Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the best photos from Esteban Ribovics’s first-round knockout win over Terrance McKinney at UFC on ESPN 56.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Esteban Ribovics[/autotag]’ first-round knockout win over [autotag]Terrance McKinney[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 56 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. (Fight and venue photos by Jeff Le, USA Today Sports)
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.
“T-Wrecks” Terrance McKinney has his next UFC test: up-and-coming Argentine Esteban Ribovics.
UFC fan-favorite [autotag]Terrance McKinney[/autotag] is back, but will have a hungry Argentine up-and-comer waiting in the wings for him in his return.
McKinney (15-6 MMA, 5-3 UFC) will face [autotag]Esteban Ribovics[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at a UFC Fight Night event May 11. The card does not currently have a known location or venue.
Two people including McKinney’s manager Oren Hodak, of KO Reps, confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie on Monday after an initial report by ESPN Knockout commentator Gaston Reyno.
McKinney, 29, has won back-to-back fights by first-round knockout. He finished Mike Breeden in 85 seconds in August before a 20-second pummeling of Brendon Marotte in October.
Ribovics, 27, signed with the UFC after an impressive first-round TKO of Thomas Paull on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022. Ribovics lost his promotional debut to Loik Radzhabov by unanimous decision. He picked up his first UFC victory in July when he defeated Kamuela Kirk by unanimous decision.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for May 11 includes:
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. 14-20.
Esteban Ribovics rallied from a rough first round for his first UFC victory at the expense of Kamuela Kirk at UFC 290 in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Esteban Ribovics[/autotag] beat Kamuela Kirk with a unanimous decision Saturday to open up the preliminary card at UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Ribovics, who rallied from a rough first round to win the second and third for his first UFC victory.
The best facts from UFC 290, which featured a record amount of sub-minute finishes and saw Alexandre Pantoja win gold in rare fashion.
The UFC’s 11th annual International Fight Week closed on a memorable high Saturday with UFC 290, which took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
After a explosive and entertaining lead up to the night’s title fights, one belt stayed put while another changed hands.
In the main event, [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) dismantled [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag] (15-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) en route to a third-round TKO for his fifth featherweight title defense. The co-headliner saw [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag] (26-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) capture the flyweight strap with a split decision win over [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] (21-7-2 MMA, 9-3-2 UFC) in a Fight of the Year contender.
For more on the numbers behind the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 290.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 290 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $319,500, the highest number of 2023.
LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 290 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $319,500.
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 290 took place at T-Mobile Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC, ESPN and ESPN+.
The full UFC 290 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag]: $42,000
[autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag]: $42,000
[autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Jalin Turner[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Val Woodburn[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Robbie Lawler[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Niko Price[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Tatsuro Taira[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Edgar Chairez[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Denise Gomes[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yazmin Jauregui[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Alonzo Menifield[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Jimmy Crute[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Vitor Petrino[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Marcin Prachnio[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Cameron Saaiman[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Terrence Mitchell[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jesus Aguilar[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Shannon Ross[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Esteban Ribovics[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kamuela Kirk[/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 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $4,428,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $19,017,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.
Check out what the UFC 290 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – UFC 290 took place Saturday with 14 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
You can hear from all the UFC 290 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.
Check out the best photos from Esteban Ribovics’ unanimous decision win over Kamuela Kirk at UFC 290 in Las Vegas.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Esteban Ribovics[/autotag]’ unanimous decision win over [autotag]Kamuela Kirk[/autotag] at UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Photos by Stephen R. Sylvanie, USA TODAY Sports)
Another fight has been added to International Fight Week at UFC 290 as Kamuela Kirk and Esteban Ribovics are expected to square off.
International Fight Week continues to take shape.
A lightweight bout is a targeted addition to UFC 290, which takes place July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as [autotag]Kamuela Kirk[/autotag] and [autotag]Esteban Ribovics[/autotag] are expected to compete. Verbal agreements are in place with paperwork expected to be issued in the coming days.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the targeted booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Kirk (11-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Ribovics (11-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) were originally expected to fight at UFC 285 in March. However, Kirk withdrew and was replaced by Loik Radzhabov, a former PFL championship runner-up. Radzhabov defeated Ribovics by unanimous decision.
The bout will mark Kirk’s UFC lightweight debut. He split his appearances at featherweight with an unanimous decision win over Makwan Amirkhani followed by a submission loss to Damon Jackson.
A native to Argentina, Ribovics earned a UFC deal with a quick finish of Thomas Paull on “Dana White’s Contender Series” in August 2022.
With the addition, the UFC 290 lineup includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.
