Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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.
UFC Atlantic City is now up to seven fights total.
Two bantamweight fighters will look to notch their first UFC victory when they collide in Atlantic City, N.J.
A new addition to the UFC Fight Night event on March 30 at Boardwalk Hall, Ireland’s [autotag]Caolan Loughran[/autotag] and Minnesota’s [autotag]Angel Pacheco[/autotag] will throw down in a three-round bout.
Two people with knowledge of the booking recently confirmed the matchup to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Despite losing his promotional debut in September, Loughran (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) made his arrival known as he leaned into playing the “bad guy” role against home-country fighter Taylor Lapilus in Paris.
Lapilus defeated Loughran by unanimous decision, which snapped a career-long eight-fight winning streak for the former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion.
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Pacheco (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) shifts down to bantamweight after a thrilling back-and-forth war against Danny Silva on Dana White’s Contender Series in September.
The bout was regarded by many as one of the best in the series’ history, and as a result, twisted UFC CEO Dana White’s arm into giving Pacheco, who lost by unanimous decision, a multifight deal with the promotion. An emotional moment between Pacheco and White backstage was captured on video and later went viral.
Pacheco, 31, trains under coach Brock Larsen at Start BJJ and cross-trains with the New England Cartel under coach Tyson Chartier. All seven of his professional wins have come inside the distance, and he’s never been finished himself.
With the addition, the UFC Atlantic City lineup includes:
Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 226, such as Rose Namajunas being on the first true losing skid of her career.
The UFC’s second trip to Paris was another significant event for French MMA with UFC Fight Night 226 going down Saturday at Accor Arena.
Multiple French fighters on the card thrived, but none more than former interim UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC, who thrived in the main event with a second-round TKO of [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) to rebound from his loss against Jon Jones earlier this year.
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 226.
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UFC Fight Night 226 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.
PARIS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $128,500.
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 226 took place at the Accor Arena in France. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 226 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
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[autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Thiago Moises[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Bogdan Guskov[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]William Gomis[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yanis Ghemmouri[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Morgan Charriere[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Manolo Zecchini[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Taylor Lapilus[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Caolan Loughran[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Ange Loosa[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Rhys McKee[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Nora Cornolle[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Joselyne Edwards[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Farid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kleydson Rodrigues[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jacqueline Cavalcanti[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Zarah Fairn[/autotag]: $4,500
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 2261 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 Fight Night 226.
Check out the UFC Fight Night 226 faceoffs and photo gallery, including one brash Irishman who decided to flip the crowd the double bird.
PARIS – UFC Fight Night 226 ceremonial faceoffs took place hours after weigh-ins Friday.
All 22 fighters came face-to-face with their opponents for the final times ahead of Saturday’s bouts at Accor Arena. Among those featured on the card are heavyweight contenders [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) and [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC), who square off in the five-round main event.
In the co-main event, a pivotal flyweight bout pins [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) against former UFC strawweight queen [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] (11-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC).
Check out a highlight of the faceoffs, including an intense one between [autotag]Caolan Loughran[/autotag] (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and [autotag]Taylor Lapilus[/autotag] (18-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), as well as a full photo gallery below (via USA Today photographer Per Haljestam).
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
UFC Fight Night 226 will remain intact in Paris after a shuffle in the lineup.
UFC Fight Night 226 will remain mostly intact after a shuffle in the lineup.
After Lucas Almeida and Muin Gafurov were forced out of their respective bouts, [autotag]William Gomis[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and [autotag]Taylor Lapilus[/autotag] (18-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) were in need of new opponents.
The UFC switched the lineup and booked Gomis in a featherweight bout against [autotag]Yanis Ghemmouri[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who was originally scheduled to face Cage Warriors champion [autotag]Caolan Loughran[/autotag] (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC). Lapilus will now face Loughran.
Two people with knowledge of the changes confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report by The AB Show.
UFC Fight Night 226 takes place Saturday at Accor Arena in Paris. The event streams on ESPN+.
The UFC Fight Night 226 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 3 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, noon ET)
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
Find out who joined the UFC in July 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 the increasingly 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 July 2023 list below.
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 July 17-23
