Tag: Chase Hooper

UFC 245 rookie report: Grading the newcomers in Las Vegas

Fighters from around the globe dream of the day they’ll step into the octagon the first time – so how did the newcomers perform on Saturday?

Fighters from around the globe dream of the day they’ll step into the UFC octagon for the first time. For two athletes, Saturday’s UFC 245 event marked that special moment in their career.

Check out this week’s rookie report to see what kind of first impression those fighters made on the sport’s biggest stage from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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Punahele Soriano

Punahele Soriano and Oskar Piechota

Division: Middleweight
Result: Punahele Soriano def. Oskar Piechota via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:17
Record: (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC)
Grade: A

[autotag]Punahele Soriano[/autotag] was heavily hyped before his appearance on “Dana White’s Contender Series,” and his official UFC debut proved why. The Hawaiian’s heavy hands were on full display, wobbling and dropping Oskar Piechota in the early going and nearly finishing the contest with the first real flurry. If there was any criticism to make of Soriano, it was with what came next: He followed to the canvas, initially looking to strike before trying to finish the fight with his grappling. Against some opponents, that will be fine, but the choice gave Piechota his only real chance to turn the tide, and he nearly did, first attacking the arm before briefly looking for the guillotine.

Ultimately, Soriano pulled free, and his corner implored for him to breathe, with the quick pace clearly taking a toll early on. It didn’t matter much, though, as Soriano resumed his striking attack shortly after and landed a perfect left to the chin that sent Piechota crashing to the canvas.

Soriano later admitted to dealing with the dreaded octagon jitters, which helps explain the adrenaline dump and the early signs of fatigue. A little more seasoning, and Soriano will certainly find himself telling future opponents to stand back and face his fists when they refuse to go away on the floor. Undefeated and just entering his athletic prime, Soriano is certainly one to watch moving forward.

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UFC 245 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Second highest event payout in program history

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 245 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $369,500.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 245 event took home event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $369,500.

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 245 took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.

The full UFC 245 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag]: $40,000
def. [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag]: $30,000

[autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag]: $30,000
def. [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag]: $40,000

[autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag]: $40,000
def. [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag]: $30,000

[autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag]: $5,000
def. [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag]: $20,000

[autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag]: $5,000
def. [autotag]Urijah Faber[/autotag]: $20,000

[autotag]Geoff Neal[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag]: $10,000

[autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag]: $5,000
def. [autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Omari Akhmedov[/autotag]: $10,000
def. [autotag]Ian Heinisch[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Matt Brown[/autotag]: $20,000
def. [autotag]Ben Saunders[/autotag]: $15,000

[autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag]: $3,500
def. [autotag]Daniel Teymur[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag]: $5,000
def. [autotag]Kai Kara-France[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jessica Eye[/autotag]: $10,000
def. [autotag]Viviane Araujo[/autotag]: $3,500

[autotag]Punahele Soriano[/autotag]: $3,500
def. [autotag]Oskar Piechota[/autotag]: $4,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Reebok’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 $3,500 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,000; 6-10 bouts get $5,000; 11-15 bouts earn $10,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $15,000; and 21 bouts and more get $20,000. Additionally, champions earn $40,000 while title challengers get $30,000.

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 2019 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $7,249,500
2018 total: $6,901,000
2017 total: $6,295,000
2016 total: $7,138,000
2015 total: $3,185,000
Program-to-date total: $30,883,500

Fight Tracks: The walkout songs of UFC 245 with Billie Eilish and a ‘Game of Thrones’ appearance

Check out the complete list of fighter walkout songs from Saturday’s UFC 245 event.

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.

Inside, see what the fighters from UFC 245 went with as their backing tracks in Las Vegas.

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20-year-old Chase Hooper survives early onslaught, pounds out Daniel Teymur at UFC 245

In order to achieve victory, 20-year-old featherweight Chase Hooper had to survive early adversity.

[autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag] is only 20 years old and he’s already winning fights at the highest level.

The bay-faced Washington state youngster made his long-awaited promotional debut at UFC 245 on Saturday night, pounding out [autotag]Daniel Teymur[/autotag] en route to a TKO victory at 4:34 of Round 1.

In order to achieve victory, Hooper (9-0-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) had to survive early adversity. In the opening minute, Teymur (7-3 MMA, 1-4 UFC) grabbed a hold of Hooper’s neck. A front choke looked deep, but Hooper was able to escape.

Soon thereafter, Hooper ate a huge punch from Teymur. Once again, Hooper persevered – this time, getting control of Teymur’s back on the ground. After Teymur broke free of a rear-naked choke attempt, Hooper gained mount.

From there, Hooper obtained the mounted triangle position and began raining down elbows on the Swede. Eventually, referee Jason Herzog had seen enough and waved off the contest.

UFC 245 was Hooper’s first opportunity to prove himself in the big leagues after earning a UFC development deal on “Dana White’s Contender Series” in 2018.

