Tag: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

UFC on ESPN 34 news: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos withdraws from fight against Mounir Lazzez

UFC on ESPN 34 has lost a fun matchup.

UFC on ESPN 34 has lost a fun matchup.

[autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag](23-7 MMA, 9-3 UFC) has withdrawn from Saturday’s welterweight matchup against [autotag]Mounir Lazzez[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at the UFC Apex due to personal reasons. Lazzez is expected to remain on the card.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the news but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Fighting was first to report the withdrawal.

Dos Santos rebounded from a split decision loss to Muslim Salikhov with a lopsided decision win over Benoit Saint-Denis this past October at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, Lazzez will look to return for the first time since suffering a TKO loss to Warlley Alves in January 2021. Prior to that, “The Sniper” scored an impressive win over Abdul Razak Alhassan in his UFC debut in July 2020 on “Fight Island.” Lazzez was scheduled to face Niklas Stolze this past July, but visa issues forced him out of the bout.

With the change, the UFC on ESPN 34 lineup now includes:

  • Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad
  • Chris Barnett vs. Martin Buday
  • Mounir Lazzez vs. TBA
  • Brandon Jenkins vs. Drakkar Klose
  • Rafa Garcia vs. Jesse Ronson
  • Caio Borralho vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
  • Pannie Kianzad vs. Lina Lansberg
  • TJ Laramie vs. Pat Sabatini
  • Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Wu Yanan
  • Jordan Leavitt vs. Trey Ogden
  • Sam Hughes vs. Istela Nunes
  • Miguel Baeza vs. Andre Fialho
  • Heili Alateng vs. Kevin Croom
  • Devin Clark vs. William Knight

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

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were broken 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 Feb. 7-13.

UFC books Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Mounir Lazzez for April 16 event

A welterweight matchup between elite strikers Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Mounir Lazzez will take place in April.

A welterweight matchup between elite strikers will take place in April.

[autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag](23-7 MMA, 9-3 UFC) faces [autotag]Mounir Lazzez[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at a UFC Fight Night event on April 16 that doesn’t yet have a publicly known venue or location.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report by MMA Fighting. The people requested anonymity since UFC officials has yet to make an announcement.

Winner of nine of his past 11, dos Santos is coming off a lopsided win over newcomer Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 267 in October. The win didn’t come without a bit of controversy, though, as the Brazilian put a beatdown on Saint Denis, but referee Vyacheslav Kiselev refused to stop the fight, which left the commentary team irate.

Meanwhile, Lazzez has split his first two UFC appearances. After a big upset win over Abdul Razak Alhassan in his promotional debut in July 2020, the Tunisian fighter was stopped by Warlley Alves at UFC on ESPN 20 in January 2021. Lazzez was scheduled to face Niklas Stolze in July, but visa issues forced him out of the bout.

With the addition, the April 16 event includes:

  • Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad
  • Uriah Hall vs. Andre Muniz
  • Brandon Jenkins vs. Drakkar Klose
  • Miguel Baeza vs. Dhiego Lima
  • Chris Barnett vs. Martin Buday
  • Pannie Kianzad vs. Lina Lansberg
  • Mounir Lazzez vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

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UFC 267 medical suspensions: Glover Teixeira among six facing potential six-month terms

Six fighters were suspended for 180 days due to injuries sustained in Abu Dhabi.

Glover Teixeira lived out a championship dream at UFC 267, but it came with a price.

After the UFC light heavyweight title was wrapped around his waist for the first time, a goal he’d chased for two decades, Teixeira was handed a six-month suspension by the commissioning regulatory body for a right shoulder injury.

MMA Junkie obtained a list of medical suspensions Tuesday from MixedMartialArts.com, the official record keeper of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC).

UFC 267 took place Saturday, Oct. 30 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

Teixeira wasn’t the only one handed a potential 180-day suspension. Preliminary card fighters Albert Duraev, Benoit St-Denis, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, Michal Oleksiejczuk, and Allan Nascimento were also given six-month terms.

Scroll below to see a complete list of UFC 267 suspensions below. It’s important to note fighters can become eligible to return to competition prior to suspension completion if they are cleared by a physician.

