UFC featherweight Darren Elkins undergoes surgery after snapping right leg in freak accident

Darren Elkins went under the knife after suffering a lot of damage to his right leg.

[autotag]Darren Elkins[/autotag] went under the knife after suffering a lot of damage to his right leg.

Elkins (28-11 MMA, 18-10 UFC) revealed Thursday night that a freak accident during jiu-jitsu class caused a break in his right tibia and fibula. “The Damage” posted an Instagram story from his hospital bed after undergoing surgery.

Elkins, 39, has won four of his past six. The longtime UFC fighter is coming off a third-round submission of T.J. Brown at UFC Fight Night 230 this past October. Prior to fighting Brown, Team Alpha Male’s Elkins said he had no intentions of retiring anytime soon.

Retirement no temptation for ‘the Darren Elkins of old’ after UFC Fight Night 230

Darren Elkins submitted TJ Brown Saturday at UFC Fight Night 230. He now has finishes in five of his past seven wins.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Darren Elkins[/autotag] beat TJ Brown with a third-round submission Saturday to close out the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 230 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Take a look inside the fight with Elkins, who has finishes in five of his past seven wins.

5 biggest takeaways from UFC Fight Night 230: Is Edson Barboza worthy of UFC Hall of Fame?

Analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC Fight Night 230, including an examination of Edson Barboza’s legacy.

What mattered most at UFC Fight Night 230 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …

UFC Fight Night 230 post-event facts: Edson Barboza sets record for Fight of the Night bonuses

Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 230, where Edson Barboza set a new record for most Fight of the Night bonuses.

The UFC’s second event of October got off to a slow start, but UFC Fight Night 230 closed with one of the best fights of the year.

The main event saw [autotag]Edson Barboza[/autotag] (24-11 MMA, 18-11 UFC) rally from a vicious first-round beatdown to secure a unanimous decision win over [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in a thrilling Fight of the Night matchup of ranked featherweights.

Check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from that fight and the rest of the UFC Fight Night 230 card from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

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UFC Fight Night 230 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $21 million

UFC Fight Night 230 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 230 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $167,500.

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 230 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 230 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Edson Barboza[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Viviane Araujo[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jennifer Maia[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jonathan Martinez[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Adrian Yanez[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Michel Pereira[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Andre Petroski[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Christian Rodriguez[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Cameron Saaiman[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Darren Elkins[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]TJ Brown[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Tainara Lisboa[/autotag]: $4,000
def. autotag]Ravena Oliveira[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Terrance McKinney[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Brendon Marotte[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Melissa Dixon[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Irina Alekseeva[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Chris Gutierrez[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Heili Alateng[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Emily Ducote[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Ashley Yoder[/autotag]: $11,000

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 2301 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: $6,651,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $21,170,00

UFC Fight Night 230 video: Darren Elkins submits TJ Brown in vintage performance

Darren Elkins once again came alive at the sight of blood en route to submitting TJ Brown at UFC Fight Night 230.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Darren Elkins[/autotag] still has plenty left in the tank at 39, and he showed it with a finish of [autotag]TJ Brown[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 230.

Elkins (28-11 MMA, 18-10 UFC) delivered another vintage performance Saturday at the UFC Apex, going tit-for-tat with Brown (17-11 MMA, 3-5 UFC) over the first two rounds of the featherweight bout before working his way into a rear-naked choke to force the tap at the 2:23 mark of Round 3.

Check out a replay of the finish below (via X):

With the win, Elkins closed the distance on Max Holloway for most wins in the history of the UFC’s 145-pound division. He now has 16, while Holloway has 20.

Although he’s long in the tooth as far as his time in the fight game, Elkins said he’s not going away yet and cautioned featherweight fighters to call him out at their own peril.

“They’ve been saying I’m done, but listen: This old dog still has some fight in him,” Elkins said in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “I’m not going anywhere.”

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Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 230 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 230.

UFC Fight Night 230 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC Fight Night 230 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 230 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 230 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 230.

UFC Fight Night 230 pre-event facts: Edson Barboza’s dazzling KO credentials

The best facts and figures about UFC Fight Night 230, which features one of the greatest knockout artists of all time in the main event.

The UFC’s loaded October schedule continues on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 230, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.

Ranked featherweights collide in the main event, and there’s major potential for a violent ending. [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag] (13-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) will look to add a signature win to his resume when he takes on octagon legend [autotag]Edson Barboza[/autotag] (23-11 MMA, 17-11 UFC) in a showdown scheduled for five rounds.

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 Fight Night 230.

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Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Aug. 21-27)

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 the promotions from Aug. 21-27.

Iron men: The 12 longest-tenured UFC fighters on the current roster

It’s tough to stay in the UFC, never mind for nearly a decade or longer, but these dozen fighters have defied the tests of time.

Two of the longest-tenured fighters, Ed Herman and Clay Guida, step into the cage Saturday at UFC on ESPN 44 after nearly two decades with the promotion.

The majority of UFC fighters don’t last a decade under the promotion’s banner. It’s a difficult feat, but a handful of athletes on the roster have done that. In fact, some are even nearing the 17-year mark.

Some fighters have defied the odds and Father Time in their journey through the world’s top MMA organization. While some of these decade-plus fighters have earned or fought for titles, others have never reached that peak but have figured out how to evolve enough to stay put on the promotion’s roster.

Scroll below to see the 12 longest-tenured fighters on the promotion’s roster.

It’s important to note: This list is based on continuous tenure with the promotion. Fighters who left the promotion, competed elsewhere, and came back are only eligible from the point in which they kicked off their current UFC stint.

Additionally, the fighters need to be on the promotion’s active roster. Fighters who have retired, but the UFC still have the rights to, are ineligible.

The “tenure” is considered to start the date of the first fight of the stint, not at the point of contract signing.