UFC on ESPN 61 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Event yields second-lowest total of 2024

UFC on ESPN 61 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 61 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $128,000.

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 on ESPN 61 took place at the UFC Apex. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC on ESPN 61 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Chepe Mariscal[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Damon Jackson[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Danny Barlow[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Nikolay Veretennikov[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Chris Gutierrez[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Quang Le[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Yana Santos[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Chelsea Chandler[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Toshiomi Kazama[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Charalampos Grigoriou[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jhonata Diniz[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Karl Williams[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jarno Errens[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Stephanie Luciano[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Talita Alencar[/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 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 $4,610; 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 $32,000 while title challengers get $42,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-61 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $4,914,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $27,651,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 61.

UFC on ESPN 61 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC on ESPN 61 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – UFC on ESPN 61 took place Saturday with 10 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 on ESPN 61 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 61.

UFC on ESPN 61 video: Toshiomi Kazama stages wild comeback for triangle choke finish

Just when Toshiomi Kazama appeared to be in the most danger of a loss at UFC on ESPN 61, he turned things around in stunning fashion.

Just when [autotag]Toshiomi Kazama[/autotag] appeared to be in the most danger of a loss against [autotag]Charalampos Grigoriou[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 61, he turned things around in stunning fashion to put himself in the winner’s circle.

After Grigoriou scored a big knockdown in the second round of the bantamweight bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, he pounced on a downed Kazama (11-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) and flurried with punches and elbow for the finish.

Referee Jason Herzog was taking a close look, but then Kazama controlled the posture of his opponent, slid his legs over the shoulders and locked in a triangle choke that forced Grigoriou (8-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) to tap out without much struggle at the 1:55 mark of Round 2.

Check out the replay of the finish below (via X):

After the stoppage, and elevated but beaten up Kazama admitted that although things looked bad for him, he felt Grigoriou would slip up and give him the chance to secure his first UFC win.

“When I was on the bottom, I knew an opportunity would come by,” Kazama said through an interpreter during his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “I waited for that chance and used my BJJ skills to finish the fight.”

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Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 61 results

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 61.

UFC Fight Night 239 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Ovince Saint Preux leads with $21,000

UFC Fight Night 239 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 239 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $189,500.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 239 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Bryan Battle[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Ange Loosa[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Ovince Saint Preux[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Christian Rodriguez[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Macy Chiasson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Bryan Barberena[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Mike Davis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Natan Levy[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Chelsea Chandler[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Josiane Nunes[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Jafel Filho[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ode Osbourne[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Danny Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Josh Culibao[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jaqueline Amorim[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Cory McKenna[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Thiago Moises[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Mitch Ramirez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Chad Anheliger[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Charalampos Grigoriou[/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 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2391 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: $1,551,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $24,258,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 239.

Six new fights added to UFC Vegas 88

Six fights including multiple double-digit UFC veterans have been added to the March 16 event in Las Vegas.

Six more fights have been added to the UFC Fight Night event scheduled for March 16 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Five of the six bouts were officially announced Tuesday by the promotion, while the six was revealed on social media by the fighters involved.

The event is currently headlined by a heavyweight bout between Tai Tuivasa (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) and Marcin Tybura (24-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC). Light heavyweights Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Ovince Saint Preux (26-17 MMA, 14-12 UFC) will also fight each other on the card.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 15-21)

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.

Fresh Ink: Meet the 30 fighters the UFC signed in August 2023

Find out who joined the UFC in August 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 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 August 2023 list below.

DWCS 58 winner Charalampos Grigoriou warns bantamweight division of his striking

It didn’t take long for Charalampos Grigoriou to announce his arrival in the UFC.

LAS VEGAS – It didn’t take long for [autotag]Charalampos Grigoriou[/autotag] to announce his arrival in the UFC.

Grigoriou (8-3) needed just one minute to take out Cameron Smotherman (8-4) by TKO Tuesday at Dana White’s Contender Series 58, yielding a contract from UFC boss Dana White.

The stoppage marked the Serra Longo fighter’s fourth straight, and he plans on using that momentum to tear through the UFC bantamweight division.

“I’m a very good striker,” Grigoriou told MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight at DWCS 58. “I want them to know who I am and my skills. So, they have to be aware.”

Grigoriou became the first Cyprus-born fighter to sign with the UFC, and he is honored to represent his country on the biggest stage.

“All of them they are drunk right now in Cyprus because they had the parties,” Grigoriou said. “To be the only one in the UFC now from Cyprus, it’s amazing. We put Cyprus on the map, we put Cyprus in the UFC. It’s amazing for me, amazing for my people in Cyprus, and the whole of Cyprus in general.”

Training out of Long Island alongside the likes of UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and top contender Merab Dvalishvili, Grigoriou is looking to make his promotional debut at UFC 295 on Nov. 11 in New York.

“I was thinking to fight in Madison Square Garden because I live in New York,” Grigoriou said. “It will be amazing, so yes, I would love to.”

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For more on the card, check out MMA Junkie’s event hub for Dana White’s Contender Series 58.

Dana White’s Contender Series 58 results: 5-for-5 on contracts for second week in a row

Season 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series continues Tuesday, and MMA Junkie will have live results from on-site at the UFC Apex.

LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie was on scene and reported live from Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series 58 event.

Dana White’s Contender Series cards see prospects fighting for the opportunity to sign a UFC deal, with UFC president Dana White on hand to make the decisions.

The second episode of Season 7 saw 10 fighters compete for their shot at a UFC contract. A lightweight contest between George Hardwick (12-1) and Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady (14-3) served as the featured bout of the five-bout lineup.

Although there were two decisions, all five winners received UFC contracts from White for the second week in a row.

Full results of Dana White’s Contender Series 58 below:

  • Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady def. George Hardwick via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Ibo Aslan def. Paulo Renato Jr. via knockout (punches) –  Round 1, 2:22
  • Hyder Amil def. Emrah Sonmez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Eduarda Moura def. Janaina Silva via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:00
  • Charalampos Grigoriou def. Cameron Smotherman via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:00

Continue reading below for more details about each fight.

Dana White’s Contender Series 58 video: Charalampos Grigoriou rips through opponent in one minute

Teammate of UFC champion Aljamain Sterling, Charalampos Grigoriou may have secured a UFC contract in just 60 seconds.

Leaving a lasting impression is key when performing at Dana White’s Contender Series, and that’s exactly what [autotag]Charalampos Grigoriou[/autotag] did Tuesday evening.

The first fight of DWCS 58 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas was a bantamweight bout that saw Grigoriou (8-3) take on Cameron Smotherman (8-4). With a shot at entering the UFC on the line, Grigoriou left little doubt that he’s ready for the next level by throttling Smotherman in just 60 seconds.

Grigoriou blitzed forward with a fast combination punctuated with a sharp right hand that sent Smotherman to the mat. From there, the swarm for the finish was on, and Grigoriou didn’t let up until the referee saw enough for the TKO stoppage at exactly 1:00 of Round 1.

Check out video of the finish below (via Twitter):

Teammate of UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, Grigoriou improved his current winning streak to four, all victories that have come by stoppage due to his damaging strikes.

Up-to-the-minute DWCS 58 results include:

  • Charalampos Grigoriou def. Cameron Smotherman via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:00

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