Chidi Njokuani – Page 3 – Syndication Server

UFC on ESPN 43 predictions: Vera or Sandhagen, Holm or Santos in San Antonio?

Check out our staff members’ picks for the UFC on ESPN 43 main card in San Antonio, featuring Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen.

	Vera vs. Sandhagen	Holm vs. Santos	Landwehr vs. Lingo	Barber vs. Lee	Kape vs. Perez	Duraev vs. Njokuani
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 32-22	Vera (62%)	Holm (80%)	Landwehr (74%)	Barber (72%)	Kape (63%)	Njokuani (79%)
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 34-20	Vera	Holm	Landwehr	Barber	Kape	Njokuani
Nolan King @mma_kings 33-21/em>	Sandhagen	Holm	Landwehr	Barber	Kape	Njokuani
Simon Samano @SJSamano 32-22	Vera	Holm	Landwehr	Barber	Perez	Njokuani
Matt Erickson @MattE 32-22	Sandhagen	Holm	Landwehr	Barber	Kape	Duraev
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 31-23	Vera	Holm	Lingo	Barber	Kape	Njokuani
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 30-24	Sandhagen	Holm	Landwehr	Barber	Perez	Njokuani
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 30-24	Sandhagen	Holm	Landwehr	Barber	Kape	Njokuani
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 29-25 2014 Champion	Vera	Holm	Landwehr	Barber	Kape	Njokuani
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 29-25	Vera	Holm	Landwehr	Barber	Kape	Njokuani
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 29-25 2018, 2022 Champion	Sandhagen	Holm	Landwehr	Barber	Kape	Njokuani
Brian Garcia @thegoze 28-26 2017 Champion	Vera	Holm	Landwehr	Barber	Kape	Njokuani

The UFC has touched down in the “Lone Star State” this week with four bantamweights at the top of the bill.

UFC on ESPN 43 takes place Saturday at AT&T Center in San Antonio. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] (20-7-1 MMA, 14-6 UFC) takes on [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] (15-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) in a fight between perennial bantamweight contenders. Sandhagen is a -170 favorite at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Vera is +145. But our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have slight underdog Vera ahead at 6-5 in the picks.

In the co-feature, former women’s bantamweight champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) takes on [autotag]Yana Santos[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC). Holm just signed a new six-fight deal with the UFC and is a -250 favorite at the betting window. She’s also the only unanimous pick from our staff members.

Also on the main card, [autotag]Nate Landwehr[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) meets short-notice replacement [autotag]Austin Lingo[/autotag] (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at featherweight. Landwehr is more than a 2-1 favorite and is a near-unanimous pick at 10-1.

Our second unanimous pick is the biggest favorite on the main card. [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is a -270 favorite at the sportsbook and has a shutout in our picks against [autotag]Andrea Lee[/autotag] (13-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) in their women’s flyweight bout.

[autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag] (18-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is a nearly 2-1 favorite in his flyweight bout against [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag] (24-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC). He doesn’t have a shutout, but he has a big 9-2 lead in the picks.

And to open the main card, [autotag]Chidi Njokuani[/autotag] (22-8 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is a near-unanimous pick in his middleweight fight against [autotag]Albert Duraev[/autotag] (15-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC). Njokuani is the smallest favorite on the main card at -155, but he’s got a near-shutout in our picks at 10-1.

In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Vera (62 percent), Holm (80 percent), Landwehr (74 percent), Barber (72 percent), Kape (63 percent) and Njokuani (79 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 43.

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Chidi Njokuani glad he didn’t get to the UFC earlier: ‘I would’ve f*cked it all up’

Had he gotten to the UFC sooner, Chidi Njokuani thinks the spotlight would’ve had a negative impact on a younger version of himself.

SAN ANTONIO – [autotag]Chidi Njokuani[/autotag] thinks he joined the UFC roster at the perfect time.

Although it took Njokuani (22-8 MMA, 2-1 UFC) 28 professional fights, the 34-year-old doubts he would have been able to handle the brighter lights and bigger paychecks as a young fighter.

In three UFC bouts, the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate has earned two knockout wins and three bonuses overall.