UFC 267: Benoit Saint-Denis’ manager irate with referee’s handling of eye poke in Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos loss

Benoit Saint-Denis’ manager is not happy with Vyacheslav Kiselev’s refereeing at UFC 267, but not for the same reasons as most.

[autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag]’ manager is not happy with Vyacheslav Kiselev’s refereeing at UFC 267, but not for the same reasons as most.

Saint-Denis (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) dropped a lopsided unanimous decision to [autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag] this past Saturday and took an incredible amount of damage.

The Frenchman was rocked by a dos Santos right hand in the second round and took an array of unanswered punches. While Saint-Denis showed plenty of heart by somehow staying on his feet, commentators Daniel Cormier and Paul Felder were losing their minds at how Kiselev didn’t stop the fight.

But the punishment didn’t stop there. Less than a minute into the third round, Saint-Denis was poked in the eye and Kiselev only gave him 45 seconds to recover, despite Saint-Denis claiming he couldn’t see.

And that’s what his manager, Guillaume Peltier, was more upset about than anything else.

“To tell the truth, whether or not to stop the fight (in the second round) is not really what gives me a bitter taste,” Peltier told MMA Junkie. “Where I am angry is the finger in the eye. We know the rules. We know that if the fighter can no longer see, the doctor must intervene. Benoit has said several times that he can no longer see. We also in the area shouted it and yet the referee made him go back to the fight while Benoit tells him that he can’t see. This is unacceptable and played an important role in the third round. Regardless, we are proud of Benoit. We know our axis of work.”

Peltier admitted Saint-Denis’ corner could have stopped the fight at the end of Round 2, but knowing his fighter, he knew he could keep fighting until the end.

“It’s a complicated subject because on one hand, I would like to say that (Kiselev) should have stopped the fight in the second round,” Peltier said. “But on the other hand, the fight proves the opposite. If the fight was finished by TKO in Round 3, we too could have stopped the fight before. But we know Benoit and we know his ability to go through hell and come back, and that’s what he did – he came back in the third round.”

Kiselev, who was scheduled to referee the main card opener between Magomed Ankalaev and Volkan Oezdemir, was pulled from his assignment after what happened in the dos Santos vs. Saint-Denis bout.

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Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos on Vyacheslav Kiselev’s reffing: ‘He was putting people in danger’

There were two great stories at the top of UFC 267, but a prelim fight is the one that stole the show for the wrong reasons.

There were two great stories at the top of the card Saturday, but a fight on the prelims is the one that nearly stole the show – for the wrong reasons.

[autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag] (23-7 MMA, 9-3 UFC) lit up Benoit Saint-Denis (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) to such an extent in the second round of their welterweight fight at UFC 267 that members of the broadcast team forgot all about the fact they were on the air and were yelling for the referee to stop the fight.

But Vyacheslav Kiselev kept things going, inexplicably given dos Santos had done plenty to get a stoppage. And in the third round, he had two more odd moments when Saint-Denis was poked in the eye and said he couldn’t see, but a doctor never was brought in. And late in the fight, Saint-Denis took a knee to the groin, and Kiselev took a point from dos Santos, apparently without warning.

Kiselev is a former fighter from Russia who went 0-4 in his pro career from 1997-2003. He lost all four of his fights by first-round stoppage, and none of his fights lasted longer than 2:02.

Kiselev was a referee at UFC Fight Night 163 in Moscow in November 2019 and UFC Fight Night 149 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in April 2019. But if dos Santos had it his way, Kiselev might not ref in the UFC again.

“There were at least two or three moments where it was very clear the ref should have stopped it,” dos Santos said through a translator at the UFC 267 post-fight news conference at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi (via MMA Fighting). “He ended up making the fight a lot tougher than it should have been. I’m just sorry for the guy because he ended up getting hurt a lot more than he should have been – and myself included because when you’re beating someone up, you’re getting hurt, as well.”

Dos Santos said he and his team told UFC medical staff after the fight that they took issue with Kiselev’s officiating – and that was before they knew he had been removed from the second fight he was supposed to look after: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Volkan Oezdemir to open the main card.

“We didn’t know he had been removed (from his other fight yet), but we did talk about it with the doctors and the medical staff that he just didn’t do a good job there. He was putting people in danger,” dos Santos said.

