choi2023
Choi		 kinoshita2023
Kinoshita
Mike Bohn
@MikeBohn
5-5
trophy copy 2014 Champion		 lewis2023
Lewis		 jung2023
Jung		 tybura2023
Tybura		 choi2023
Choi		 kinoshita2023
Kinoshita
Abbey Subhan
@kammakaze
4-6		 lewis2023
Lewis		 jung2023
Jung		 tybura2023
Tybura		 choi2023
Choi		 kinoshita2023
Kinoshita
Nolan King
@mma_kings
4-6/em>		 lewis2023
Lewis		 jung2023
Jung		 tybura2023
Tybura		 choi2023
Choi		 kinoshita2023
Kinoshita

The UFC is back in its home base after a week off, and a rebooked heavyweight clash tops the card.

UFC Fight Night 218 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, two-time heavyweight title challenger [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] (26-10 MMA, 17-8 UFC) takes on [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (15-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC). The two were supposed to headline UFC Fight Night 215 in November, but Lewis became ill during the event and wasn’t cleared to fight.

Spivac is a modest favorite at -240 at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Lewis is +180. But our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are going with him in an upset at a hefty 9-2 clip.

When our staff members first picked this fight this past November, Lewis also had a 9-2 lead in the picks. But oddly, the two pickers who took Spivac the first time switched to Lewis this week, and the two who are picking Spivac this time around had Lewis in November.

In the co-feature, [autotag]Devin Clark[/autotag] (13-7 MMA, 7-7 UFC) meets [autotag]Da-un Jung[/autotag] (15-3-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) at light heavyweight. Jung is a -250 favorite at the betting window and has a 7-4 edge from our pickers.

Also on the main card, [autotag]Blagoy Ivanov[/autotag] (19-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag] (23-7 MMA, 10-6 UFC) meet at heavyweight. Tybura only is a -135 favorite in the fight, but he’s a near-unanimous pick from our staff members at 10-1.

The only unanimous pick on the main card is [autotag]Dooho Choi[/autotag] (14-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) in his featherweight bout against [autotag]Kyle Nelson[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 1-4 UFC). Choi is a betting favorite of nearly 2-1.

And to open the main card, [autotag]Adam Fugitt[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) takes on [autotag]Yusaku Kinoshita[/autotag] (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at welterweight. Kinoshita is the biggest favorite on the main card at -350, but three of our pickers are taking Fugitt in an upset.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Lewis (54 percent), Jung (80 percent), Tybura (82 percent), Choi (86 percent) and 72 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 218.

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