Tag: Chris Padilla

Chris Padilla ‘lost hope many times’ on long journey to UFC on ESPN 55

Chris Padilla has been riding high for a minute now, and after this past Saturday he hopes the momentum keeps on going.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Chris Padilla[/autotag] has been riding high for a minute now, and after this past Saturday he hopes the momentum keeps on going.

Padilla (14-6 MMA, 1-0 UFC) made his short-notice UFC debut on the prelims against James Llontop (14-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 55 and pulled off the event’s biggest upset with a second-round submission. Llontop, who also was making his UFC debut, was as much as a 5-1 favorite.

Although Padilla is just 28, he said his journey to the UFC has been more than half his life.

“When I say literally 16 years in the making, it was 16 years in the making,” Padilla told MMA J Junkie and other reporters after UFC on ESPN 55 in Las Vegas. “I told my coaches – we talked about it – I talked to myself and I told myself I wasn’t going to rush a single minute. I know most people want to get in and out, but nope – I wanted all 15 minutes if possible.”

Padilla gave credit to his Fight Science MMA coaches for helping take him to the next level. Before his current four-fight finishing streak, he was mired in a 1-4 rut that included losses in promotions like Bellator and CES MMA.

And going back to 2016, Padilla said he had an early shot to impress the UFC brass, and it went awry, extending his life outside the UFC even longer – nearly eight more years, as it turned out.

“I don’t want to blame outside forces,” he said. “I’m going to take responsibility for myself and say I just wasn’t ready. I was just too much of a kid. I had an opportunity … where I fought for ‘Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight,’ and I fought Jason Gonzalez. He ended up beating me, but I hurt him and I rushed to finish and I got super desperate and I blew all my gas. Second round, he finished me. So I just don’t think personally I would’ve been ready to fight at this level.”

Nowadays, though, it’s a different story. Padilla thinks he’s ready to stick around a while.

“I lost hope a bunch of times, man. I won’t even lie to you. … Every second was what I imagined,” Padilla said. “When I started this sport, I was 13 years old, so I felt like that was the wild West of the UFC, where it was (all kinds of) sponsors, Dennis Hallman wearing a thong, all that stuff. I felt like I came in at the right time because I don’t know how I would have done in the early UFC.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 55.

UFC on ESPN 55 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $25 million

UFC on ESPN 55 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 55 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $175,000.

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

The full UFC on ESPN 55 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Bogdan Guskov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ryan Spann[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Karine Silva[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Ariane Da Silva[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jhonata Diniz[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Austen Lane[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]David Onama[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jonathan Pearce[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Uros Medic[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Tim Means[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Victor Henry[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Rani Yahya[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Austin Hubbard[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Michal Figlak[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Don’Tale Mayes[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Caio Machado[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ketlen Souza[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Marnic Mann[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Chris Padilla[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]James Llontop[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ivana Petrovic[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Na Liang[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Hayisaer Maheshate[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Gabriel Benitez[/autotag]: $11,000

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 $4,550; 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 $55,000 while title challengers get $55,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-55 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $2,640,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $25,377,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 55.

UFC on ESPN 55 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC on ESPN 55 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

LAS VEGAS – UFC on ESPN 55 took place Saturday with 13 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 55 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 55.

UFC on ESPN 55 video: Chris Padilla makes James Llontop tap in first-round upset

Chris Padilla was tied as the biggest betting underdog at UFC on ESPN 55, then he came out and finished an overweight James Llontop.

Only one man could get their first octagon win in the battle of newcomers between [autotag]Chris Padilla[/autotag] and [autotag]James Llontop[/autotag] on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 55, and it was the former who got the job done.

Padilla (14-6 MMA, 1-0 UFC) showed off some slick ground skills when, during a scramble on the mat in the lightweight, he took the back of Llontop (14-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and locked in a rear-naked choke for the tap at the 4:33 mark of Round 1 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

“Taco” entered the event tied as the biggest betting underdog, but the fight didn’t look that way as he got the job done.

Check out the replay of Padilla’s handiwork below (via X):

Padilla, 28, made his MMA debut in March 2014. It took him more than a decade to get to the big stage, and took his opportunity as a replacement on four days’ notice. With the performance against Llontop, who missed weight, he proved deserving of a spot on the roster.

“It feels surreal, but at the same time I know I belong here,” Padilla said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “So I’m not surprised.”

The up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 55 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 55.