“I think I got here when I needed to,” Njokuani told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday for UFC on ESPN 43. “I think if I would have came when I was young and 20-something, I would have just messed it all up. You couldn’t give me that amount of money back then. I would have just messed everything up. … I would have f*cked it all up. You would have found me in a ditch somewhere.”

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Njokuani will look to rebound from his first octagon loss to Gregory Rodrigues in a Fight of the Night clash this past September when he meets Albert Duraev (15-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 43 main card opener at AT&T Center in San Antonio. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.

With 14 knockout wins to his name, Njokuani expects Duraev to grapple him.

“I think anybody that fights me is going to try to be more grapple-heavy, regardless of what they did in their last fight,” Njokuani said. “So I expect him to come out and really try to like push the pace on the ground.

“I just want to be the best. I want to come out here and I want to beat everybody that they put in front of me. I want to do it in dominant fashion. I want to put on exciting fights. I want to just go down in the history books.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 43.

UFC on ESPN 43 pre-event facts: Marlon Vera is the best finisher at 135 pounds

The numbers show no bantamweight in UFC history has finished more fights than Marlon Vera going into the UFC on ESPN 43 main event.

The UFC’s road trip outside of Las Vegas continues Saturday with UFC on ESPN 43, which takes place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio with a main card that airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.

A marquee bantamweight fight is featured in the main event. After their original date was postponed from February, contenders [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] (20-7-1 MMA, 14-6 UFC) and [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] (15-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) will finally share the octagon in a matchup that will push the winner near the forefront of the title conversation at 135 pounds.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC on ESPN 43.

Video: UFC on ESPN 43 media day live stream, interviews

Watch Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 43 media day live from San Antonio.

SAN ANTONIO – The UFC is making its return to the great state of Texas, and they’re doing it with a pivotal bantamweight matchup leading the event.

Marlon Vera (20-7-1 MMA, 14-6 UFC) vs. Cory Sandhagen (15-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) headlines UFC on ESPN 43. On the co-main event of the card, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) takes on [autotag]Yana Santos[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC).

UFC on ESPN 43 takes place Saturday night at AT&T Center. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+. Below is the expected schedule for Wednesday’s media day (ET times):

11:30 a.m. Cory Sandhagen
12 p.m. [autotag]Austin Lingo[/autotag]
12:15 p.m. [autotag]Albert Duraev[/autotag]
12:30 p.m. [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag]
1 p.m. Yana Santos
1:15 p.m. [autotag]CJ Vergara[/autotag]
1:45 p.m. Marlon Vera
1 p.m. [autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag]
2:15 p.m. Holly Holm
2:30 p.m. [autotag]Chidi Njokuani[/autotag]
2:45 p.m. [autotag]Nate Landwehr[/autotag]
3:15 p.m. [autotag]Andrea Lee[/autotag]
3:30 p.m. [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag]

If you happen to miss any of the individual sessions on the live stream, check below for the archived videos of each media day.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 43.

UFC in 2022: A ridiculously robust look at the stats, streaks, skids and record-setters

Check out a full recap of 2022’s most significant footnotes and milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.

Now that the year has come to a close, and with a major assist from UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll, here are some of 2022’s most significant milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances in the octagon.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Dec. 12-18)

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 Dec. 12-18.

UFC Fight Night 210 post-event facts: Gillian Robertson takes submission record to new heights

Gillian Robertson’s name is all over the record books after another submission win at UFC Fight Night 210.

The UFC’s final event of September took place Saturday with UFC Fight Night 210, which went down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and featured 13 fights on the docket.

The last of those fights was an important showdown in the bantamweight division. [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] (15-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) delivered a fourth-round TKO of [autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag] (19-7-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) after a bad cut forced a doctor’s stoppage, putting Sandhagen back on the winning track after consecutive losses.

For more ont he numbers behind the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 210.

