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 from Jan. 2-8.
Cynthia Calvillo will drop back down to 115 pounds to take on Loopy Godinez in April.
After a rough stint at flyweight, [autotag]Cynthia Calvillo[/autotag] will drop back down to 115 pounds.
Calvillo (9-5-1 MMA, 6-5-1 UFC) meets [autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) at a UFC event on April, which doesn’t yet have a publicly known venue or location.
A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. ESPN Deportes was first to report the news Thursday.
Calvillo found early success upon signing with the UFC, emerging as a strawweight contender after winning five of her first six bouts. But after missing weight twice in the span of three fights, Calvillo moved up to flyweight. She scored a win over former title challenger Jessica Eye in her first UFC headliner but then went onto lose four straight – most recently a split decision to Nina Nunes this past August.
Godinez has split her first six octagon appearances. After scoring back-to-back wins over Loma Lookboonmee and Ariane Carnelossi, the Mexico-born fighter dropped a unanimous decision to Angela Hill at UFC on ESPN 41 in August.
With the addition, the April 8 UFC event lineup now includes:
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UFC on ESPN 41 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 41 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $195,000.
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 41 took place at Pechanga Arena. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC on ESPN 41 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Nate Landwehr[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]David Onama[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Yazmin Jauregui[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Iasmin Lucindo[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Azamat Murzakanov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Devin Clark[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Priscila Cachoeira[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Bruno Silva[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Martin Buday[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Lukasz Brzeski[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Nina Nunes[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Cynthia Calvillo[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Gabriel Benitez[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Charlie Ontiveros[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Tyson Nam[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ode Osbourne[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Josh Quinlan[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jason Witt[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag]: $6,000
vs. [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/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 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 $4,500; 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 $41,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-41 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2022 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $5,588,000
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $11,755,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 41.
Salaries for UFC on ESPN 41 are out, thanks to the California State Athletic Commission, one of the only commissions still releasing them.
Many commissions no longer release fighter pay to the public, but the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) is one of them.
With UFC on ESPN 41 in the books, MMA Junkie acquired a list of disclosed payouts from CSAC executive director Andy Foster. Five fighters received six-figure paydays, including headliners [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] and [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag].
Other fighters who received six-figure paydays included [autotag]Gabriel Benitez[/autotag], [autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag], and [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag].
Check out the full list of UFC on ESPN 41 salaries below. It’s important to note the figures are disclosed payouts only, and do not include performance bonuses, discretionary bonuses, or sponsor pay.
Check out these photos from Nina Nunes vs. Cynthia Calvillo at UFC on ESPN 41 in San Diego.
Check out these photos from Nina Nunes’ split decision victory over Cynthia Calvillo at UFC on ESPN 41 in San Diego. (Photos by Joe Camporeale, USA TODAY Sports)
Nina Nunes called it a career after picking up a close win over Cynthia Calvillo at UFC San Diego.
SAN DIEGO – Was it the most exciting fight of [autotag]Nina Nunes[/autotag]’ career? No. But the end result was just what she needed to cap off her career.
Nunes (11-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) snapped a two-fight skid Saturday when she eked out a split decision against [autotag]Cynthia Calvillo[/autotag] (9-5-1 MMA, 6-5-1 UFC) on Saturday. The women’s flyweight bout was part of the UFC on ESPN 41 preliminary card at Pechanga Arena.
The fight lacked action for all 15 minutes, incurring boos from fans on a few occasions. Rounds 1 and 2 seemingly were close, but the third clearly belonged to Nunes, who landed her best punch – a hard right hook –in the final frame.
Once the horn sounded, Nunes took off her gloves and left them in the center of the octagon before the judges’ scorecards of 28-29, 29-28 and 30-27 had been read in her favor. Nunes, 36, said earlier in fight week that she still had a championship mentality, but it was clear announcing her retirement was a decision she’d made prior to stepping in the cage.
