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Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 236, which saw Rodolfo Vieira become the all-time octagon leader in arm-triangle choke wins.
The UFC’s lengthy stretch of events rolled on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 236 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
[autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag] (24-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC) emerged victorious in the main event when he scored an upset of [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) by unanimous decision in their middleweight bout.
For more on the numbers from the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 236.
UFC Fight Night 236 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 236 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $236,500.
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 236 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 236 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Robert Bryczek[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Ihor Potieria[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Gregory Rodrigues[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Michael Johnson[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Darrius Flowers[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Rodolfo Vieira[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Armen Petrosyan[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Carlos Prates[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Trevin Giles[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Bolaji Oki[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Tim Cuamba[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Loma Lookboonmee[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Bruna Brasil[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Marcin Prachnio[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Devin Clark[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Max Griffin[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Jeremiah Wells[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Bogdan Guskov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Zac Pauga[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Hyder Amil[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Fernie Garcia[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Daniel Marcos[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Aori Qileng[/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 2361 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: $850,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $23,557,000
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 236.
The term “gatekeeper” usually has a bad connotation in combat sports. But Brad Tavares doesn’t mind if that’s what he is … for now.
The term “gatekeeper” usually has a bad connotation in combat sports.
To be one, it means regularly being on the cusp of greatness – but also regularly just short while someone else goes on to, in this case, a middleweight title. So to get to that point to begin with: Very, very good. But most fighters don’t want that label saddled on them.
And [autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag] (20-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) no doubt would prefer to ditch the term, too. But if that’s the word you have to describe where he’s at right now in his UFC career, ahead of a fight against Gregory Rodrigues (14-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC), so be it.
“It is what it is. Yes: I look at the guys that I’ve fought and if they’ve gotten past me, boom, go on to be the champion. If somebody wants to say it in a negative way, then that’s on them. I don’t take it negatively,” Tavares said Wednesday at a media day for UFC Fight Night 236 (ESPN+), which goes down Saturday in Las Vegas.
Tavares lost to Robert Whittaker in 2015; Whittaker had gold around his waist five fights later. He lost to Israel Adesanya in 2018; Adesanya was a champ less than a year later. And in July 2022, he dropped a decision to current champ Dricus du Plessis.
So call him gatekeeper, but it means he’s right there – and regularly.
“I’m here fighting the best guys, and if they do make it past me, they’ve shown that they’ve gone on to become champions: Israel and Rob, Dricus – but all guys that I know on any given day, I can … I could still beat these guys. So that makes me excited, actually.”
This past August, Tavares got a much-needed win after a two-fight skid to du Plessis and Bruno Silva when he outworked former champion Chris Weidman at UFC 292. On paper, it’s arguably the biggest win of Tavares’ career.
The matchup with Rodrigues is a rebooking from a year ago, when Tavares pulled out with an injury. And though he said he didn’t care if it came back around, he sees a chance to stay in that gatekeeper lane with a win – and then the chance to push for more.
“I didn’t care (that we got rebooked), honestly,” Tavares said. “It was great to fight somebody like Chris Weidman, and honestly, if there had been another Chris Weidman-type fight out there, I would’ve loved that opportunity. But this is the fight that was presented, and it’s good to get it back and I guess settle the score. We were supposed to fight a year ago. It didn’t happen. Here we are a year later. I like the matchup. I think it’s a good matchup for me.”
Check out Tavares’ full interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 236.
Gregory Rodrigues is ready to springboard his career off of Brad Tavares.
[autotag]Gregory Rodrigues[/autotag] is ready to springboard his career off of [autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag].
Rodrigues (14-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) meets Tavares (20-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 236 (ESPN+) main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Tavares, a perennial middleweight contender, has fought just about every notable name, from former champions Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker and Chris Weidman to current champion Dricus Du Plessis. Rodrigues thinks beating someone like Tavares could be his ticket to a big fight.
“Brad fought maybe everyone in the division,” Rodrigues said at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 236 media day. “He has a lot of experience, but I believe his time is gone and now is my time. I’m ready for this.
“And if you see so many of the guys that fought him and beat him, they fought against someone at the top. I don’t know if that’s going to happen, if they’re going to offer me, but I believe it’s going to be one good step in my career.”
Rodrigues wanting to fight top-level competition is more of a desire than a demand. He’s willing to put in the necessary work to get there.
