Tag: Isaac Dulgarian

Isaac Dulgarian pushed past ‘fear of failure’ as biggest betting favorite in UFC history

 Isaac Dulgarian rebounded after the first loss of his career – but also had to go outside the first round for a win for the first time.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag] beat Brendon Marotte with a first-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 242 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Take a look inside the fight with Dulgarian, who rebounded after the first loss of his career – but also had to go outside the first round for a win for the first time.

Isaac Dulgarian def. Brendon Marotte

Isaac Dulgarian

Result: Isaac Dulgarian def. Brendon Marotte via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:19
Updated records: Dulgarian (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), Marotte (8-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC)
Key stats: Dulgarian was the biggest betting favorite in UFC history around -2400.

Dulgarian on the fight’s key moment

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 07: (L-R) Isaac Dulgarian punches Brendon Marotte in a featherweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on September 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

“I wanted to kind of take my time a little bit and show off my striking because I still haven’t gotten to yet. But I feel like he was just an opponent that the UFC gave me, and I just needed to get him out of there as quickly as possible. I just found my takedown and started putting damage, and I realized there’s no way he was getting up. He was trying, but my grappling is another level. He was saying he wrestled better D-I wrestlers than me, and he was lying – blowing smoke out his ass. I’m one of the best wrestlers in the world, so I think I proved that tonight to him.”

Dulgarian on being the biggest favorite in UFC history

Isaac Dulgarian def. Brendon Marotte, UFC Fight Night 242 (via UFC)

“Those thoughts come across your head sometimes, the fear of failure and the feeling of being embarrassed or whatever. But at the end of the day, the people that make the odds, they don’t really know me or anything like that. It’s a fight, so anything can happen. I just really wanted to keep my mind clear and in that fight, in the middle of the second round, right before I found the choke, I just thought of my daughter and I knew I needed to finish this fight so I can go home to her – that was literally it.”

Dulgarian on what he wants next

“I think (when I come back) will be determined on who they give me, what names are being called out, and hopefully I can get a new contract, too. That’s my biggest thing is I want to get on my next contract so I can start actually making some decent money so that I can go out and really invest in my training and get a little bit extra into that. I’ll fight anybody at 145. I was kind of considering going down to 135. I think it’s possible. But I’ve got to get to my next contract so I can afford to get a really good nutritionist and stuff.”

To hear more from Dulgarian, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 242.

UFC Fight Night 242 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Gilbert Burns, Jessica Andrade net $21,000

UFC Fight Night 242 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 242 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $157,500.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 242 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Steve Garcia[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Kyle Nelson[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Cody Durden[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Yanal Ashmouz[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Trevor Peek[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Chris Padilla[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Rong Zhu[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Brendon Marotte[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Andre Lima[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Felipe dos Santos[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Gabriel Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Yi Zha[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jaqueline Amorim[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Vanessa Demopoulos[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Andre Petroski[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Dylan Budka[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Nathan Fletcher[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Zygimantas Ramaska[/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 2421 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: $5,482,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $28,219,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 242.

UFC Fight Night 242 video: Isaac Dulgarian wins as biggest favorite in company history

Isaac Dulgarian entered the cage as a record-setting -2400 betting favorite at UFC Fight Night 242, and his performance lived up to it.

[autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag] had an extra layer of pressure entering his UFC Fight Night 242 matchup with [autotag]Brendon Marotte[/autotag], because he built up to being the biggest betting favorite in UFC history.

When cage announcer Joe Martinez read Dulgarian’s (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) name for his introduction, the pre-fight graphic listed him as a record-setting -2400 betting favorite over Marotte (8-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) for the featherweight bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Dulgarian came out instantly and scored an easy takedown in the first 10 seconds, then delivered a mauling on the mat. Marotte displayed his toughness in eating numerous heavy shots, as well as surviving repeat bad positions and submission attempts.

The fight entered a second round to the surprise of many, but it didn’t make it out of it. Dulgarian got the fight back to the ground in short order and punished Marotte until he secured an arm-triangle choke for the tap at the 4:19 mark of Round 2.