UFC Fight Night 210 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Andre Fili leads way with $16,000

UFC Fight Night 210 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 210 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $155,500.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 210 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Gregory Rodrigues[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Chidi Njokuani[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Bill Algeo[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Alen Amedovski[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Rodrigo Nascimento[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tanner Boser[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Anthony Hernandez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Damon Jackson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Pat Sabatini[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Trevin Giles[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Louis Cosce[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Loma Lookboonmee[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Denise Gomes[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Trey Ogden[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Daniel Zellhuber[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Gillian Robertson[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Mariya Agapova[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Javid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Tony Gravely[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Nikolas Motta[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Cameron VanCamp[/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 2107 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2101 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 2022 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

“UFC Fight Night 210: Sandhagen vs. Song” – $202,000
“UFC 279: Chimaev vs. Diaz” – $202,000
“UFC Fight Night 209: Gane vs. Tuivasa” – $155,000
“UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2” – $226,000
“UFC on ESPN 41: Vera vs. Cruz” – $195,000
“UFC on ESPN 40: Santos vs. Hill” – $140,000
“UFC 277: Peña vs. Nunes 2” – $313,500
“UFC Fight Night 208: Blaydes vs. Aspinall” – $179,000
“UFC on ABC 3: Ortega vs. Rodriguez” – $179,000
“UFC on ESPN 39: Dos Anjos vs. Fiziev” – $157,500
“UFC 276: Adesanya vs. Cannonier” – $362,500
“UFC on ESPN 38: Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot” – $140,500
“UFC on ESPN 37: Kattar vs. Emmett” – $189,000
“UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Prochazka” – $258,000
“UFC Fight Night 207: Volkov vs. Rozenstruik” – $149,000
“UFC Fight Night 206: Holm vs. Vieira” – $127,000
“UFC on ESPN 36: Blachowicz vs. Rakic” – $173,000
“UFC 274: Oliveira vs. Gaethje” – $320,000
“UFC on ESPN 35: Font vs. Vera” – $197,500
“UFC Fight Night 205: Lemos vs. Andrade” – $149,500
“UFC on ESPN 34: Luque vs. Muhammad 2” – $159,000
“UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie” – $293,500
“UFC on ESPN 33: Blaydes vs. Daukaus” – $186,500
“UFC Fight Night 204: Volkov vs. Aspinall” – $154,500
“UFC Fight Night 203: Santos vs. Ankalaev” – $198,000
“UFC 272: Covington vs. Masvidal” – $236,000
“UFC Fight Night 202: Makhachev vs. Green” – $138,000
“UFC Fight Night 201: Walker vs. Hill” – $140,000
“UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2” – $282,500
“UFC Fight Night 200: Hermansson vs. Strickland” – $160,500
“UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane” – $241,000
“UFC on ESPN 32: Kattar vs. Chikadze” – $132,000

Year-to-date total: $6,326,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $12,494,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 210.

UFC Fight Night 210 video: Bloodied Gregory Rodrigues rallies to TKO Chidi Njokuani in Round 2

“That’s inspirational stuff right there, man,” Paul Felder said of Gregory Rodrigues’ performance at UFC Fight Night 210.

“That’s inspirational stuff right there, man.”

That was cageside announcer Paul Felder’s assessment of [autotag]Gregory Rodrigues[/autotag]’ performance in the immediate aftermath of his UFC Fight Night 210 bout with [autotag]Chidi Njokuani[/autotag], and he couldn’t be more right about the second-round TKO win for “Robocop” in their middleweight bout.

Rodrigues (13-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) was in serious trouble after a perfectly timed knee from Njokuani (22-8 MMA, 2-1 UFC) rocked him in the first round and opened up a nasty gash between his eyes. Rodrigues managed to survive a slugfest, though, but he was still in danger of losing after the cageside doctor told referee Marc Smith to have a short leash in stopping the fight because of the cut.

The cut on Gregory Rodrigues' nose. 😫#UFCVegas60 | Play-by-play: https://t.co/Zyte58YEH2 pic.twitter.com/GHpk11bSur

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) September 18, 2022

Not to worry. Once Rodrigues got the fight to the mat early in the second round, that signaled the beginning of the end for Njokuani – and an incredible comeback for Rodrigues.

