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Check out these photos from the official weigh-ins in Austin, Texas.
Check out these photos from the official weigh-ins for UFC on ESPN 37 in Austin, Texas. (Photos by Matthew Wells, MMA Junkie)
Check out the numbers behind Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 37, where Donald Cerrone can retake sole possession of most wins in UFC history.
The UFC makes its return to Austin, Texas for the first time since February 2018 on Saturday with UFC on ESPN 37, which takes place at Moody Center with a main card that airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPNNews.
A marquee featherweight matchup takes center in stage in the main event. Ranked contenders [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] (23-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and [autotag]Josh Emmett[/autotag] (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) will meet in a clash that will help elevate the winner toward his first UFC title shot.
The co-headliner, meanwhile, will see a pair of lightweight legends face off. [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] (36-16 MMA, 23-13 UFC) and [autotag]Joe Lauzon[/autotag] (28-15 MMA, 15-12 UFC) finally get their chance to scrap after a fight-day cancellation at UFC 274 in April.
For more on the numbers behind a solid lineup, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC on ESPN 37.
Check out the recorded fight night weights of the UFC 270 competitors.
The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) has released the official fight-night weights of the UFC 270 competitors, revealing some interesting changes.
CSAC not only records the official weigh-ins, but also the fight-day weight of combatants and makes the information public. The commission also requires disclosure of fight salaries.
Bantamweight fighter [autotag]Cody Stamann[/autotag] was the biggest gainer on the card. His official weight was 135.5 on Friday morning and stepped on the scale 23.5 pounds heavier on fight night at 159.
Former interim heavyweight champion [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] was the only competitor to step on the scale on fight night lighter than his official weight. On Friday morning, Gane weighed in at 247 pounds and was recorded at 245 on the night of the fight.
Check out the full results below.
The best facts and figures to come out of UFC 270, which marked the first UFC pay-per-view of the year and had several historic results.
UFC opened its 2022 pay-per-view schedule on Saturday with UFC 270 at Honda Center in Anaheim.
A pair of championship fights topped the card, and while both went to the judges, only one belt managed to change hands.
[autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] (17-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) successfully defend the heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in the main event, while [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (21-2-1 MMA, 10-2-1 UFC) reclaimed the flyweight title in the co-headline courtesy of a unanimous decision win over [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] (19-6-2 MMA, 7-3-2 UFC).
For more on the numbers behind the title fights, as well as the rest of the card, check below for 30 post-event facts to come out fo UFC 270.
Much was made in the lead-up to UFC 270 about Francis Ngannou’s contract. So what was his disclosed purse?
UFC 270 featured two title fights and all four of the participants walked out of the cage with six-figure disclosed paydays.
Heavyweight champion [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] and former interim champion [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] led the way. Former champion [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] and current flyweight champion [autotag]Deiveison Figueiredo[/autotag] were not far behind in the co-main event.
MMA Junkie obtained a full list of disclosed UFC 270 payouts from California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) executive director Andy Foster immediately following the event. The purses listed do not include discretionary bonuses, pay-per-view points, or performance bonuses.
UFC 270 took place Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The main card streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
Check out a full list of UFC 270 disclosed salaries below.
Said Nurmagomedov makes quick work of Cody Stamann, submitting him in 47 seconds at UFC 270.
[autotag]Said Nurmagomedov[/autotag] had a quick night at the office.
The Dagestani took little time to dispatch bantamweight veteran [autotag]Cody Stamann[/autotag] on the UFC 270 main card on Saturday. Nurmagomedov (15-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) submitted Stamann (19-5-1 MMA, 5-4-1 UFC) with a guillotine choke at the 0:47 mark of Round 1.
Nurmagomedov immediately went at Stamann with hard, explosive kicks and punches. Stamann initiated the grappling in response to Nurmagomedov’s strikes, but was quickly caught in a guillotine choke. Stamann had no time to fight it, as it was extremely deep. He was forced to tapped a few seconds after the choke was locked.
It was a swift and dominant showing by Nurmagomedov.
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With the result, Nurmagomedov is 9-1 in his past 10 bouts. His most recent defeat came in 2019 when came up short in a unanimous decision in his third UFC bout against Raoni Barcelos.
