Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the best photos from a heated UFC 292 pre-fight press conference Thursday at TD Garden in Boston.
Check out the UFC 292 news conference faceoffs including the two title fights and Ian Garry vs. Neil Magny.
BOSTON – The UFC 292 pre-fight news conference took place Thursday at TD Garden, the same venue that hosts Saturday’s event.
Before the faceoffs of the co-main event strawweight title fight of champion [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] vs. challenger [autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag], and the main event bantamweight title fight of [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag], the fighters from the other main card fights and the featured prelim came face-to-face.
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Among them, was brash Irish prospect [autotag]Ian Garry[/autotag], who remained intense with seasoned UFC veteran [autotag]Neil Magny[/autotag]. Bantamweight fighters [autotag]Mario Bautista[/autotag] and [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag] squared off after contenders [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] and [autotag]Pedro Munhoz[/autotag].
The featured prelim, a middleweight bout between [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag] and [autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag] provided a respectful and laid-back faceoff.
Check out the UFC 292 news conference faceoffs in the video and photo gallery above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
With a win, Da’Mon Blackshear would break a modern-era UFC record set by Khamzat Chimaev – and he’s looking to do so in a big way.
BOSTON – [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag] will make a record-tying turnaround at UFC 292.
Blackshear (14-5-1 MMA, 2-1-1 UFC) will step in for an injured Cody Garbrandt against [autotag]Mario Bautista[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) seven days after his most recent fight Saturday at TD Garden in Boston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Fresh off just the third Twister submission in UFC history this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 51, Blackshear will look to make even more history. His seven-day turnaround will tie Loopy Godinez for the shortest gap between UFC fights in modern company history, and he also has the opportunity to set the modern-era record with two UFC wins in seven days.
Khamzat Chimaev currently holds the record with two UFC wins in 10 days.
“There’s no pressure in this fight whatsoever for me,” Blackshear told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during UFC 292 media day. “I’m going to go in there, I’m going to have fun, but obviously I’m going in there for the win and a dominant performance.”
When asked what Saturday’s headline will read, Blackshear kept it short and simple.
“Da’Mon makes history, TKO in the first round,” Blackshear said.
Blackshear said he came out of his fight with Johnson unscathed. But with his fight against Bautista taking place at bantamweight, not a catchweight, he has another cutdown to make – but he doesn’t appear too concerned.
“It’s pretty easy,” Blackshear said. “It’s a difficult cut, but I’m used to it as long as I’m disciplined and everything goes smoothly.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
Before UFC 292 on Saturday, watch as the title-fight athletes, main card and prelim fighters speak to reporters at media day.
BOSTON – UFC 292, with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+, goes down Saturday at TD Garden.
Before fight night arrives, though, notable athletes from the two championship fights, main card and preliminary lineup spoke to reporters Wednesday at media day.
If you happen to miss any of the individual sessions on the live stream, check below for the archived videos of each media day.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
After scoring a rare Twister finish, Da’Mon Blackshear steps in vs. Mario Bautista at UFC 292 with a chance to make more history.
[autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag] will put his name in the UFC record book Saturday when he makes a historically quick turnaround to face [autotag]Mario Bautista[/autotag] on short notice at UFC 292.
After he picked up just the third Twister submission in UFC history this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 51, Blackshear (14-5-1 MMA, 2-1-1 UFC) will attempt to add his name to more history. He will replace the injured Cody Garbrandt against Bautista (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in a bantamweight bout.
Two people with knowledge of the situation told MMA Junkie of the change following an initial report from BJPenn.com. The people requested anonymity because the UFC hasn’t make an official announcement.
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Blackshear’s seven-day turnaround will tie Loopy Godinez for the shortest gap between multiple UFC fights in modern company history. The only people will less time between fights came when the UFC hosted single-night tournament events in the 1990s. Godinez lost the second fight of her back-to-back, though, meaning Blackshear has the chance to set the modern-era record with two UFC wins in seven days.
Khamzat Chimaev currently holds the record with two UFC wins in 10 days, which happened in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic on “Fight Island.”
Looking to derail Blackshear’s momentum, however, is Bautista, who is riding a four-fight winning streak at 135 pounds and has finished his past three fights by submission.
UFC 292 takes place at TD Garden in Boston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
With the change, the UFC 292 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
Analysis of the top storylines from UFC on ESPN 51, including Vicente Luque’s win after a brain bleed and Cub Swanson’s debatable decision.
What mattered most at UFC on ESPN 51 in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
Da’Mon Blackshear is confident his twister submission win send a message to the rest of the UFC bantamweights.
LAS VEGAS – The UFC’s bantamweight division should be paying attention to [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag].
Saturday at UFC on ESPN 51, Blackshear submitted Jose Johnson with one of the rarest submissions in the game: a twister. There’s only been two other twister submission wins recorded in the 30-year history of the UFC. This, at least for Blackshear (14-5-1 MMA, 2-1-1 UFC), should send a statement to the rest of the fighters competing at 135 pounds.
“It puts a lot of guys on notice, and they’re going to be a lot more hesitant to go to the ground with me,” Blackshear told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 51 post-fight press conference.
Blackshear submitted Jose Johnson (15-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) for his second straight win. Blackshear said he knew the move was a possibility, given some things he had picked up in preparation.
“He got into turtle, and it was something I had seen on film,” Blackshear said. “Whenever someone takes him down, he likes to get in that turtle position. I threw one hook and he kind of flattened out. I went in to try to get the twister. I had to re-adjust my grip a couple of times because he pushed it over his head and I ended up going for the rear-naked choke kind of grip. But I slide it up to his temple to press and crush his spine.
“When I was in there, putting pressure on, I’m like, ‘I have to break this dude’s spine for him to tap,’ and that’s what I was able to do.”
As far as the historic win, Blackshear is happy to be one of the few to pull the twister off in the octagon.
“I knew it was pretty rare, but I didn’t know how many times it’s been hit. It’s definitely something I wanted to do,” Blackshear said. “I wanted to make history – most strikes thrown, or anything. I made history, so it’s good.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC on ESPN 51, which saw a record-tying number of first-round stoppage results.
The UFC returns to its home base of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday following three weeks on the road with UFC on ESPN 51, which saw nine of 13 fights end inside the distance.
The main event was one of few that needed the judges. [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) managed to outwork former UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag] (33-15 MMA, 21-13 UFC) to a unanimous decision in the welterweight bout and used a lot of grappling to get it done.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC on ESPN 51.
UFC on ESPN 51 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 51 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $173,000.
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 51 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC on ESPN 51 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Chris Daukaus[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Iasmin Lucindo[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Polyana Viana[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]AJ Dobson[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Tafon Nchukwi[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Josh Fremd[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Marcus McGhee[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]JP Buys[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Terrance McKinney[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Mike Breeden[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Francis Marshall[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Martin Buday[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Josh Parisian[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Jaqueline Amorim[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Montserrat Conejo[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jose Johnson[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Luana Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Juliana Miller[/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 $4,510; 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 $51,000 while title challengers get $51,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-51 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $5,395,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $19,984,000
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
Check out what the UFC on ESPN 51 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.
LAS VEGAS – UFC on ESPN 51 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 51 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 51.
