Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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. 5-11.
An exciting strawweight bout between Vanessa Demopoulos and Emily Ducote is heading for a UFC Fight Night event in May.
The UFC is filling out its May slate of fights, and has added a fun strawweight matchup to the mix.
At a UFC Fight Night event on May 18, Vanessa Demopoulos will take on Emily Ducote. The event does not yet have a confirmed location or venue, but MMA Junkie has confirmed with two sources that contracts have been signed by both fighters.
Demopoulos (10-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will look to keep her winning momentum going after a unanimous decision win over Kanako Murata in October. The result marked a return to the win column after a unanimous decision loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz, which snapped a three-fight winning streak over Silvana Gomez Juarez, Jinh Yu Frey and Maria Oliveira.
Ducote (13-8 MMA, 2-2 UFC) also enters the contest on the heels of victory. “Gordinha” secured a unanimous decision win in October against Ashley Yoder, returning to .500 in her four-fight UFC tenure. A pair of setbacks against Angela Hill and Lupita Godinez followed a debut victory over Jessica Penne.
No other bouts for the May 18 event have been confirmed at this time.
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Emily Ducote snapped a two-fight skid with a crucial win over Ashley Yoder to open up the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 230.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Emily Ducote[/autotag] beat Ashley Yoder with a unanimous decision Saturday to open up the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 230 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Ducote, who snapped a two-fight skid.
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 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:
* * * *
[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
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.
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 July 17-23
A UFC strawweight bout between Ashley Yoder and Emily Ducote has been added to the promotion’s fall schedule.
After two years away from the UFC cage, [autotag]Ashley Yoder[/autotag] has her next assignment.
At a UFC Fight Night event Oct. 14, Yoder (8-8 MMA, 3-7 UFC) will compete for the first time in 27 months when she takes on [autotag]Emily Ducote[/autotag] (12-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) in a strawweight bout.
Two people with knowledge of the booking recently informed MMA Junkie of the matchup but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official.
Yoder, 35, most recently competed in July 2021 when she lost a unanimous decision to Jinh Yu Frey. She was booked to return in January 2022 vs. Vanessa Demopoulos but withdrew due to injury. Yoder spent the next 18 months rehabbing and partaking in a yet-to-be-released reality series, she recently revealed to MMA Junkie.
Ducote, 29, looks to bounce back from consecutive losses to Angela Hill and Loopy Godinez. The two-fight skid followed a successful UFC debut against Jessica Penne at UFC on ABC 3 in July 2022. Prior to her UFC signing, Ducote held the Invicta strawweight title.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Oct. 14 includes:
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for the UFC Fight Night event Oct. 14.
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 224, which saw Mackenzie Dern rack up another $50,000 bonus in the main event.
The UFC closed out its May schedule on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 224, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
In the main event, [autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) defeated [autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag] (15-13 MMA, 10-13 UFC) by unanimous decision in the Fight of the Night, with the grappling specialist landing a career-best 126 significant strikes over the course of five rounds.
For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts about UFC Fight Night 224.
UFC Fight Night 224 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 224 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $179,500.
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 224 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 224 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Edmen Shahbazyan[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Anthony Hernandez[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Emily Ducote[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Andre Fialho[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Hayisaer Maheshate[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Viacheslav Borshchev[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Diego Ferreira[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Michael Johnson[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Karolina Kowalkiewicz[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Vanessa Demopoulos[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Gilbert Urbina[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Orion Cosce[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Rodrigo Nascimento[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Ilir Latifi[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Nick Fiore[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Victoria Leonardo[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Themba Gorimbo[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Takashi Sato[/autotag]: $6,000
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 2241 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: $3,214,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $17,803,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.