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In July 2018, Hooper beat Hawaii’s Canaan Kawaihae at DWCS 14, then returned to the regional scene. In the months that followed, Hooper competed for CFFC, Island Fights and Titan FC. Over that stretch, he went 2-0-1 with a submission and a ground-and-pound TKO stoppage.

UFC 245 took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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UFC 245 prelims pre-event facts: Matt Brown still holds records after two-year break

The best facts and figures about the UFC 245 prelims, where Geoff Neal meets Mike Perry in the featured bout.

The UFC’s final pay-per-view of the year is the deepest of all. UFC 245 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and in addition to three title fights on the main card, the prelims, which air on ESPN2 and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass, have a lot to offer.

The featured bout is an anticipated pairing in the welterweight division, with [autotag]Geoff Neal[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) looking to continue his unbeaten start inside the octagon against fan favorite [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC).

For more on the numbers behind that matchup, as well as the others, check below for 30 pre-event facts on the UFC 245 prelims.

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Featured ESPN2 prelim

Neal is the first welterweight to start 4-0 in the UFC since current champion Kamaru Usman.

Perry has earned his past two victories by decision after beginning his career with 11 stoppages.

Perry has alternated wins and losses over his past five UFC appearances. He was defeated in his most recent bout at UFC on ESPN+ 14.

Perry is 2-4 in his past six fights dating back to December 2017.

Other ESPN2 prelims

[autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since Mar. 3, 2018. The 651-day layoff is the longest of her more than five-year career.

Vieira’s four-fight UFC winning streak at women’s bantamweight is tied with Germaine de Randamie for the second longest active streak in the division behind Amanda Nunes (eight).

[autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] (11-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) defends 93.5 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC competition, the highest rate of any female and fourth overall in company history

[autotag]Omari Akhmedov[/autotag] (18-4-1 MMA, 7-3-1 UFC) is 2-0-1 since he returned to the UFC middleweight division in December 2017. He’s 3-0-1 in the weight class overall under the UFC banner.

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[autotag]Matt Brown[/autotag] (21-16 MMA, 14-10 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since Nov. 11, 2017. The 763-day layoff is the longest of his more than 14-year career.

Brown competes in his 25th UFC welterweight bout, the second most appearances in divisional history behind Thiago Alves (26).

Brown is 2-5 in his past seven UFC appearances dating back to July 2014.

Brown’s 14 victories in UFC welterweight competition are tied for fourth most in divisional history behind Georges St-Pierre (19), Matt Hughes (16) and Thiago Alves (15).

Brown has earned 19 of his 21 career victories by stoppage. That includes 12 of his 14 wins under the UFC banner.

Brown’s 12 stoppage victories in UFC welterweight competition are tied with Hughes for most in divisional history.

Brown’s 10 knockout victories in UFC welterweight competition are the most in divisional history.

Brown’s 24 submission attempts in UFC welterweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Chris Lytle (31).

[autotag]Ben Saunders[/autotag] (22-12-2 MMA, 8-9 UFC) is 5-6 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in August 2014; it includes one win outside the promotion.

Saunders’ three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since June 2018.

Saunders’ three knockout victories stemming from knee strikes in UFC competition are tied with Anderson Silva and Michael Bisping for second most in company history behind T. Alves (four).

Saunders earned the first omoplata submission finish in UFC history when he defeated Chris Heatherly at UFC Fight Night 49. Adam Wieczorek earned the second finish with the technique at UFC on FOX 29.

Saunders omoplata finish was just the second in the combined history of the UFC, WEC, Strikeforce and PRIDE. It’s one of three overall, along with Wieczorek and Shane Del Rosario, who also accomplished the feat.

Featured ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass prelim

[autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag] (6-0-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), 20, is the youngest of the 26 fighters scheduled to compete at the event.

Hooper returns to competition for the first time since Dec. 14, 2018. The 365-day layoff is the longest of his more than two-year career.

Other ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass prelims

[autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] (15-5-1 MMA, 3-2-1 UFC) is on a three-fight winless skid in UFC competition. He hasn’t earned an octagon victory since April 2017.

[autotag]Kai Kara-France[/autotag]’s (20-7 MMA, 3-0 UFC) three-fight UFC winning streak at flyweight is tied for the second longest active streak in the division behind Henry Cejudo (four).

Kara-France has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.

[autotag]Jessica Eye[/autotag] (14-7 MMA, 4-6 UFC) competes in her fifth UFC women’s flyweight bout, tied for the second most appearances in divisional history behind Gillian Robertson (six).

Eye is 3-1 since she dropped to the UFC women’s flyweight division in January 2018.

Eye’s six losses in UFC competition are tied for second most for any female in company history behind Angela Hill (seven).

[autotag]Oskar Piechota[/autotag] (11-2-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has suffered consecutive losses after starting his career on a 12-fight unbeaten streak.

UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.

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