UFC on ESPN 55 winner Don’Tale Mayes wants quick return on hometown Louisville card

Don’Tale Mayes campaigned for a quick turnaround to fight in Louisville after his UFC on ESPN 55 victory.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Don’Tale Mayes[/autotag] has a plan in place after getting his hand raised Saturday at UFC on ESPN 55.

Mayes (11-6 MMA, 4-4 UFC) got back in the win column in the heavyweight division with a unanimous decision victory over Caio Machado (8-3-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex, scoring a critical first-round knockdown that tipped the scorecards in his favor.

Although he’s frustrated he couldn’t finish the job early, Mayes knows it was important to emerge victorious after a lethargic performance in defeat against Rodrigo Nascimento in November.

“I feel some type of way when I don’t get the finish, but it could be worse,” Mayes told MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight at UFC on ESPN 55. “I’m still happy getting the win. Getting the win feels good. He was a lot more durable than I thought, really.”

Mayes, 32, admits he has “a few scratches” after a 15-minute fight with Machado, but it’s not enough to stop him from calling for a quick return to competition.

UFC is hosting an event in Mayes’ hometown of Louisville, Ky., on June 8, and he badly wants a spot on that card.

“I’m hoping I can get on that UFC Louisville – that’s the hometown,” Mayes said. “I haven’t fought there since my pro debut and I’m hoping I can get on that. It’s probably six or seven weeks.

“(I’ll fight) whoever. Give me No. 15, give me No. 14, No. 13 – No. 10. I just want someone that can help pack the house.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 55.

UFC on ESPN 55 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $25 million

UFC on ESPN 55 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 55 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $175,000.

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 55 took place at the UFC Apex. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC on ESPN 55 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Bogdan Guskov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ryan Spann[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Karine Silva[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Ariane Da Silva[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jhonata Diniz[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Austen Lane[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]David Onama[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jonathan Pearce[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Uros Medic[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Tim Means[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Victor Henry[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Rani Yahya[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Austin Hubbard[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Michal Figlak[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Don’Tale Mayes[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Caio Machado[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ketlen Souza[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Marnic Mann[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Chris Padilla[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]James Llontop[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ivana Petrovic[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Na Liang[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Hayisaer Maheshate[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Gabriel Benitez[/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 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,550; 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 $55,000 while title challengers get $55,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-55 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $2,640,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $25,377,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 55.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (Feb. 12-18)

Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights 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, PFL, and Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Feb. 12-18.

UFC Fight Night 231 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: 2023 total passes $7 million

UFC Fight Night 231 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

SAO PAULO – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 231 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $145,000.

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 231 took place at Ginasio Do Ibirapuera in Brazil. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 231 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Jailton Almeida[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Nicolas Dalby[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Gabriel Bonfim[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Rodrigo Nascimento[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Don’Tale Mayes[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Caio Borralho[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Abus Magomedov[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Elves Brener[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kaynan Kruschewsky[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Rinat Fakhretdinov[/autotag]: $4,500
vs. [autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Vitor Petrino[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Modestas Bukauskas[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Denise Gomes[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Eudarda Moura[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Montserrat Conejo[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Kaue Fernandes[/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 2311 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: $7,033,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $21,552,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 231.

Rodrigo Nascimento def. Don’Tale Mayes at UFC Fight Night 231: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Rodrigo Nascimento’s unanimous decision win over Don’Tale Mayes at UFC Fight Night 231 in Sao Paulo.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Rodrigo Nascimento[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Don’Tale Mayes[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 231 at Ginasio Do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo. (Photos by Jason da Silva, USA TODAY Sports)

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Aug. 7-13)

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 a promotion from Aug. 7-13.

Don’Tale Mayes honored to share UFC cage with Andrei Arlovski: ‘I’m trying to be a legend’

Following his UFC on ESPN 45 win, Don’Tale Mayes explained why his fight vs. Andrei Arlovski was one for the bucket list.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Don’Tale Mayes[/autotag] took out a heavyweight legend Saturday at the UFC Apex, but his respect for his opponent never hindered.

At UFC on ESPN 45, Mayes (10-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) finished former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (34-22 MMA, 23-16 UFC) with punches in Round 2. The fight checked an item on the bucket list for Mayes, who since he entered the UFC has wanted to compete against a fighter with an Arlovski-like status.

“My whole career, from as soon as I got in the UFC, I was hoping I could catch one of the legends before they were gone,” Mayes told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a news conference after the fight. “It was an opportunity, and it was an honor to fight a legend, Andrei Arlovski.”

One of the reasons Mayes wanted that experience is because he hopes to one day have a similar reputation to Arlovski. He has a way to go, but Mayes thinks he may have punched his ticket to a ranked matchup next time out.

“Fighting a legend, I’m trying to be a legend,” Arlovski said. “I mean no disrespect, but I’m trying to be legendary myself. I want to get the belt. Of course, anybody in the UFC, if you ain’t got belt dreams then I don’t know what you’re here for. I still want to get a belt. I still want to get a ranked person next time I can. That’s what I want. … Give me the No. 15 dude. I don’t even know who it is, but I want a number.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 45.

UFC on ESPN 45 post-event facts: Is Jim Miller’s record resume UFC Hall of Fame worthy?

Check out the facts and stats to come out of UFC on ESPN 45, where Jim Miller continued to stack historic figures on his resume.

The UFC opened a non-stop schedule of summer events on Saturday with UFC on ESPN 45, which took place at the promotion’s home base of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The main event saw [autotag]Amir Albazi[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) remain undefeated inside the octagon and take the next step as a flyweight contender when he edged [autotag]Kai Kara-France[/autotag] (24-1 MMA, 7-4 UFC) by split decision.

There were a number of other noteworthy results on the card. For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC on ESPN 45.

* * * *

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UFC on ESPN 45 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $18 million

UFC on ESPN 45 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 45 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $199,500.

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 on ESPN 45 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card aired on ESPN following prelims streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC on ESPN 45 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Amir Albazi[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Kai Kara-France[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Alex Caceres[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Daniel Pineda[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Jesse Butler[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Victor Altamirano[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Karine Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ketlen Souza[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Abubakar Nurmagomedov[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Daniel Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Johnny Munoz[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Don’Tale Mayes[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Andrei Arlovski[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]John Castaneda[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Muin Gafurov[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Muhammad Naimov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jamie Mullarkey[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Elise Reed[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jinh Yu Frey[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Luan Lacerda[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Philipe Lins[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Maxim Grishin[/autotag]: $4,500

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 $45,000 while title challengers get $45,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-45 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $3,414,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $18,003,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 45.

UFC on ESPN 45 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC on ESPN 45 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

LAS VEGAS – UFC on ESPN 45 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 Fight Night 224 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 45.