Dos Santos said going the distance to beat Saint-Denis, a former member of the French military’s Special Air Service unit, wasn’t ideal, particularly because it seemed to clear to most observers he should’ve had a second-round TKO.

But he said going the full 15 minutes after being on the sidelines for 13 months will have other impacts for him.

“As upset as I should be because of what the referee did, I was able to leave everything in there,” dos Santos said. “It was a whole year – actually more than a year – after surgery. I was coming from a fight I believe I won, and was taken from me by the judges, and I was able to go in there and do everything for 15 minutes, nonstop. I feel relieved.”

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UFC 267 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Jan Blachowicz gets biggest bag at $42,000

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 267 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $298,000.

ABU DHABI – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 267 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $298,000.

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 267 took place at the Etihad Arena in Yas Island. The card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC 267 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Glover Teixeira[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag]: $42,000

[autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Li Jingliang[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Zubaira Tukhugov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ricardo Ramos[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Albert Duraev[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Roman Kopylov[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Michal Oleksiejczuk[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Shamil Gamzatov[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Lerone Murphy[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Makwan Amirkhani[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Andre Petroski[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Hu Yaozong[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Tagir Ulanbekov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Allan Nascimento[/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 $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 2021 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $4,787,000
Program-to-date total: $4,787,000

UFC 267 broadcast team irate over Vyacheslav Kiselev’s officiating in Dos Santos vs. Saint-Denis

The odds that Vyacheslav Kiselev is back as a referee for a UFC bout any time soon likely are pretty slim.

The odds that Vyacheslav Kiselev is back as a referee for a UFC bout any time soon likely are pretty slim.

Kiselev was the third man in the cage for [autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag]’ (23-7 MMA, 9-3 UFC) unanimous decision win over promotional newcomer [autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag] (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC 267 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. Dos Santos won the fight with a trio of 29-26 scores and was dominant.

But the story of the fight was not how dominant dos Santos was. It was not how much heart Saint-Denis had. It was Kiselev’s officiating – or perhaps, arguably, his lack of officiating.

In the second round, a little more than two minutes in, dos Santos wobbbled Saint-Denis with a big right hand. With the Frenchman backed to the fence, dos Santos landed punches and bunches, then knees on the canvas and more punches. Somehow, Saint-Denis got back to his feet and the punishment continued.

With about two minutes left in the round, Saint-Denis started to retreat with his head turned away from dos Santos – and the Brazilian even looked at Kiselev and gestured with his hands, as if to ask, “When are you going to stop this?”

Analysts Daniel Cormier and Paul Felder literally yelled from their cageside broadcast table for the Kiselev to stop the fight in a rare moment of outside interjection, and Cormier reported that longtime referee Marc Goddard was looking on from cageside with a befuddled look on his face wondering why the fight wasn’t stopped.

But because Saint-Denis kept throwing a few punches, maybe one for every 20 dos Santos landed, the fight continued. And miraculously, Saint-Denis, who was bleeding all over the face, stayed in the fight.

In between the second and third rounds, Cormier said he hoped Saint-Denis’ corner would stop the fight. But his corner’s advice to him was “You’ve got to stop getting hit.”

Saint-Denis came out for the third round after what was an obvious 10-8 second frame. But the madness of odd officiating wasn’t over yet.

A little more than 30 seconds into the final round, Saint-Denis took an accidental poke in the eye and appealed to Kiselev for a time out. Kiselev stopped the fight – and Felder chimed in that “he stops it for some things, huh?”

Play-by-play voice Jon Anik reported that Saint-Denis said he couldn’t see out of his left eye. Kiselev checked on him after 45 seconds – without bringing a doctor into the cage – and even though Saint-Denis signaled to him that he couldn’t see out of his eye, the fight was restarted.

With 51 seconds left, dos Santos landed a low knee – and Kiselev stopped the fight so Saint-Denis could recover. But even though Kiselev didn’t stop the fight for all the damage Saint-Denis took in the second round, and even though it was the first low blow of the fight, Kiselev took a point from dos Santos without warning.

Kiselev was scheduled to officiate the Magomed Ankalaev vs. Volkan Oezdemir fight that opens the UFC 267 main card, but it was reported by UFC broadcast partner ESPN that he was pulled from that assignment after his performance in the dos Santos vs. Saint-Denis bout.

With Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos out, Alex Oliveira steps in to face Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 254

Alex Oliveira will step in on short notice to face Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 254.

[autotag]Alex Oliveira[/autotag] continues to live up to his “Cowboy” moniker.

[autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag] has been forced out of UFC 254 and Oliveira (21-8-1 MMA, 11-6 UFC) will step in on short notice to face [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. MMA Junkie confirmed the replacement with multiple people with knowledge of the booking following an initial report from Ag Fight.

After dropping three straight for the first time in his career, Oliveira rebounded with back-to-back wins over Max Griffin at UFC 248 and most recently Peter Sobotta at UFC on ESPN 14 in July.

Rakhmonov will finally get to make his octagon debut after his first three UFC fights were canceled. The undefeated Kazakhstani fighter last competed in June 2019, when he defended his M-1 Challenge welterweight title by stopping Tiago Varejao in the first round. All 12 of his pro wins have come via finish.

With the change, the UFC 254 lineup includes:

  • Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje – for lightweight title
  • Jared Cannonier vs. Robert Whittaker
  • Walt Harris vs. Alexander Volkov
  • Rafael dos Anjos vs. Islam Makhachev
  • Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lauren Murphy
  • Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba
  • Phil Hawes vs. Jacob Malkoun
  • Stefan Struve vs. Tai Tuivasa
  • Alex Oliveira vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
  • Sam Alvey vs. Da Un Jung
  • Liana Jojua vs. Miranda Maverick
  • Sergey Morozov vs. Umar Nurmagomedov

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UFC 251 medical suspensions: Kamaru Usman facing longer sit than Jorge Masvidal

Kamaru Usman won at UFC 251, but he didn’t walk away unscathed.

[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] won at UFC 251, but he didn’t walk away unscathed.

Retaining his title against challenger [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] in the pay-per-view headliner, Usman (17-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) received a longer medical suspension than his opponent.

On Friday, MMA Junkie obtained the full list from MixedMartialArts.com, the ABC’s official recordkeeper. Fighters can return sooner than the duration of their suspension if cleared by a doctor.

According to the list, Usman suffered a potentially broken nose during the 25-minute duration of his unanimous decision victory. The injury could mean he’ll need to take 180 days off in between fights.

As for Masvidal (35-13 MMA, 12-6 UFC), “Gamebred” received a much shorter suspension: 30 days off due to a facial laceration.

UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag], former UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag], and UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag] all received 30-day suspensions, while former UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag] received a mandatory TKO-loss suspension of 45 days.

UFC 251 took place Saturday at the Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The main card streamed on pay-per-view after prelims simulcasted on ESPN and ESPN+.

The complete list of UFC 250 medical suspensions:

  • Kamaru Usman: Suspended 180 days or until nasal X-ray is cleared by doctor; also suspended 21 days with no contact.
  • Jorge Masvidal: Suspended 30 days for forehead laceration with no contact for 21 days.
  • Alexander Volkanovski: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days due to “a hard bout.”
  • Max Holloway: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days due to “a hard bout.”
  • Petr Yan: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days due to “a hard bout.”
  • Jose Aldo: Suspended 45 days (mandatory due to TKO) with no contact for 30 days.
  • [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag]: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days.
  • [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag]: Suspended 60 days due to knockout with no contact for 45 days.
  • [autotag]Muslim Salikhov[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Makwan Amirkhani[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Danny Henry[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Leonardo Santos[/autotag]: Suspended 45 days for “hard bout” with no contact for 30 days.
  • [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Maxim Grishin[/autotag]: Suspended 180 days or until nasal X-ray is cleared by doctor; also suspended 21 days with no contact.
  • [autotag]Raulian Paiva[/autotag]: Suspended 30 days with 21 days no contact.
  • [autotag]Zhalgas Zhamagulov[/autotag]: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days.
  • [autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Vanessa Melo[/autotag]: Suspended 7 days (mandatory rest).
  • [autotag]Davy Grant[/autotag]: Suspended 180 days or until cleared by oral and maxillofacial doctor; also suspended 30 days with no contact.
  • [autotag]Martin Day[/autotag]: Suspended 60 days due to knockout with no contact for 45 days.

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