MMA Junkie’s 2023 Coach of the Year: Francisco Grasso

Coach Francisco Grasso left a big imprint in MMA, as he was responsible for some of the biggest moments this 2023.

The name [autotag]Francisco Grasso[/autotag] probably didn’t ring a bell entering 2023, but leaving the past calendar year, it’s associated with UFC gold and Mexican MMA history.

Francisco, or better known as “Pancho,” truly let his work speak for himself. In a sport where media attention or public narrative often sways the appreciation of fighters or moments in time, Francisco left a big imprint in 2023 without ever doing an English-language interview and very limited interviews in Spanish.

Francisco had his hand in many important moments this 2023, but most notably he made history with his niece – [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag]. Under the tutelage of Francisco, Alexa became the first-ever Mexican female champion in the UFC, and they did it when many thought it was impossible.

Alexa was up against an all-time great, one of the most dominant champions in UFC history, regardless of gender and weight class. Alexa and her team, led by Francisco, had the tough task of dethroning Valentina Shevchenko, who at that point had seven consecutive title defenses and had never lost at flyweight.

The Grasso bloodline ended up pulling off one of the biggest upsets of 2023, and made history for their home country. Against all odds, Alexa submitted Shevchenko in March at UFC 285. It was a remarkable moment that highlighted the great work being done at Lobo Gym in Guadalajara. The two would return six months later in September to fight Shevchenko to a draw.

Even though it wasn’t a win, the fact that Grasso retained her belt and fought Shevchenko in a highly competitive decision, proved that the upset in March was no fluke and that Francisco and his team had truly leveled up to a world-class gym.

Francisco’s work as a coach was responsible for MMA Junkie’s Female Fighter of the Year and one of the biggest upsets as well. It’s incredible how much impact Lobo Gym had in MMA, given it’s not in a country with a strong history in MMA and is relatively small compared to titans such as American Top Team, AKA, Kill Cliff, and others.

On top of the historic win of Alexa, other results accompanied Francisco’s success as a coach in 2023. It wasn’t Alexa’s rise alone:

Diego Lopes

Francisco was responsible for MMA Junkie’s Female Fighter of the Year, and also MMA Junkie’s Newcomer of the Year.

[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] had a huge impact in 2023 and enters 2024 as one of the most interesting prospects. Working with Francisco as both a fighter and assistant coach, Lopes showed brilliance every second he was in the octagon.

He gave a wild, Fight of the Night against unbeaten title contender Mosvar Evloev, a fight he took on 4 days’ notice. Following his debut, Lopes picked up a first-round submission win over Gavin Tucker in August and then a first-round KO over Pat Sabatini in November. He won $50,000 Performance of the Night bonuses in both finishes.

Loopy Godinez

[autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag] made history with Lobo Gym in 2023. She became the woman with the most wins in a calendar year, having her hand raised four times in the octagon.

Francisco took Loopy Godinez under his wing mid-2023, but Godinez had worked part-time with Lobo Gym for fights earlier in the year. There’s no denying that Godinez turned a corner with Lobo Gym, as she looked highly dominant and got herself in the top 10 of the UFC official strawweight rankings with her win over Tabatha Ricci in November.

Irene Aldana

Francisco got top UFC women’s bantamweight contender [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] to challenge Amanda Nunes for her title at UFC 289. Certainly, it was a disappointing performance from Aldana, who was dominated from bell to bell. However, people forget that just getting to a UFC title fight alone is a big achievement few fighters accomplish in their careers.

Aldana would return to UFC 296 in December to redeem herself and defeat Karol Rosa while delivering arguably the best female fighter of the year.

Alessandro Costa

[autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag] picked up a big win over Jimmy Flick in June, putting him away with some nasty elbows. He then took on ranked fighter Steve Erceg and lost a competitive decision. Although Costa closed out the year with a loss, he still shows promise in the UFC’s flyweight division.

