Tag: Felipe Bunes

UFC adds Felipe Bunes vs. Jose Johnson to first 2025 event

A flyweight fight has been added to the first UFC event of next year.

The first UFC event of 2025 continues to build with the addition of a new flyweight matchup.

[autotag]Jose Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Felipe Bunes[/autotag] will square off at the UFC’s Fight Night event Jan. 11, expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the matchup Wednesday, but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Johnson (16-9 MMA, 1-2 UFC) aims to bounce back from a June loss to Asu Almabayev. The defeat was his second in his three most recent outings.

Bunes (13-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is a former LFA champion who made his UFC debut in January when he lost by TKO to Joshua Van. The defeat dropped him to 3-2 in his most recent five.

With the addition, the UFC’s Jan. 11 lineup now includes:

  • Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov
  • Thiago Moises vs. Trey Ogden
  • Nicolle Caliari vs. Ernesta Kareckaite
  • Uros Medic vs. Punahele Soriano
  • Andreas Gustafsson vs. Preston Parsons
  • Felipe Bunes vs. Jose Johnson

UFC Fight Night 234 post-event facts: Jim Miller adds more records to epic resume

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 234, which saw Jim Miller grow his all-time wins record and add more history to his resume.

The UFC returned from its holiday hiatus on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and although it wasn’t the most stacked lineup, UFC Fight Night 234 delivered seven stoppage results out of 11 bouts.

In the main event, Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) produced definitive closure on his rivalry with Johnny Walker (21-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC), scoring a second-round knockout in their light heavyweight rematch to potentially set himself up for a championship opportunity.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 234.

UFC Fight Night 234 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Jim Miller, Andrei Arlovski get max non-title payouts

UFC Fight Night 234 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 234 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $159,500.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 234 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Gabriel Benitez[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Mario Bautista[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ricky Simon[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Brunno Ferreira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Waldo Cortes-Acosta[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Andrei Arlovski[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Preston Parsons[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Matthew Semelsberger[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Marcus McGhee[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Gaston Bolanos[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Farid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Taylor Lapilus[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jean Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Westin Wilson[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Nikolas Motta[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tom Nolan[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Felipe Bunes[/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 2341 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 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

  • “UFC Fight Night 234: Ankalaev vs. Walker 2” – $159,500

Year-to-date total: $159,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $22,866,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 234.

UFC Fight Night 234 video: 22-year-old Joshua Van overcomes slow start for TKO of Felipe Bunes

22-year-old Joshua Van continues to show great promise after stopping Felipe Bunes by second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 234.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag] overcame another slow start at UFC Fight Night 234 to secure the stoppage against [autotag]Felipe Bunes[/autotag].

After a rather uneventful opening round of the flyweight bout at the UFC Apex, which marked the first UFC fight of 2024, Van (10-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) started putting together slick combinations to the head and body that started to ware on Bunes (13-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC).

A flurry of punches and knees led to the knockdown, then Van pounded on Bunes until referee Mark Smith had seen enough and called it off for a TKO at the 4:31 mark of Round 2. Check out a replay of the final sequence below (via X):

At 22 and with only a little more than two years of experience, Van continues to show he has a bright future in the sport and 125-pound weight class, especially considering he took the fight on short notice.

“We knew he was going to be tough in the first round,” Van told Michael Bisping in his post-fight interview. “The second round we got it done. We stuck to the game plan in the second round and got it done.”

Van has landed 100 or more significant strike in all three of his UFC wins to date. He’s been busy in the cage, and said he wants to keep it up with a loaded 2024.

“I want to stay active this year,” Van said. “I want to fight at least four to six fights this year. Dana White, please give me a fight. I want to fight next week. Let’s go.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 234.

First UFC event of 2024 hit with multiple changes

The UFC’s 2024 campaign will soon kick off – and the first card of the year has experienced a makeover.

The first UFC event of 2024 has been hit with multiple lineup changes.

UFC Fight Night 234 takes place Jan. 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+. The lineup currently sits at 13 fights.

Over the past three days, however, that number has fluctuated with three withdrawals and two additions, as follows:

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Oct. 30-Nov. 5)

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 Oct. 30-Nov. 5.

UFC flyweight Felipe Bunes suspended for failed drug test prior to scheduled debut

LFA flyweight champion Felipe Bunes hasn’t made his UFC debut yet, but he’s already been suspended by Nevada.

A UFC flyweight hasn’t yet made his promotional debut, but he already has been handed disciplinary action for a failed drug test.

Former LFA flyweight champion [autotag]Felipe Bunes[/autotag] was suspended six months and issued a $326 fine (for prosecution fees) at a Nevada Athletic Commission monthly meeting Tuesday after he tested positive for GW1516, a prohibited metabolic modulator. He will be eligible to return Dec 7.

Bunes (13-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC) signed with the UFC in June for a short-notice replacement opportunity vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov at UFC on ESPN 47. The bout was scrapped days later when Bunes submitted a urinalysis and tested positive.

Days after the positive test, Bunes went public with the information and voiced his willingness to navigate the situation with the commission.

Bunes, 33, won three of the four fights previous to his UFC signing. From 2018-2021, Bunes was a staple of Russian promotion ACA (formerly known as ACB). He trains alongside the Pitbull Brothers in Brazil but has also spent time at Fight Ready in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (June 12-18)

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 June 12-18.

Fresh Ink: Meet the 5 fighters the UFC signed in May 2023

Find out who joined the UFC in May and learn more about them here.

The UFC roster is bigger than ever – and it continues to expand.

Fresh faces appear on nearly every card, whether onboarded as short-notice opening fillers, Dana White’s Contender Series signees, or the increasingly rare straight-up additions. Sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of the hustle and bustle of the mixed martial arts news beat, but here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got you covered.

“Fresh Ink” is your list of fighters added to the UFC roster the previous month and provides background on who they are and where they came from.

Check out the May 2023 list below.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (May 16-21)

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 May 16-21.