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 Jan. 15-21.
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. 18-24.
Rinya Nakamura returns at UFC 298 against ‘TUF 29’ runner-up Brady Hiestand.
[autotag]Rinya Nakamura[/autotag] has his third UFC assignment.
A former Japanese wrestling standout and undefeated MMA fighter, Nakamura (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) returns vs. [autotag]Brady Hiestand[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at UFC 298, which takes place Feb. 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Both fighters recently confirmed the booking on social media after Hiestand’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, first posted the news.
🚨 #TeamIridium News 🚨
Our man @bradyHiestand1 is ready to bring home his 3rd straight @ufc victory vs. Rinya Nakamura at #UFC298 ✍🏼 #TheDarkside pic.twitter.com/Tss5sybICS
— IridiumSportsAgency (@TeamIridiumISA) December 18, 2023
Nakamura, 28, is the son of early combat sports orchestrator Kozo Nakamura. The COVID-19 pandemic limited his wrestling opportunities, so Nakamura turned to mixed martial arts and debuted in 2021. He won the Road to UFC tournament in 2022 with three knockouts in as many tournament outings. In August, he defeated Fernie Garcia by unanimous decision.
Hiestand, 24, has won back-to-back fights after an unsuccessful UFC debut vs. Ricky Turcios in the “TUF 29” bantamweight final in 2021. Hiestand lost to Turcios by split decision, then defeated Fernie Garcia and Danaa Batgerel in consecutive outings.
With the addition, the current UFC 298 lineup includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.
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 June 19-25.
Brady Hiestand wants a fight with Christian Rodriguez, the man who defeated Raul Rosas.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Brady Hiestand[/autotag] knows exactly what he wants next.
The UFC bantamweight is targeting a fight with [autotag]Christian Rodriguez[/autotag] following his latest win in the octagon, as he wants to steal the hype that Rodriguez took from then-unbeaten sensation Raul Rosas earlier this month at UFC 287.
Hiestand (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) called out Rodriguez after his TKO win over Danaa Batgerel (12-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 222 in Las Vegas.
“I saw his fight against Raul Rosas, and I wasn’t super impressed with anything he did,” Hiestand told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 222 post-fight press conference. “I thought he was good, well-rounded, but I like that matchup. We’re both young. He’s what, 25, 26? We both have a lot of growing to do, and I want to take some of his hype that he took from Rosas. So, I want to fight that dude.”
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Hiestand likes Rosas and believes he’ll bounce back from the decision loss to Rodriguez. He just found Rosas’ inexperience to be the determining factor in the fight.
“I got a lot of respect from that kid,” Hiestand said. “We’re very similar in the fact that we’re heavy into grappling. I think he’s got great skills, he was just inexperienced. He’s just young. He blew his load in the first round and got too excited, spammed the double leg. But yeah, I got nothing but respect for that kid.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 222.
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Sergei Pavlovich is firmly in the UFC record books after extending his first-round KO streak against Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night 222.
The octagon was back in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday for UFC Fight Night 222, and a new heavyweight contender emerged from the main event.
[autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) made history when he recorded a modern company record sixth consecutive first-round knockout, this time against his most decorated opponent to date in fellow contender [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC).
Pavlovich has put his mark on the record books of the promotion, and for more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 222.
UFC Fight Night 222 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 222 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $181,500.
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 222 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 222 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Bruno Silva[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag]: $21,000
vs. [autotag]Jared Gordon[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Iasmin Lucindo[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Brogan Walker[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jeremiah Wells[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Matthew Semelsberger[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Christos Giagos[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Ricky Glenn[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Montel Jackson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Rani Yahya[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Norma Dumont[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Mohammed Usman[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Junior Tafa[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]William Gomis[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Francis Marshall[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Brady Hiestand[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Danaa Batgerel[/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 2221 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: $2,411,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $17,000,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 222.
Check out what the UFC Fight Night 222 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.
LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 222 took place Saturday with 11 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 Fight Night 222 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
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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 from Jan. 16-22.
Ricky Turcios thinks he and fellow UFC Fight Night 215 winner Brady Hiestand would deliver another memorable fight if they rematched.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Ricky Turcios[/autotag] spoke to the media after his UFC Fight Night 215 win.
Turcios (12-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) answered questions from MMA Junkie and other media members after edging out Kevin Natividad (9-4 MMA, 0-3 UFC) by split decision on his win, a potential rematch with “TUF 29” finalist [autotag]Brady Hiestand[/autotag] and more.
“Brady, that’s my dude,” Turcios told reporters, including MMA Junkie. “We were there inside ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ house training and stuff like that, and we had the war, and I’m glad he was shining and got that victory, too. So congratulations to him. He got the victory tonight. I got the victory tonight. We’re all connected in this circle of life, so everything happens for a reason. But if one day, me and Brady have to rematch, then we’re on that Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar type legend stuff, you know what I’m saying? Let’s go.”
UFC Fight Night 215 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.
Watch the video of Turcios’ complete post-fight media availability above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 215.
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