Hamdy Abdelwahab returns vs. Jamal Pogues at UFC Saudi Arabia

At UFC Saudi Arabia, Egypt’s Hamdy Abdelwahab fights for the first time in two-and-a-half years.

[autotag]Hamdy Abdelwahab[/autotag] is set for his second UFC bout.

At the UFC Fight Night event Feb. 1 expected to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Abdelwahab (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will meet [autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a three-round heavyweight bout.

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

Egypt’s Abdelwahab aims to maintain his perfect undefeated record. He entered the UFC with a 100 percent TKO/knockout rate across gloved and bareknuckle MMA. He has not competed since July 2022, as he’s served a pair of suspensions handed out by UFC anti-doping partners.

[lawrence-related id=2785783,2785786]

Initially, Abdelwahab’s debut was a win by split decision over Don’Tale Mayes. However, after he tested positive for anabolic agent methenolone and subsequent “tampering”, the win was overturned to a no contest. Abdelwahab was suspended two years by USADA.

Following the conclusion of his USADA suspension in July, Abdelwahab was suspended an additional six months by Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) for an additional drug test failure, this time for exogenous testosterone. However, CSAD determined the failure was due to a tainted supplement.

Pogues, 28, debuted after a win on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022. He defeated Josh Parisian in his debut before a loss to Mick Parkin months later. In February, Pogues defeated Thomas Petersen. All three of those fights were unanimous decisions.

With the addition, the UFC Saudi Arabia lineup includes:

  • Ikram Aliskerov vs. Andre Muniz
  • Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
  • Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Jamal Pogues

Three fights into UFC tenure, Jamal Pogues has a request: ‘Keep me in the Apex’

Jamal Pogues got back in the win column at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and thinks maybe he should just make that his regular fighting home.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag] beat Thomas Petersen with a unanimous decision Saturday to open up the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 235 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Take a look inside the fight with Pogues, who got back in the win column after a loss this past July snapped a three-fight streak.

UFC Fight Night 235 post-event facts: Randy Brown is on the rise

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 235, which saw Randy Brown continue his run of success in the loaded welterweight division.

The UFC opened its four-event February schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 235, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

[autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) achieved his first octagon main event win to close out the card when he outworked [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) to a majority decision in their matchup of ranked UFC middleweights.

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 235.

UFC Fight Night 235 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Drew Dober’s $21,000 tops card

UFC Fight Night 235 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 235 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $170,500.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 235 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Randy Brown[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Muslim Salikhov[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Viviane Araujo[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Aliaskhab Khizriev[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Makhmud Muradov[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Charlie Radtke[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Gilbert Urbina[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Diana Belbita[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Charles Johnson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Azat Maksum[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Themba Gorimbo[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Pete Rodriguez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jeong Yeong Lee[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Blake Bilder[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Julija Stoliarenko[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Marquel Mederos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Landon Quinones[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Thomas Petersen[/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 2351 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: $615,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $23,322,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 235.

UFC Fight Night 235 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC Fight Night 235 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 235 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 Fight Night 235 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 235.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Nov. 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 or officially announced by the promotions from Nov. 6-12.

UFC Fight Night 224 post-event facts: Multiple perfect records ruined in London

Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 224, which saw several fighters suffer their first career or octagon defeat.

The UFC made its 15th stop in London on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 224, which went down at The O2. It was the longest event of the year so far.

Many of the 15 fights on the docket went to decisions, but one man who didn’t need the judges was [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who effortlessly ran through [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag] (24-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC) for a first-round TKO in his return from a lengthy injury layoff.

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 224.

UFC Fight Night 224 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Four fighters take home $16,000

UFC Fight Night 224 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

LONDON – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 224 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $225,000.

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 Fight Night 224 took place at the The 02. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 224 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Julija Stoliarenko[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Fares Ziam[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jai Herbert[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Lerone Murphy[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Josh Culibao[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Daniel Marcos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Davey Grant[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jonny Parsons[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Danny Roberts[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Joel Alvarez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Mick Parkin[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Makhmud Muradov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Bryan Barberena[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Chris Duncan[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yanal Ashmoz[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Bruna Brasil[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Shauna Bannon[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jafel Filho[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Daniel Barez[/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 2241 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: $4,780,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $19,369,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.

Mick Parkin def. Jamal Pogues at UFC Fight Night 224: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Mick Parkin’s unanimous decision win over Jamal Pogues at UFC Fight Night 224 at The O2 in London.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Mick Parkin[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 224 at The O2 in London. (Photos by Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (April 24-30)

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 April 24-30.