Tag: Gabriel Santos

Fresh Ink: Meet the 4 fighters the UFC signed in March 2023

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

UFC 286 post-event facts: Justin Gaethje’s insane bonus streak continues

Check out the numbers to come out of UFC 286, where Justin Gaethje made more history with another Fight of the Night effort.

The UFC hosted its fourth numbered event of the year on Saturday with UFC 286, which took place at The O2 in London and saw home country hero [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] compete in the main event.

Edwards (20-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) registered his first welterweight title defense when he edged rival [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] (20-3 MMA, 15-2 UFC) by majority decision in their trilogy bout, giving him a 2-1 lead in their series.

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 286.

UFC 286 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Leon Edwards gets maximum money

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 286 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $266,500.

LONDON – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 286 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $266,500.

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 286 took place at The O2. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.

The full UFC 286 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag]: $42,000
[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Rafael Fiziev[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Gunnar Nelson[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Bryan Barberena[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Jennifer Maia[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Casey O’Neill[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Marvin Vettori[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jack Shore[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Makwan Amirkhani[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Chris Duncan[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Omar Morales[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Yanal Ashmoz[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Sam Patterson[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Jafel Filho[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Lerone Murphy[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Gabriel Santos[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Christian Duncan[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Dusko Todorovic[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jake Hadley[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Malcolm Gordon[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Joanne Wood[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jai Herbert[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Ludovit Klein[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Veronica Hardy[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Juliana Miller[/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: $1,634,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $16,153,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 286.

Lerone Murphy def. Gabriel Santos at UFC 286: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Lerone Murphy’s split decision win over Gabriel Santos at UFC 286 in London.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Lerone Murphy[/autotag]’s split decision win over [autotag]Gabriel Santos[/autotag] at UFC 286 at The O2 in London. (Photos by Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)

Lerone Murphy on Gabriel Santos: I believe I’m top 15 level, so I’ve got to beat anyone outside the rankings

“I believe I’m top 15 level, so if I am, I’ve got to beat anyone outside of the top 15.”

LONDON – [autotag]Lerone Murphy[/autotag] was unfazed by the opponent change at UFC 286.

Originally scheduled to face Nathaniel Wood at Saturday’s pay-per-view event at The O2, Murphy (11-0-1 MMA, 3-0-1 UFC) ended up drawing newcomer [autotag]Gabriel Santos[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on short notice.

Santos doesn’t quite hold the name value that Wood does, but for Murphy, winning in impressive fashion is what will lead to a ranked opponent next.

“I believe I’m top 15 level, so if I am, I’ve got to beat anyone outside of the top 15,” Murphy told MMA Junkie. “It’s as simple as that.”

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Although Wood announced that he’s out due to injury a month ago, Murphy only received a new opponent one week out of his fight – and the 31-year-old says he’s had to make quite the adjustment.

“It’s a totally different fight from the fight I had before,” Murphy said. “Nathaniel Wood’s more of a boxer, good calf kicker, good jiu-jitsu. This guy is a switch stance, he’s got a lot of tricks. So, it’ll be a fun fight. He comes forward, I just don’t know if he has the experience against top-level athletes like myself. We’ll see, time will tell. You only get tested on the day, right? So, I’m out there to put on a show. I feel good, I feel great, I’ve had a good camp, so let’s see what happens.”

UFC 286 takes place Saturday at The O2 in London. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 286.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (March 6-12)

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 from March 6-12.