Check out the finishing sequence below (via Twitter):

WHAT A COMEBACK 👏 #UFCVEGAS60 pic.twitter.com/lIrFPnZpq4

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 18, 2022

“I know one thing: I’m born for this,” Rodrigues told Daniel Cormier during his post-fight interview in the octagon. “Doesn’t matter, man. You need to kill me.”

Rodrigues now has back-to-back wins and has won six of his past seven. Njokuani, meanwhile, had his four-fight overall winning streak snapped, and it was his first UFC loss since joining the promotion last year through Dana White’s Contender Series.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 210.

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UFC Fight Night 210 predictions: Is anyone riding Yadong against Sandhagen?

Check out our staff members’ picks for the UFC Fight Night 210 main card in Las Vegas.

	Sandhagen vs. Yadong	Njokuani vs. Rodrigues	Algeo vs. Fili	Amedovski vs. Pyfer	Boser vs. Nascimento	Barriault vs. Hernandez
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 147-90	Sandhagen (71%)	Njokuani (66%)	Fili (51%)	Pyfer (89%)	Boser (72%)	Hernandez (64%)
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 160-82 2018 Champion	Sandhagen	Njokuani	Algeo	Pyfer	Boser	Barriault
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 155-87	Sandhagen	Njokuani	Fili	Pyfer	Boser	Barriault
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 153-89 2014 Champion	Sandhagen	Njokuani	Fili	Pyfer	Boser	Barriault
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 150-92	Sandhagen	Njokuani	Fili	Pyfer	Nascimento	Barriault
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 149-93	Sandhagen	Njokuani	Fili	Pyfer	Boser	Hernandez
Simon Samano @SJSamano 149-93	Sandhagen	Njokuani	Fili	Pyfer	Boser	Barriault
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 147-95	Yadong	Rodrigues	Fili	Pyfer	Nascimento	Hernandez
Nolan King @mma_kings 143-99	Sandhagen	Njokuani	Algeo	Pyfer	Boser	Hernandez
Brian Garcia @thegoze 141-101 2017 Champion	Sandhagen	Njokuani	Fili	Pyfer	Boser	Hernandez
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 130-112	Sandhagen	Njokuani	Fili	Pyfer	Nascimento	Hernandez
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 117-125	Sandhagen	Njokuani	Fili	Pyfer	Boser	Hernandez

The UFC stays home in Las Vegas this week with a key bantamweight matchup at the top of the bill.

UFC Fight Night 210 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, former interim bantamweight title challenger [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] (14-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) takes on [autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag] (19-6-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC). Sandhagen is a 2-1 favorite at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Yadong is +150. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have Sandhagen a near-unanimous pick at 10-1.

The co-main event is a middleweight bout between former Bellator fighter and Dana White’s Contender Series product [autotag]Chidi Njokuani[/autotag] (22-7 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and [autotag]Gregory Rodrigues[/autotag] (12-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC). Njokuani is just a slight favorite at -125, but he’s got a huge lead from our pickers and is nearly unanimous at 10-1.

Also on the main card, [autotag]Bill Algeo[/autotag] (16-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) takes on [autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag] (21-9 MMA, 9-8 UFC) at featherweight. Fili is a -135 favorite and has an outsized 9-2 picks lead, despite the close odds.

The only unanimous pick on the card is Contender Series signee [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who is the event’s biggest favorite at -520 for his middleweight fight against [autotag]Alen Amedovski[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 0-3 UFC). Pyfer has a shutout from our staff members at 11-0.

[autotag]Tanner Boser[/autotag] (20-8-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) takes on [autotag]Rodrigo Nascimento[/autotag] (8-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a heavyweight tilt that has Boser a -180 favorite. He’s got a big 8-3 lead in the picks.

And to open the main card, [autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag] (14-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) meets [autotag]Anthony Hernandez[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) at middleweight. Hernandez is a -210 favorite, but our pickers have it as the most contentious fight on the main card. Hernandez has the slimmest possible lead at 6-5.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Sandhagen (71 percent), Njokuani (66 percent), Fili (51 percent), Pyfer (89 percent), Boser (72 percent) and Hernandez (64 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 210.

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