“I’m not going to rush,” Rodrigues said. “I don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, I need that.’ I want to do what I need to do. My plan is two more fights this year – maybe in the middle of the year and the end of the year. I believe I will finish this year on top of the contenders and my goal is to be a champion. I’m looking up, and I will take my time – but I will climb that.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 236.
The best facts about UFC Fight Night 236, where Brad Tavares can tie multiple key records in middleweight and overall UFC history.
The UFC continues its busy February schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 236, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.
For the third straight event, middleweights take stage in the headliner as [autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag] (23-8 MMA, 10-6 UFC) returns from a career-long layoff to share the octagon with the surging [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in a five-round bout.
For more on the numbers behind the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about 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 Nov. 13-19.
A middleweight banger between Gregory Rodrigues and Brad Tavares is headed to the UFC octagon early next year.
A middleweight banger is headed to the octagon early next year.
[autotag]Gregory Rodrigues[/autotag] announced Wednesday on Instagram that he will fight [autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag] on Feb. 10 at a UFC Fight Night. Although the UFC hasn’t made an official announcement, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie.
Rodrigues (14-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC), affectionately known as “Robocop,” has won three of his past four bouts, most recently defeating Denis Tiuliulin by first-round TKO this past August at UFC 292. The result got Rodrigues back in the win column after he was knocked out by Brunno Ferreira in his previous bout.
Tavares (20-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) snapped a two-fight skid in his last outing when he beat former UFC champion Chris Weidman by unanimous decision at UFC 292. Prior to that, Tavares had lost back-to-back bouts to Dricus Du Plessis by decision and Bruno Silva by first-round TKO.
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Brad Tavares knows his wish list isn’t too realistic, but that didn’t stop him from laying it out.
[autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag] knows his wish list isn’t too realistic, but that didn’t stop him from laying it out.
Tavares (20-9 MMA, 15-8 UFC) snapped a two-fight losing skid by spoiling Chris Weidman’s return in a unanimous decision win less than two weeks ago at UFC 292 in Boston.
The longtime middleweight contender has fought just about every notable name in the division, from current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, to former champ Robert Whittaker, and top contender [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag], who he would love to avenge his loss to. Du Plessis defeated Tavares at UFC 276 by decision – the only opponent he was unable to finish throughout his career.
“Obviously, I would love to get it back with some of the people I dropped to, one of those being Dricus,” Tavares told MMA Junkie Radio. “After me, he went on a run, and if I could get that fight back, I would love that.
“Obviously where he is and where I’m at – well, I’m coming off a win, but before that two losses, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. … But somewhere in the near future, if somehow I could run that back, oh yeah, I would love that.”
During Tavares’ fight with Weidman, [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] provided some commentary on his social media. He was actively rooting for Weidman, who suffered the same leg break as him. He also called Tavares a “little arse wipe,” and the Hawaiian would love the opportunity to fight McGregor – even if it’s wishful thinking.
“I’m serious, I would love to fight the juiced-up Conor McGregor,” Tavares said. “I know that’s far-fetched. I know that will never happen. But if you’re asking me my wishlist, that would be on it.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
The best facts to come out of UFC 292, which saw Sean O’Malley, Zhang Weili, Ian Machado Garry and others record statistical achievements.
One of the biggest UFC events of the year thus far went down Saturday with UFC 292, which took place at TD Garden in Boston and featured two championship fights with different results.
In the main event, [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) shocked [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) with a second-round TKO to capture the bantamweight belt, while in the co-headliner, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] (24-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) got her second strawweight title reign off a dominant start with a lopsided unanimous decision over Brazilian challenger [autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag] (13-3-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC).
For more on the numbers behind the two championship bouts, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 292.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 292 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $340.500.
BOSTON – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 292 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $340.500.
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 292 took place at TD Garden. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
The full UFC 292 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]: $42,000
[autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag]: $32,000
[autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Neil Magny[/autotag]: $21,00
[autotag]Mario Bautista[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Pedro Munhoz[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Gregory Rodrigues[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Kurt Holobaugh[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Austin Hubbard[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Brad Katona[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Cody Gibson[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Andre Petroski[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Andrea Lee[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Karine Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Maryna Moroz[/autotag]: $11,000
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 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $5,735,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $20,324,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