For the final time, with her daughter in her arms, Nina Nunes (@NinaAnsaroff) walks out of the octagon a winner. #UFCSanDiego | Follow live: https://t.co/r1BYBU1K54 pic.twitter.com/TGQQE2RWe8
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) August 13, 2022
“I am (retiring),” Nunes told Daniel Cormier during her post-fight octagon interview. “As a fighter, I think I’ve done what I wanted to. It started as a hobby. I got all the way here. I’m going to focus on coaching and bringing up those girls that are struggling right now.”
She added, “I want more babies. So I’m stepping away to have another kid.”
Nina Nunes and UFC double champion Amanda Nunes, who are married, are parents to daughter Raegan Nunes, who turns 2 in September. Nina gave birth to Raegan back in 2020.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 41 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 41.
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Cynthia Calvillo plans to drop to strawweight following Saturday’s flyweight bout against Nina Nunes at UFC on ESPN 41.
[autotag]Cynthia Calvillo[/autotag] doesn’t plan to stick around much longer at 125 pounds.
The UFC veteran returns Saturday against Nina Nunes on the preliminary card of UFC on ESPN 41. But despite the flyweight return, Calvillo (9-4-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) has her mind set on returning to her original home of 115 pounds.
“I think what’s going to happen is that we’re going to get through this fight first, and then we’re going to go back and re-run the tests and do a practice weight cut and just make sure that I’m going to be healthy enough to get back to 115,” Calvillo told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 41 media day on Wednesday. “But the plan is to get to 115 before the end of the year.”
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Calvillo said she actually planned to drop back to strawweight sooner, but the way things played out kept her at 125 pounds. Calvillo said she was supposed to fight Brianna Van Buren in June, but after that fight fell through, Nunes (10-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) was presented to her as an option she didn’t mind taking.
“We spent a couple of weeks looking for an opponent, and Nina’s name came up and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m good to fight Nina,'” Calvillo said. “And then they were like, ‘Nina wants to fight at 125, though.’ And I’m like, ‘You know what, this is an exception.’ I was planning to drop to 115, but with Nina previously being at 115, I was like, ‘I’ll do this. I’ll fight her at 125.'”
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Check out the numbers behind UFC on ESPN 41, where Marlon Vera will look to 10 finishes in the bantamweight division.
The UFC makes its return to San Diego for the first time in more than seven years on Saturday with UFC on ESPN 41, which takes place at Pechanga Arena and airs on ESPN/streams on ESPN+.
A massive bantamweight fight serves as the main event of the card. [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] (19-7-1 MMA, 13-6 UFC), who has won nine of his past 11 fights, will look to continue his climb up the divisional pecking order when he meets former UFC/WEC champion [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag] (24-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC).
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 41.
Hours before UFC on ESPN 39, Nina Nunes vs. Cynthia Calvillo was called off due to one fighter coming down with a stomach virus.
UFC on ESPN 39 is down a fight.
Hours before the event’s start time, [autotag]Nina Nunes[/autotag] announced her bout vs. [autotag]Cynthia Calvillo[/autotag] was removed from Saturday’s card at the UFC Apex and is currently being rescheduled for a later date. Nunes said she caught a stomach bug following Friday weigh-ins and could not recover in time to compete.
Both Nunes (10-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) and Calvillo (9-4-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) looked to end losing skids. Nunes is coming off two losses, while Cavillo three. Nunes didn’t reveal what the new target date is for the matchup.
“Hey Everyone, I had an amazing camp and the best weight cut yet,” Nunes wrote. “Unfortunately I picked up a stomach virus and have been sick since right after weigh ins. I tried as much as I could to make this better and still be able to fight. Sadly it has taken a tear on my body and I won’t be able to perform tonight. Sorry to my opponent. We are rescheduling it as we speak.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfzPvW1pf6K/
UFC on ESPN 39 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on ESPN after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
The updated UFC on ESPN 39 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
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Check out the facts and figured behind UFC on ESPN 39, where Rafael dos Anjos near seven hours of cage time.
The UFC continues its busy July schedule Saturday with UFC on ESPN 39, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN/streams on ESPN+.
A high-stakes lightweight clash serves as the main event of the card. Former 155-pound champion [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag] (32-13 MMA, 20-11 UFC) continued his pursuit of gold when he takes on the surging [autotag]Rafael Fiziev[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in a five-round contest.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC on ESPN 39.
