Aleksandre Topuria is set to make his highly anticipated UFC debut in February.
[autotag]Aleksandre Topuria[/autotag] will make his highly anticipated UFC debut in February.
Topuria (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), the older brother of featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, has been targeted to meet [autotag]Cody Haddon[/autotag] (8-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a bantamweight bout Feb. 9 at UFC 312 from Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. The bout was first reported by social media account Australian MMA.
Topuria hasn’t competed since a first-round TKO win in May 2023. Although he started his professional career in 2015, the 28-year-old has competed just six times in nine years. Three of his five wins have come by finish.
Haddon, a Dana White’s Contender Series graduate, made good in his octagon debut when he defeated Dan Argueta by unanimous decision this past October at UFC Fight Night 244. The 26-year-old Aussie’s lone-career loss came to former UFC flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg.
The latest UFC 312 lineup now includes:
Champ Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland – for middleweight title
Champ Zhang Weili vs. Tatiana Suarez – for women’s strawweight title
Jimmy Crute vs. Marcin Prachnio
Anshul Jubli vs. Quillan Salkilld
Stewart Nicoll vs. Rei Tsuruya
Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Tom Nolan
Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos
Justin Tafa vs. Tallison Teixeira
Cody Haddon vs. Aleksandre Topuria
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
Cody Haddon won his UFC debut just a couple months after a contract win on Dana White’s Contender Series.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Cody Haddon[/autotag] beat Dan Argueta with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 244 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Haddon, who won his UFC debut just a couple months after a contract win on Dana White’s Contender Series.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 12: (L-R) Cody Haddon of Australia punches Dan Argueta in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on October 12, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
“I 100 percent prepared for that. I was so scared and nervous coming into this fight because I knew that it was going to take it out of me. I nearly threw up back there after I came out the octagon, so I knew that Dan’s that type of guy. You could hit him 1,000 times with so many bombs, and he’s just going to keep coming forward. … He’s had a lot of experience and I knew that it was going to be a very tough fight. I’m just glad that I could get the job done, to be honest. He was super strong in there, but somehow I pulled it off again.”
Haddon on being in exciting fights
“I’m exhausted. That was a f*cking back-and-forth battle. Like I said my last fight in the press conference when I was sitting up here: The moment I’m in a boring fight, Dana (White) can cut me, and I stand by that. Hopefully I can make some money in the process.”
Haddon on what he wants next
Cody Haddon def. Dan Argueta, UFC Fight Night 244 (via UFC)
“It’s the most active I think I’ve been ever in my MMA career, so it feels really good, actually, stringing them together like that. I guess now’s the time. Everyone has their time. I’ve had a few ups and downs and injuries and illnesses and people on the regional scene avoiding me and not fighting me. I’m not mentioning any names, but a lot of people didn’t want to fight me on the regional scene, and obviously (me being at the UFC level) is why. But the UFC, they want to push me and obviously I hope they like what they saw tonight, and hopefully I’ll be back in February. I hear there’s a card in Australia coming. I want to be on that one so I can bring all my fans from Australia. … A fight on Aussie soil? I’ll blow the roof off the place. I really will. That’s a dream, and hopefully they can book that for me.
“… I’m not the type of person to call people out. I feel like every bantamweight in the UFC, they’re here for a reason. They’re all great fighters. I don’t hate anyone. I’m not trying to pick out people. Just give us a name, I’ll most likely say yes, and it will be a banger on my behalf. I’ll bring a fight to anyone.”
To hear more from Haddon, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
UFC Fight Night 244 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 244 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $186,000.
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 Fight Night 244 took place at the UFC Apex. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 244 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
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 $4,630; 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 20-63 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
“UFC Fight Night 244: Royval vs. Taira” – $186,000
MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a closer look at the performances of the five winners from Dana White’s Contender Series 68.
Week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series (2024) took place Tuesday, and we’re grading the winners from the five-fight card, which streamed on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Since its inception in 2017, this series has shown to have legs in multiple ways while serving as a crockpot for contenders the UFC matchmakers can use to fill their roster for future events. With that trend in mind, here are the grades for the winning fighters – regardless of whether or not they earned a UFC contract – and an assessment of their probability to return to a UFC stage.
Cody Haddon
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 20: (R-L) Cody Haddon of Australia secures a rear choke submission against Billy Brand in a bantamweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series, season eight week two on August 20, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Summary: In what was easily the most impressive performance of the night, [autotag]Cody Haddon[/autotag] earns an easy A for finishing Billy Brand.
Haddon, who had to travel a long way from Western Australia to compete on the Contender Series, appears to have the well-rounded game that is practically a prerequisite at 135 pounds. From serviceable takedowns to savvy striking, Haddon steadily pressured his way into offensive opportunities, allowing little openings for Brand to get going.
Brand appeared to have some slick looks himself, but the American got caught on the strong side of his shelling defense with a beautiful left hook from Haddon that sent him to the floor.
Although going to the ground with a hurt opponent can be a big no-no in my book, Haddon displayed excellent technique and killer instinct when pursuing a finish on the floor, smartly punching in his arm at an opportune time for the rear-naked choke finish.
Seeing Dana White sign Haddon was a no-brainer. I wouldn’t mind seeing Haddon thrown in there with someone like Steven Koslow or even Gaston Bolanos, but I suspect that the UFC will pair him up with someone from his side of the world like Quang Le on the next show in Australia or Asia.