Meanwhile, Stamann is now on a three-fight losing streak, having lost to Jimmie Rivera and Merab Dvalishvili via unanimous decision in previous bouts. His most recent win came against Brian Kelleher in June 2020.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 270 results include:
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A bantamweight bout is the latest addition to the UFC’s first pay-per-view of 2022.
A bantamweight bout is the latest addition to the UFC’s first pay-per-view of 2022.
[autotag]Said Nurmagomedov[/autotag] and [autotag]Cody Stamann[/autotag] have been booked to fight each other at UFC 270. Two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie on Friday but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA DNA was first to report the news.
Although UFC 270 has a date of Jan. 22, the event does not yet have an announced venue or location.
Stamann (19-4-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) will enter the fight looking to snap the first losing streak of his career after dropping back-to-back decisions Jimmie Rivera and most recently Merab Dvalishvili this past May. Stamann told MMA Junkie in August that he hoped to fight Sean O’Malley, but O’Malley is booked to meet Raulian Paiva on Dec. 11 at UFC 269.
Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, will try to kickstart another winning streak after he knocked out Mark Striegl in October 2020.
The updated UFC 270 lineup includes:
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Cody Stamann continues to angle for the Sean O’Malley fight.
[autotag]Cody Stamann[/autotag] continues to angle for the [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] fight.
Stamann (19-4-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC), who was honest in saying he was jealous of O’Malley’s treatment and run in the UFC, doesn’t think the rising star has what it takes to compete with the elite.
So why does he want to fight him? Stamann says it’s easy money.
“He openly said he doesn’t want to fight anyone in the top 15,” Stamann told MMA Junkie. “He was like, ‘I get paid the same way either way. Why would I want to fight someone that’s tougher?’ And honestly, when he said that, I actually had more respect for him because he was dancing around that question the whole time. In an athlete’s eyes – maybe not in the average, casual MMA fan’s eyes, but in an athlete’s eyes – it’s not really about how well you perform against a guy that’s ranked 100th in the world. It’s about how well you perform against the guys that are in the top 10.
“We saw Sean O’Malley fight (Marlon) ‘Chito’ Vera. He went down to leg kicks, and that kind of tells me that he’s not real. The hype surrounding him isn’t real, so it’s a win-win. I fight a guy like Sean O’Malley – I fought the champ, I fought the who’s-who, the guys that nobody wants to fight in MMA, the guys that are knocking people dead. So a fight against Sean O’Malley doesn’t scare me the same way fighting Urijah (Faber) or any of the guys I named would, any of the guys that I fought. I think Sean O’Malley would be one of the worst guys that I fought in my UFC career.”
While Stamann respects O’Malley’s argument that he gets paid the same to fight a former champion or a newcomer, he thinks there’s a little more to his theory.
“I think part of it is the money,” Stamann said. “I think he thinks he’s worth more, and maybe he is. The dude’s a draw. I said one thing about him on Instagram, and I got attacked by like 100 16-year-old kids. It was crazy. I never had that kind of action from that fanbase. So maybe it’s a money thing. But I think ultimately it comes down to he knows deep down that there are guys out there that will absolutely stomp him. In fights, you see guys crack. You see guys break. And I think he’s one of those guys that can be broken.
“He hasn’t taken the knocks that everybody else has to get where they are. You don’t know how you’re going to respond until it happens, and I saw him against ‘Chito’ Vera. I saw him against Andre Soukhamthath. As soon as something goes wrong in a fight, that kid just folds. For me, I know I can create a lot of problems for him. I can make things messy.”
O’Malley (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is coming off a battering of tough newcomer Kris Moutinho at UFC 264. While it was another impressive performance, Stamann has a hard time lauding him for the level of competition he’s faced.
The former NCAA Division-II wrestler is currently on a two-fight losing skid and sees O’Malley as the perfect opportunity to get back to the win column in a big way.
“Honest to God, I’m picking the low-hanging fruit,” Stamann said. “I want an easy fight. I’ve fought nothing but hardened veterans in this sport since I started. I was in the top 10 six months after I signed my first UFC contract. My road has been tough. It’s been filled with animals, and his has been – he’s been on a bike going downhill his entire UFC career. He’s like a 10-1 favorite in almost every fight. So I want the easy fight. I think the easy fight is Sean O’Malley. I think that’s the biggest name, and I think it’s the easiest fight in the division.
