UFC Fight Night 237 post-event facts: Yair Rodriguez hits unprecedented career slump

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 237, which saw Yair Rodriguez hit the first losing skid of his career.

The UFC’s final event of February took place Saturday with UFC Fight Night 237 at Mexico City Arena in Mexico.

A flyweight contender re-emerged in the main event, when replacement headliner [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] (16-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) exacted revenge on former UFC champ [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] (21-8-2 MMA, 9-4-2 UFC) with a split decision victory in their rematch from November 2020.

For more on the numbers to come out of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 237.

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UFC Fight Night 237 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Headliners get combined $17,000

UFC Fight Night 237 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

MEXICO CITY – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 237 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $135,500.

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 237 took place at Mexico City Arena. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 237 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Daniel Zellhuber[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Fransisco Prado[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Yazmin Jauregui[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Sam Hughes[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Manuel Torres[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Chris Duncan[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Raoni Barcelos[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Cristian Quinonez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jesus Aguilar[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Mateus Mendonca[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Edgar Chairez[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Daniel Lacerda[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Fares Ziam[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Claudio Puelles[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Ronaldo Rodriguez[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Denys Bondar[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Felipe dos Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Victor Altamirano[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Muhammad Naimov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Erik Silva[/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 2371 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:

Year-to-date total: $1,228,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $23,935,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 237.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC fights announced in the past week (Nov. 13-19)

All the UFC 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.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Nov. 13-19.

MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month for September: An ultra-rare title fight draw

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from September 2023.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from September 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for September.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.

Nominees

UFC 293 post-event facts: Sean Strickland starts a new era at 185 pounds

The best facts to come out of UFC 293, which saw Sean Strickland force a changing of the guard with his title win over Israel Adesanya.

The UFC’s return to Sydney after nearly six years produced one of the most shocking main event results of the year as the middleweight title changed hands at Qudos Bank Arena.

[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) closed out UFC 293 with a massive unanimous decision upset of [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) to take the belt and force a reset at the top of the middleweight rankings.

For more on the numbers from the title bout, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 293.

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UFC 293 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Sean Strickland gets $32,000 for title win

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 293 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $209,000.

SYDNEY – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 293 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $209,000.

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 293 took place at Qudos Bank Arena in Australia. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.

The full UFC 293 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]: $42,000

[autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Felipe dos Santos[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Justin Tafa[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Austen Lane[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Tyson Pedro[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Anton Turkalj[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Da Woon Jung[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Chepe Mariscal[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jack Jenkins[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jamie Mullarkey[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]John Makdessi[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Nasrat Haqparast[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Landon Quinones[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Charlie Radtke[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Blood Diamond[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Gabriel Miranda[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Shane Young[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Kevin Jousset[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kiefer Crosbie[/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: $5,944,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $20,533,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

UFC 293 results: Manel Kape out-battles Felipe Dos Santos, uses anti-gay slur while insulting City Kickboxing

Daniel Cormier (for the second time at UFC 293) ended an in-cage interview short after an anti-gay slur was uttered.

[autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag] got the job done Saturday at UFC 293, but it didn’t come easily.

Despite his lack of name recognition, his debutant status, and it being a short-notice fight, [autotag]Felipe Dos Santos[/autotag] (7-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) wowed many MMA fans and even Kape (19-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) by his performance in a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) loss.

UFC 293 took place Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The flyweight fight aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews/ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+.

Throughout the course of their fight, Kape was largely in control but Dos Santos had moments, too – with particular striking success in Round 1 and Round 3. But Kape kept on the attack. He was persistent and slowly damaged the face of Dos Santos, a 22-year-old from Brazil. When the dust settled and nearly 15 minutes of striking was behind them, Kape was declared the winner.

After he showed his respect to Dos Santos, Kape turned his attention to the rest of the flyweight division and in particular rival Kai Kara-France, who was his original UFC 293 opponent before a withdrawal. Kape verbally assaulted Kara-France with an expletive-filled rant that also included an anti-gay slur, which was also used earlier in the night by prelim winner Charlie Radtke.

“All these motherf*ckers that are booing, all these motherf*ckers that are No. 2, 3, 4, they not accept to fight me because they are f*cking scared,” Kape said in the cage with Daniel Cormier. “I was supposed to fight Kai Kara. You motherf*cker you are hidden. You show up, you piece of sh*t. You are a piece of sh*t. This is what you are. Hey, hey, listen guys, seriously, listen. I’m going to fight you next.

“I’m going to fight you next and if you refuse again to fight me or pull two weeks out from the fight, I’m going to your city. I’m going to your academy. I’m going to spar you there. I’m going to f*cking spar you there. Hey, hey, listen. No one is going to do anything. Do you know why? All your teammates are a bunch of (slur).”

Kape has now won four fights in a row after a 0-2 promotional start. Dos Santos loses for the first time as a professional.

Up-to-the-minute results of UFC 293 include:

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

Fresh Ink: Meet the 30 fighters the UFC signed in August 2023

Find out who joined the UFC in August 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 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 August 2023 list below.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Aug. 21-27)

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 Aug. 21-27.

Manel Kape gets scratched Dana White’s Contender Series fighter as UFC 293 replacement

A UFC 293 flyweight bout between ranked flyweights will instead feature one ranked fight vs. a promotional newcomer.

How’s this for a downgrade? Or upgrade depending on the perspective.

After Kai Kara-France declared himself out of his UFC 293 bout against [autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag] on Monday, [autotag]Felipe dos Santos[/autotag] has been tabbed to replace him at the Sept. 9 pay-per-view event from Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

Two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report from MMA Fighting. The people requested anonymity since the UFC hasn’t made an official announcement.

The new matchup means Kape, who’s No. 10 in the official UFC flyweight rankings, goes from meeting a fighter ranked ahead of him (Kara-France is No. 5) to welcoming a promotional newcomer. Dos Santos was slated to compete Tuesday at Dana White’s Contender Series 59, but his opponent, Luciano Pereira, didn’t weigh in because of medical issues. Now dos Santos, 22, gets a golden opportunity to make an immediate splash jumping into the biggest fight of his life on less than three weeks’ notice.

Dos Santos is 7-0 in his professional career, most recently winning a unanimous decision vs. Hugo Paiva under the LFA banner last November.

Kape (18-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is riding three straight wins after a rocky 0-2 start to his UFC tenure. After joining the UFC in February 2021, he dropped fights against Alexandre Pantoja and Matheus Nicolau. Since then, he’s beaten Ode Osbourne, Zhalgas Zhumagulov, and David Dvorak.

With the change, here is the updated UFC 293 lineup:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+ pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland
  • Tai Tuivasa vs. Alexander Volkov
  • Felipe dos Santos vs. Manel Kape
  • Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa
  • Tyson Pedro vs. Anton Turkalj

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNNews, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Da Woon Jung vs. Carlos Ulberg
  • Jack Jenkins vs. Chepe Mariscal
  • John Makdessi vs. Jamie Mullarkey

PRELIMINARY CARD, (ESPNNews, ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)

  • Blood Diamond vs. Charlie Radtke
  • Gabriel Miranda vs. Shane Young
  • Viviane Araujo vs. Casey O’Neill

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.