Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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 24-30.
Christos Giagos believes his KO at UFC Fight Night 222 saved his spot on the roster.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Christos Giagos[/autotag] can breathe a little easier now that he’s back on the win column.
The UFC lightweight snapped a two-fight losing skid on Saturday night when he put the lights out on veteran Ricky Glenn on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 222 at the UFC Apex. Giagos (20-10 MMA, 6-6 UFC) knocked out Glenn (22-7-2 MMA, 4-4-1 UFC) 95 seconds into the first round of their contest.
Giagos feels the finish kept him from getting cut from the promotion.
“Absolutely, absolutely,” Goagos said when asked if his job was on the line. “I’ve been cut by the UFC one time before, and I didn’t even lose two in a row. I’ve never lost three fights. I’ve only lost two fights in a row one other time in my life, and this was my second time being in that position. I was going to hope, that if for some reason I lost this fight, I was hoping they let me fight out my contract, but I knew I was in danger.
“I got finished two times in the first round. Very top guys, top competitors, but still. Yeah, I was like, ‘I’m not losing three in a row.’ I was going to go out fighting on my sword. I was going to be in his face. He better finish me too if he wanted to finish, because I was coming after him.”
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In his two previous outings, Giagos was stopped by ranked contenders Arman Tsarukyan and Thiago Moises. The last time he had his hand raised in the octagon was back in May 2021 when he defeated Sean Soriano. This win had been a long time in the making.
“A little bit.” Giagos said when asked if he had almost forgotten the feeling of victory. “I was just thinking about that backstage. I was like, ‘Man, I forgot what it feels like to win a little bit.’
“It was my first win training out of Florida. It took me a little while to adapt. It was crazy because when I first went there, I was just trying to survive practice. This is the first camp where I was trying to win every round in practice, take control of the situation, and I feel like I did that.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 222.
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Sergei Pavlovich is firmly in the UFC record books after extending his first-round KO streak against Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night 222.
The octagon was back in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday for UFC Fight Night 222, and a new heavyweight contender emerged from the main event.
[autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) made history when he recorded a modern company record sixth consecutive first-round knockout, this time against his most decorated opponent to date in fellow contender [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC).
Pavlovich has put his mark on the record books of the promotion, and for more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 222.
UFC Fight Night 222 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 222 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $181,500.
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 222 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 222 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Bruno Silva[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag]: $21,000
vs. [autotag]Jared Gordon[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Iasmin Lucindo[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Brogan Walker[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jeremiah Wells[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Matthew Semelsberger[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Christos Giagos[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Ricky Glenn[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Montel Jackson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Rani Yahya[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Norma Dumont[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Mohammed Usman[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Junior Tafa[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]William Gomis[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Francis Marshall[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Brady Hiestand[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Danaa Batgerel[/autotag]: $6,000
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 2221 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: $2,411,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $17,000,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 222.
Check out which four fighters took home an extra $50,000 for their performance at UFC Fight Night 222 in Las Vegas.
The UFC handed out four Performance of the Night bonuses after Saturday’s card, rewarding fighters for their finishing efforts as no Fight of the Night was selected.
After UFC Fight Night 222, four fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Check out the winners below.
Christos Giagos accomplished his goal to become the first to knock out longtime MMA veteran Ricky Glenn, and he did it in 95 seconds at UFC Vegas 71.
[autotag]Christos Giagos[/autotag] avoided the first three-fight losing skid of his career on Saturday when he put [autotag]Ricky Glenn[/autotag] away inside two minutes at UFC Fight Night 222.
Glenn (22-7-2 MMA, 4-4-1 UFC) has been in the sport for more than 15 years, and Giagos (20-10 MMA, 6-6 UFC) became the first to finish him with strikes in MMA competition. It was an impressive feat, with the left hook setting up a knockdown and KO stoppage at the 1:35 mark of the lightweight bout at the UFC Apex.
Check out the replay of Giagos’ handiwork below (via Twitter):
That left landed FLUSH 🎯 #UFCVegas71 pic.twitter.com/kpx2yEck7F
— UFC (@ufc) April 22, 2023
After the win, Giagos praised his new team at Kill Cliff MMA in South Florida and now that his octagon record is back at .500, is looking to make a push in the division.
Up-to-the-minute results of UFC Fight Night 222 include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 222.
Check out what the UFC Fight Night 222 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.
LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 222 took place Saturday with 11 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 Fight Night 222 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
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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 Feb. 6-12.
Tough break for Christos Giagos, who had surgery because of an injury caused by a trashed toilet.
[autotag]Christos Giagos[/autotag] won’t be fighting at UFC Paris because of a freak injury.
On Monday, Giagos (19-10 MMA, 5-6 UFC) announced that he recently underwent surgery to repair a severed pinky tendon while he was cleaning his grill, and his hand sliced open on a broken toilet.
“I was getting some cleaning done and while wiping down a piece of my grill in the trash my hand hit a broken porcelain toilet and gashed my hand open, cutting a tendon in my pinky,” Giagos wrote Monday on Instagram. “Unfortunately, due to the severity of the injury I had to pull out of my upcoming fight in Paris. I was praying the damage wasn’t bad so I could still take the fight, but that wasn’t the case.
“I went to a hand specialist today to check the damage and had to undergo a minor surgery to reattach my pinky tendon. My focus is to get healed up as fast as possible. As much as this pains me, the only thing I have control over is how quickly I get back.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/ChAqlSNJJhA/
Giagos, 32, was expected to face [autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag] (9-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at the UFC Fight Night event Sept. 3. It’s unclear if Saint-Denis will remain on the card.
With the change, the UFC Paris lineup includes:
Thiago Moises has been on Christos Giagos’ radar for a while now.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Thiago Moises[/autotag] has been on [autotag]Christos Giagos[/autotag]’ radar for a while now.
Giagos (19-9 MMA, 5-5 UFC) faces Moises (15-6 MMA, 4-4 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 38 main card, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN2/ESPN+.
Both RFA alums, Giagos is surprised the pair never fought when they were under the same banner before, but sees now as the perfect timing for the matchup.
“I think he’s very technical, a very good fighter. He was ranked No. 14 at one point, and I think he’s very good,” Giagos told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 38 media day. “I think this is a great matchup. He’s fought tough guys, I’ve fought tough guys. He’s 4-4 in the UFC, I’m 5-5, so I think the UFC did a great job with this matchup. I knew I was going to fight him at some point because I fought on the same card as him in RFA when he fought for the title.
“And Dana White was there for his show and he didn’t get signed. I didn’t get signed, but I feel like Dana White was more impressed with me. I thought that I’d fight him for the title. I was a titleholder for RFA at one point, but I thought I was going to get that chance again against Thiago. So I knew I was going to fight him at some point, so the time is here. I like this matchup a lot, and I just think stylistically it’s a great matchup for me.”
Check out the full media day interview with Giagos in the video above.
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