Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out what the UFC 295 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
NEW YORK – UFC 295 took place Saturday with 13 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from Madison Square Garden in New York.
You can hear from all the UFC 295 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
Check out the best photos from Jamall Emmers’ first-round TKO win over Dennis Buzukja at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Jamall Emmers[/autotag]’ first-round TKO win over [autotag]Dennis Buzukja[/autotag] at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photos by Sarah Stier, Getty Images)
Jamall Emmers wasted no time getting the UFC’s 30th anniversary event off to a hot start at Madison Square Garden.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Jamall Emmers[/autotag] wasted no time getting the UFC’s 30th anniversary event off to a hot start at Madison Square Garden.
Emmers (20-7 MMA, 3-3 UFC) needed just 49 seconds to flatten [autotag]Dennis Buzukja[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) with a vicious straight right hand and ground-and-pound to get the TKO stoppage at UFC 295. The bout was at a catchweight after Emmers missed the featherweight limit Friday.
Emmers made up for it with the performance, however, and managed to bring his octagon record back to .500.
Check out the replay of the finish below (via X):
EMMERS STARTS OFF #UFC295 WITH A BANG 💥
Stream #UFC295 NOW on ESPN+ ▶️ https://t.co/2KZBNgp0yD pic.twitter.com/oV8S34pylY
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 11, 2023
Easy day in the office for @PrettyBoyEmmers 💪
He leaves tonight with a first round TKO! #UFC295 pic.twitter.com/BJnwVGnUdO
— UFC (@ufc) November 11, 2023
“I had a lot of setbacks,” Emmers said while trying to contain his emotions during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “F*ck.”
The result marked the first stoppage loss of Buzukja’s career. Emmers, meanwhile, continued his up-and-down run in recent years, alternating wins and losses over his past seven fights.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
Check out results from the UFC 295 weigh-ins in New York, where the vacant light heavyweight and interim heavyweight titles are on the line.
NEW YORK – MMA Junkie was at Friday’s official UFC 295 fighter weigh-ins, which took place at the UFC host hotel in New York and preceded the ceremonial weigh-ins for the fans at 5 p.m. ET at The Theater at MSG in New York.
The attached Madison Square Garden hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
Among those who weighed in were former light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and ex-middleweight champ [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (8-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who meet for the vacant 205-pound title. Pereira will attempt to become the UFC’s newest two-division titleholder. In the co-feature, the interim heavyweight title is on the line between [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC).
The four title fight combatants made weight in the first 90 minutes, but two undercard fighters closed the two-hour window with misses.
[autotag]Jamall Emmers[/autotag] registered at 147, one pound over the featherweight limit, for his fight vs. [autotag]Dennis Buzukja[/autotag]. He was followed by [autotag]Roosevelt Roberts[/autotag], who took a lightweight fight vs. [autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag] on less than one week’s notice and weighed 158 pounds, two pounds over the divisional limit.
According to the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) protocols, only title fight combatants receive an additional hour to hit their marks so Emmers and Roberts were one-and-done on the scale.
At the time of publication, statuses of the fights and fines are unknown. This story will be updated when confirmation is received.
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The full UFC 295 weigh-in results include:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews, 8 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
* = misses featherweight limit by one pound
** = misses lightweight limit by two pounds
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
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. 11-17.
Josh Emmett and Justin Tafa suffered graphic injuries at UFC on ABC 5 and are among those suspended indefinitely by the Florida commission.
UFC on ABC 5 took place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. and featured 13 fights.
There were back-and-forth battles, knockouts, an eye gouge, and a submission. Through these fights, the athletes involved sustained injuries that will put them on the shelf for some time, unless cleared by a doctor.
Tuesday, MMA Junkie acquired a list of athlete medical suspensions from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), the sanctioning body that oversaw the event. The DBPR does not disclose injury specifics, but does show the durations of the suspension.
Atop the card, [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] proved he’s a premiere contender when he dominated [autotag]Josh Emmett[/autotag] en route to a unanimous decision, including a rare 10-7 scorecard. The two headliners were suspended indefinitely by DBPR afterward.
Seven fighters total were handed indefinite suspensions, while two were handed terms of specific durations and the rest of the card was cleared on fight night. Fighters are permitted to return prior to the end of their assigned durations if they are cleared by a doctor.
Scroll below to see the suspensions for the full UFC on ABC 5 card.
UFC on ABC 5 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ABC 5 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $174,000.
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 ABC 5 takes place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. The main card airs on ABC following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
The full UFC on ABC 5 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Josh Emmett[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Austen Lane[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Justin Tafa[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]David Onama[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Gabriel Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Brendan Allen[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Bruno Silva[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Neil Magny[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Phil Rowe[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Randy Brown[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Wellington Turman[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Tabatha Ricci[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Gillian Robertson[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Zhalgas Zhumagulov[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Jose Mariscal[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Trevor Peek[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jack Jenkins[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jamall Emmers[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Sedriques Dumas[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Cody Brundage[/autotag]: $6,000
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 $40,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-40 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $3,964,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $18,553,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 5.
Check out the best photos from Jack Jenkins’ split decision win over Jamall Emmers at UFC on ABC 5 in Jacksonville.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Jack Jenkins[/autotag]’ split decision win over [autotag]Jamall Emmers[/autotag] at UFC on ABC 5 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. (Photos by David Yeazell, USA TODAY Sports)
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 May 16-21.
Jamall Emmers thinks he won’t be an unknown anymore after his UFC Fight Night 219 upset of 2-1 favorite Khusein Askhabov in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jamall Emmers[/autotag] beat Khusein Askhabov with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 219 in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Emmers, who pulled off an upset and handed 2-1 favorite Askhabov his first loss.