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MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month for December: A bloody women’s bantamweight war

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

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

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

Nominees

Irene Aldana promises to bring Mexico a title after UFC 296 win over Karol Rosa

Irene Aldana’s bloodbath win over Karol Rosa was a striker’s delight and Fight of the Night winner at UFC 296 in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] beat Karol Rosa with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 296 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Take a look inside the fight with Aldana, a former title challenger who has won three of her past four, including this most recent Fight of the Night winner.

UFC 296 post-event facts: Colby Covington joins rare company with 0-3 title fight record

The best facts to come out of UFC 296, which saw Colby Covington and Tony Ferguson join exclusive and unfortunate clubs in defeat.

The UFC’s final event of the 2023 started with a bang, but ended somewhat slow as UFC 296 unfolded at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The two championship fights to close out the calendar year saw both belts stay put. [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defeated [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) by unanimous decision to defend welterweight gold in the headliner, while [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag] (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) also got the nod on the scorecards over [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] (15-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC) to retain flyweight gold.

For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 296.

UFC 296 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: 2023 total closes at $8.1 million

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 296 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $339,500.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 296 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $339,500.

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 296 took place at T-Mobile Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

The full UFC 296 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Josh Emmett[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Alonzo Menifield[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Dustin Jacoby[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Cody Garbrandt[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Brian Kelleher[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Casey O’Neill[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Tagir Ulanbekov[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Cody Durden[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Lucas Almeida[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Martin Buday[/autotag]: $4,500

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: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $22,707,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

UFC 296 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC 296 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – UFC 296 took place Saturday with 12 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 296 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Irene Aldana def. Karol Rosa at UFC 296: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Irene Aldana’s unanimous decision win over Karol Rosa at UFC 296 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag] at UFC 296 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Photos by Stephen R. Sylvanie, USA Today Sports)

UFC 296 weigh-in results: Box brought out for final attempt of 2023

Check out the results from the official UFC 296 fighter weigh-ins from Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie reported from Friday’s official UFC 296 fighter weigh-ins, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and precede the ceremonial weigh-ins for the fans, which take place at 8 p.m. ET at The Theater at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The nearby T-Mobile Arena hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on ESPN+.

Among those who weighed in were welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) and challenger [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) and flyweight champ [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag] (26-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) and challenger [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 5-2 UFC).

All 24 athletes made weight – with a little drama to conclude the session, as former UFC title challenger [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] needed to box to hit the bantamweight limit.

The full UFC 296 weigh-in results include:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Leon Edwards (170) vs. Colby Covington (169.5) – for welterweight title
  • Champ Alexandre Pantoja (125) vs. Brandon Royval (124.5) – for flyweight title
  • Shavkat Rakhmonov (171) vs. Stephen Thompson (171)
  • Tony Ferguson (155.5) vs. Paddy Pimblett (155.5)
  • Josh Emmett (146) vs. Bryce Mitchell (145.5)

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN2/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Dustin Jacoby (204.5) vs. Alonzo Menifield (204.5)
  • Irene Aldana (136) vs. Karol Rosa (135.5)
  • Cody Garbrandt (136) vs. Brian Kelleher (136)
  • Ariane Lipski (126) vs. Casey O’Neill (125)

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

  • Cody Durden (126) vs. Tagir Ulanbekov (126)
  • Lucas Almeida (146) vs. Andre Fili (145.5)
  • Martin Buday (264.5) vs. Shamil Gaziev (259.5)

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

UFC 296 pre-event facts: Inside the numbers of UFC’s stacked 2023 finale

The best facts and figures about UFC 296, which features a loaded card of title fights, contender matchups and notable names with records.

The UFC goes out with a bang for its final event of 2023 on Saturday as a loaded UFC 296 is scheduled to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the main card set to air on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on ESPN+.

The 43rd and final card of the year features two championship fights at the top of the bill. In the main event, [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] (20-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) puts his welterweight title on the line against [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC), while in the co-headliner, [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag] (26-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) looks to defend flyweight gold for the first time in a rematch with [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 5-2 UFC).

The rest of the card features a mix of contenders, familiar names and more with history inside the octagon. For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC 296.

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Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Sept. 25-Oct. 1)

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 Sept. 25-Oct. 1.