Torrez Finney
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 20: (R-L) Torrez Finney punches Cam Rowston of Australia in a middleweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series, season eight week two on August 20, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Summary: Despite this being his second swing at bat on the Contender Series, I had a hard time justifying a good grade for [autotag]Torrez Finney[/autotag].
Between backing himself up to the fence to his questionable punch parrying, Finney puts himself in some precarious stylistic positions as a 5-foot-8 middleweight.
Dana White was brutally honest with Finney come contract time, and I can’t say that I disagree with the UFC president considering the limited nature of Finney’s game.
Whether Finney can make welterweight or not, he’s going to need his coaches to force him to learn some proper footwork and a double jab (or other range weapons like kicks, obviously) if he means to meaningfully connect to his strengths and compete at this level.
I know White is quick to praise his matchmakers, but I often wonder how he feels when he’s continually fed fighters who are still too green (even at this level of recruitment) for the UFC.
Cortavious Romious
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 20: (L-R) Cortavious Romious kicks Michael Imperato of Canada in a lightweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series, season eight week two on August 20, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Summary: Despite initially wanting to give [autotag]Cortavious Romious[/autotag] a higher grading, I found myself continually dropping the American a whole letter grade, at times, for his ultra-questionable fight IQ that Dana White rightfully criticized.
I know that we all hate when fighters decide to grapple their opponents after clearly hurting them on the feet, but doing so on a liver shot is twice as bad in my book given how crushing a blow that is (as well as the fact that judges are bad enough and properly valuing bodywork even when you allow your opponent to demonstrate their discomfort). So seeing Romious completely get off the bodywork and grapple a hurt Impesato was maddening, to say the least.
The second letter grade deduction came midway through the third round once I realized that Romious was ignoring both his coach’s direction and the common sense of the situation by letting off the gas completely in the final round (against a gassed fighter who doesn’t own a knockout win on his record, mind you).
I’m not surprised that White ended up signing Romious considering how UFC recruitment trends have traditionally relied on this show, but I hope that the American relies a lot less on working from his back for armbars given the talent that exists in the UFC’s 135-pound shark tank. That said, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Romious paired up with the likes of Chang Ho Lee or Angel Pacheco for his first official assignment.
Rizvan Kaniev
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 20: (L-R) Rizvan Kuniev of Russia punches Hugo Cunha of Brazil in a heavyweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series, season eight week two on August 20, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Summary: Although [autotag]Rizvan Kaniev[/autotag] ended up getting the job done, he didn’t have enough “rizz” to earn anything higher than a B from me this time out.
Despite getting a buzzer-beater stoppage in the first frame, Kaniev’s opponent, Hugo Cunha, appeared ready to crumble from Jump Street.
Between backing himself up to the fence and his terrible defensive reactions, Cunha was a borderline masochist with the way he was inviting Kaniev to do his worst. That said, when Kaniev did bite down and commit to offense, he proved that he’s capable of putting together fight-ending attacks in closed quarters (something that always comes in handy at heavyweight).
I wasn’t shocked to see Dana White sign the Russian fighter, but I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Kuniev take part in his fair share of low-output slogs that seem to make up the majority of matchups in this division. Considering his region, don’t be surprised to see Kuniev booked on the next Abu Dhabi card opposite someone like Valter Walker.
Andreas Gustafsson
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 20: (L-R) Andreas Gustafsson of Sweden punches Pat Pytlik of Canada in a welterweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series, season eight week two on August 20, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Summary: Looking like a man on a mission, I found it hard to deny [autotag]Andreas Gustafsson[/autotag] an A for disposing of a tough Pat Pytlik.
Looking like a muscled-up super soldier who fights at light heavyweight, Gustafsson appears to be a well-fueled welterweight operator who knows how to handle himself in closed quarters.
Pytlik, who looks like the love child of Gerald Meerschaert and Alan Ruck, was able to catch Gustafsson a few times on his way inside. Unfortunately for the Canadian, Gustafsson was as intent as a Viking on a Berzerker raid when it came to plying his brand of clinch warfare.
It’s nice to see a fighter embrace an underrated phase of MMA that I feel many have trended away from, so I’m curious to see what Gustfsson can do with his newly acquired UFC contract.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gustafsson booked on the next European card, likely against someone like Sam Patterson or Kiefer Crosbie.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 68.
Cody Haddon could be one to watch for years to come in the UFC bantamweight division.
[autotag]Cody Haddon[/autotag] got the job done in under four minutes in his UFC tryout at Dana White’s Contender Series 68 on Tuesday.
In front of UFC CEO Dana White and matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard, Australia’s Haddon (7-1) rocked [autotag]Billy Brand[/autotag] (5-2) before he secured a tap with a rear-naked choke at 3:09 of Round 1. The bantamweight bout took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The submission solidified the fifth-straight victory for Haddon, who served as the Hex Fight Series interim bantamweight champion prior to this opportunity.
Team Alpha Male’s Brand has a four-fight winning streak snapped. He competed in Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat and King of the Cage (KOTC) among other promotions prior to his DWCS appearance.
The up-to-the-minute DWCS 68 results include:
Cody Haddon def. Billy Brand via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:09
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 68.