“I’m probably going to get attacked again by a bunch of high schoolers, but it’s the truth. You ask me do I want to fight Sean O’Malley or do I want to fight Pedro Munhoz, there’s not even a comparison between those guys. You’re talking about a guy that you literally can’t break and you’re talking about a guy that went out on a stretcher because he got leg kicked. These are two different men inside their head. I think Sean O’Malley is just a boy, and I would love for the opportunity to expose him for what he is: a clown.”
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Cody Stamann was very honest in his pitch to get the Sean O’Malley fight available at UFC 264.
[autotag]Cody Stamann[/autotag] was very honest in his pitch to get a short-notice fight with [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag].
Just more than a week from UFC 264, O’Malley (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) needs a new opponent after Louis Smolka was forced to withdraw due to an undisclosed injury.
Plenty of bantamweights lined up Tuesday on social media to jump at the O’Malley matchup, and Stamann (19-4-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) was among them to declare that he wants in. Eager to get the fight, Stamann sees plenty of perks in facing a guy like O’Malley, whom he’s pretty envious of.
He explains why.
“I haven’t exactly had the easiest run in the UFC, and I’m super jealous and envious of the run he’s had,” Stamann told MMA Junkie Radio. “I haven’t gotten those fights. I haven’t gotten those fights where you get guys on a skid, or you get a name on his way out. I’ve just gotten anybody that wins fights, six fights in a row, I’m like the gatekeeper in the rankings, like I gotta go fight that guy. If a guy goes on a huge streak and he wins a bunch and he’s the next big thing, that’s the guy I have to fight. I’ve been an underdog in almost all my UFC matchups, probably more so than anybody else in the bantamweight division, and sometimes I can pull it off.
“Recently I haven’t been able to, and a guy like Sean O’Malley would just be the best of everything. I think there’s a big financial reward in that fight, there’s so much hype around the kid about how great he is, but I look at these guys, and it’s like, who have they fought? Who have they fought that’s a top contender? Because the guys that are ranked are ranked for a reason, and it’s because they fought the best guys, and they’ve won. So you really gotta start looking at who people fight, not necessarily how well they’re doing against the entry-level guys in the UFC.”
Stamann is coming off back-to-back unanimous decision losses to Jimmie Rivera and most recently Merab Dvalishvili on May 1, but he’s ranked in the UFC’s top 15 bantamweights. Stamann thinks O’Malley, whose lone defeat was by TKO to Marlon Vera, is yet to face a worthy contender, and now is his chance to legitimize himself as a top-level fighter.
“How long can you just fight guys outside of the rankings, guys on their way out before people start to realize that maybe you’re not a legit contender and that you’re just a guy that has a flashy style that people like to see,” Stamann said. “You’re a character outside the cage, but there’s no hiding when you get in there. It doesn’t really matter who you smoke weed with or how many followers you have on Instagram because when you get in the cage and fight somebody, that’s real. And fight somebody that’s competed against the best, it’s a different experience, and I learned it the hard way.
“I fought Bryan Caraway and Aljamain Sterling in my third and fourth fight in the UFC. I didn’t really get the UFC welcome that others guys like O’Malley did. I went right to the top, I went right into the rankings, and I fought nothing but killers ever since. I think that alone warrants me a fight against someone like O’Malley. Until he beats someone like me, he’s not legitimate in my eyes or in the eyes of any of the other athletes. That’s why there’s a whole line of guys begging for this fight.”
Is there anyone who DOESN’T want to fight Sean O’Malley?
As it stands, [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] doesn’t have a UFC 264 opponent – but he has no shortage of potential suitors.
Shortly after news surfaced Tuesday that O’Malley’s original opponent, Louis Smolka, withdrew from their July 10 pay-per-view main card bout, an assortment of fighters took to social media to lobby for the opening.
The callouts and challenges for O’Malley (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) stretched beyond the bantamweight division as even some flyweights and featherweights raised their hands.
Scroll below to read a running list of the fighters eager to compete against “The Suga Show” at UFC 264.
