Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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. 26-March 3.
Thiago Moises needs a new UFC Fight Night opponent as City Kickboxing’s Brad Riddell has withdrawn.
[autotag]Brad Riddell[/autotag] is out, leaving [autotag]Thiago Moises[/autotag] currently without an opponent.
The longtime lightweight fighters were expected to square off March 16 at a UFC Fight Night event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. With Riddell (10-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) out for undisclosed reasons, it’s unclear if Moises (17-7 MMA, 6-5 UFC) will remain on the card against a new opponent.
Two people with knowledge of the change informed MMA Junkie of it Wednesday but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
If he remains on the card, Moises will look to bounce back after a September loss to Benoit Saint Denis. He’s 2-1 in his most recent three with wins over Christos Giagos and Melquizael Costa.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night lineup for March 16 includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night on March 16.
There were 35 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. 8-14.
Brad Riddell has gotten the itch to compete again.
[autotag]Brad Riddell[/autotag] has gotten the itch to compete again.
Riddell (10-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) returns from his hiatus against [autotag]Thiago Moises[/autotag] (17-7 MMA, 6-5 UFC) at the UFC’s March 16 Fight Night event, which doesn’t yet have an announced venue or location.
Two people with knowledge of the booking recently confirmed the matchup to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Eurosport Netherlands was first to report the booking.
Riddell announced he was stepping away from MMA after he suffered his third straight loss, to Renato Moicano, in November 2022. Prior to that, the City Kickboxing fighter was on a seven-fight winning streak, including a unanimous decision win over Drew Dober at UFC 263.
After back-to-back submission finishes of Christos Giagos and Melquizael Costa, Moises was stopped by surging contender Benoit Saint-Denis in a Fight of the Night effort this past September in Paris.
With the addition, the UFC’s March 16 lineup now includes:
After starting his UFC tenure 4-0, Brad Riddell is now on a three-fight skid and says he won’t fight “until the fire to compete comes back.”
[autotag]Brad Riddell[/autotag] has decided to take some indefinite time off after UFC 281.
Riddell (10-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) suffered his third consecutive loss when he was submitted in the first round by Renato Moicano this past Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The City Kickboxing fighter went on Instagram to post an image of his gloves off, explaining that he’s burned out and won’t be competing until he has the desire to again.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck8ev2MOSpn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
“I appreciate everyone that has been supporting me and standing by my side from day one though to these last 2 lackluster performances. I’m going to step away from competing in MMA for a good while until the fire to compete comes back. I’m not performing close to my capability, and it’s a dangerous job if you’re not fully present . I’ve been training hard for 15 years , in and out of camps with not enough rest or balance and it’s massively taken it’s physical and mental toll on me. There has not been a year since I was 17 that I have not fought .I know this is the right choice because, as I write this, I feel a sense of relief for finally voicing what I had been feeling for awhile. I wanted to have one last crack at MSG to see if the feelings from the last camp were just one-off, but sadly they were not . It’s a hard pill to swallow, as this is what I’ve done my entire life and fighting was my first love . But sometimes you just have to face it .
There are a few over due surgeries to be addressed as well.“I will keep training and teaching, but my energy that was all consumed by the sport will be directed at my family. The itch will come back, But a long time off is needed.
“I appreciate everyone always supporting me .
Quake.”
Riddell started out his octagon tenure at 4-0 before getting finished in his past three fights by Rafael Fiziev, Jalin Turner and Moicano. His most recent octagon win came in a Fight of the Night over Drew Dober at UFC 263.
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Check out the numbers to come out of an insane UFC 281, where Alex Pereira’s title win put him in the record books alongside Brock Lesnar.
UFC 281 took place Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, and with 11 finishes in 14 fights, including two title changes, it proved to be among the best cards of the year.
The main event saw [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) earn another combat victory over [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC), but this time with the highest stakes imaginable when he claimed the middleweight title with a fifth-round TKO.
The co-headliner saw [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) begin a second reign as women’s strawweight champion when she submitted [autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) with a choke in the second round.
For more on the numbers behind both title fights, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 281.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 281 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $332,500.
NEW YORK – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 281 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $332,500.
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 281 took place at Madison Square Garden. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.
The full UFC 281 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]: $42,000
[autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag]: $42,000
[autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Chris Gutierrez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Claudio Puelles[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Brad Riddell[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Ryan Spann[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Erin Blanchfield[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Andre Petroski[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Wellington Turman[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ottman Azaitar[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Karolina Kowalkiewicz[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Silvana Gomez Juarez[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Michael Trizano[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Seungwoo Choi[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Montel Jackson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Julio Arce[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Nicolae Negumereanu[/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 $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 2022 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $7,554,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $13,732,000
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
Check out all the fighter walkout songs from Saturday’s UFC 281 event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
While it takes intense training, world-class skills and maybe even a bit of luck to register a UFC win, picking the right song to accompany you to the cage is a key talent, as well.
See what the fighters from UFC 281 went with as their backing tracks in New York.
Did Renato Moicano just cut the best post-fight promo in UFC history?
NEW YORK – [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag] was slick in the cage Saturday at Madison Square Garden, but the most memorable moment for him may have taken place on the microphone.
After he quickly submitted City Kickboxing’s [autotag]Brad Riddell[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) with a rear-naked choke at 3:20 of Round 1, Moicano (17-5-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) cut an all-time promo during his in-cage interview with Joe Rogan.
“Joe Rogan, I don’t know if you know me,” Moicano screamed into the microphone. “I was ranked No. 4 in featherweight. I was the best featherweight on the planet and I lost to my idol, Jose Aldo. I lost to him. It was really bad for my career, but I moved up. I learned from my mistakes. Now, I’m f*cking here to take over. All these motherf*ckers, I’m here to take over. Make no mistake. I lost only to the best. But today, I’m the f*cking best.
“Let’s go, New York. Make some f*cking noise. Renato, I have to be on the f*cking rankings, man. This is disrespect. I took a fight, a five-round fight on five days’ notice. Five days’ notice. I was f*cking drinking beer and eating steaks in Brazil. They called me and I came here. I traveled 24 hours and motherf*cking disrespected me. I want the f*cking bonus. Moicano wants money.”
And the crowd went wild.
Moicano bounces back from a one-sided loss in March to former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. He has now won three of his most recent four. Moicano’s six submission victories by rear-naked choke in UFC competition are third-most in company history behind Demian Maia (nine) and Kenny Florian (seven).
Riddell enters a three-fight losing skid with three finish defeats.
Renato Moicano came to FIGHT 😤@MoicanoUFC gets it done in one at #UFC281! pic.twitter.com/Lop9e1ibCh
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
Up-to-the-minute UFC 281 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
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Check out the best photos from Renato Moicano’s first-round submission win over Brad Riddell at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag]’s first-round submission win over [autotag]Brad Riddell[/autotag] at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photos by Jessica Alcheh, USA TODAY Sports)