Check out the replay of the finish below (via X):

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1832546575593181218

https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1832547025709097163

 

It was a strong rebound performance from Dulgarian after suffering his first career defeat in his previous bout, and he preached a more methodical win to getting the job done.

“We were focused on being patient this fight,” Dulgarian said in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “Last fight I was pushing a little too hard. We were just patient.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 242 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 242.

UFC Fight Night 239 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Ovince Saint Preux leads with $21,000

UFC Fight Night 239 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 239 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $189,500.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 239 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Bryan Battle[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Ange Loosa[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Ovince Saint Preux[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Christian Rodriguez[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Macy Chiasson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Bryan Barberena[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Mike Davis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Natan Levy[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Chelsea Chandler[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Josiane Nunes[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Jafel Filho[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ode Osbourne[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Danny Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Josh Culibao[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jaqueline Amorim[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Cory McKenna[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Thiago Moises[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Mitch Ramirez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Chad Anheliger[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Charalampos Grigoriou[/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 2391 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: $1,551,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $24,258,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 239.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC fights announced in the past week (Jan. 8-14)

There were 35 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 Jan. 8-14.

Isaac Dulgarian says flashy record is no fluke: ‘I am one of the best in the world’

UFC featherweight Isaac Dulgarian is confident his flashy record is no fluke after another first-round stoppage at UFC on ESPN 51.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag]’s record seems too good to be true to some, but Dulgarian assures he’s the real deal.

The featherweight prospect made his UFC debut this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 51. He stopped his opponent Francis Marshall (7-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) in the first round to further his impressive undefeated record with all first-round stoppages. To some, they may see it as luck, but not Dulgarian (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC).

“It showed that everything I’ve done to this point hasn’t been a fluke,” Dulgarian told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 51 post-fight news conference. “It hasn’t been a joke. I’m here. I’m ready to fight the best in the world, and I am one of the best in the world.”

Dulgarian not only wants to make sure people know his record is not pure luck, but he also wants to let his future rivals know that he’s game to go the distance.

“I don’t want to go three rounds, but I know there’s people in the world that can push me to three rounds,” Dulgarian said. “I’ll keep taking the first-rounders. I try to finish in the first round, always, but I just want people to know I’m going to stick around that whole fight – the whole 15 minutes.”

Dulgarian also thinks he’s being doubted by many, despite his promise.

“People say I haven’t had the toughest opponents, but if you look at anyone in the regional scene, they haven’t had the toughest opponents, either,” Dulgarian said. “People were saying I can’t go three rounds, and I proved I don’t necessarily have to. I can go three rounds with anyone in the world.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.

UFC on ESPN 51 post-event facts: Event ties modern-era record for first-round finishes

Check out all the facts and figures from UFC on ESPN 51, which saw a record-tying number of first-round stoppage results.

The UFC returns to its home base of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday following three weeks on the road with UFC on ESPN 51, which saw nine of 13 fights end inside the distance.

The main event was one of few that needed the judges. [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) managed to outwork former UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag] (33-15 MMA, 21-13 UFC) to a unanimous decision in the welterweight bout and used a lot of grappling to get it done.

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 on ESPN 51.

UFC on ESPN 51 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Two veterans earn max non-title sum of $21,000

UFC on ESPN 51 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 on ESPN 51 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $173,000.

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 on ESPN 51 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC on ESPN 51 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Chris Daukaus[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Iasmin Lucindo[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Polyana Viana[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]AJ Dobson[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Tafon Nchukwi[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Josh Fremd[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Marcus McGhee[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]JP Buys[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Terrance McKinney[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Mike Breeden[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Francis Marshall[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Martin Buday[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Josh Parisian[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jaqueline Amorim[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Montserrat Conejo[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jose Johnson[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Luana Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [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 $4,510; 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 $51,000 while title challengers get $51,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-51 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $5,395,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $19,984,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.

UFC on ESPN 51 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC on ESPN 51 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

LAS VEGAS – UFC on ESPN 51 took place Saturday with 13 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

You can hear from all the UFC on ESPN 51 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.

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.