Tag: Jamie Pickett

2024 MMA retirement tracker: A list of those who hung up the gloves

Here’s a list of every notable retirement announced by fighters from the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and more in 2024.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

MMA is a constantly evolving sport with a revolving door of athletes entering and exiting. Currently, fighters from the era who helped make the sport so popular are beginning to trickle away from competition and hang up their gloves in order to move on to the next chapter in life.

If there’s one thing that’s well known about combat sports retirements, though, it’s that they often don’t last long. The urge to compete, and perhaps more importantly get a payday, will continue to drive fighters back even well beyond their expiration dates.

2024 has already seen a number of notable fighters announcing they are done with the sport, and we have a list of those who have opted to walk away this year (the list will update as new retirements are announced).

Jamie Pickett breaks down UFC retirement: ‘I want to play with my children when I get older’

The theme going around at UFC Fight Night 238 on Saturday seemed to be “Family comes first.”

LAS VEGAS – The theme going around at UFC Fight Night 238 on Saturday seemed to be “Family comes first.”

Tyson Pedro announced a somewhat surprising retirement after a decision loss in the co-main event, and a few fights prior [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag] did the same thing. Pickett (13-11 MMA, 2-7 UFC) dropped a decision to Eryk Anders (16-8 MMA, 8-9 UFC) to close out the prelims at the UFC Apex.

At 35, the North Carolina native said he wants to focus on spending time with his kids.

“I’m retiring. I knew it coming (into the fight),” Pickett told MMA Junkie and other reporters backstage after UFC Fight Night 238. “I was going to go out of here and leave it on the table and win. I have some issues I just don’t talk about. I’m not one of those people to make excuses about anything. If I lose a fight, I lost a fight. It doesn’t matter who it is about, what it is. … My losses are my losses, but I’ve had some problems for a while and I just don’t like to talk about them. I want to play with my children when I get older.”

Pickett wrapped up his UFC run with five straight losses, and it seems all of them could have an asterisk by them for him in terms of outside-the-ordinary fight things that happened.

He took a short-notice fight against Kyle Daukaus that was such a quick turnaround it was at a 195-pound contract weight. He lost by submission to start his five-fight skid. He lost to Denis Tiuliulin not long after Tiuliulin lost a point for a low blow.

He had to wait out a Bo Nickal injury and reschedule with him for what ultimately was a submission loss. Against Josh Fremd this past August, Fremd missed weight by three pounds. Against Anders this past Saturday, he finally seemed to have a “normal” fight, and he even knocked Anders down in the first round.

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“I’m not a person to make excuses and land on a crutch,” Pickett said. “I’ve never done that in my whole life. I’ve took the hard way around, everything I’ve ever done. I’m a hard worker, and I do what I have to do to make ends for my family. I’ve got a 6-year-old, and I’ve got kids that count on me, my little girls, and I want to be a positive role model in their lives.

“I want to show them, I want to help them, guide them through life, navigate through the world, and I can’t do it if I’m messed up from fighting. I’ve talked to two doctors about things. My body’s just not holding up. I love the sport. I’m very appreciative that UFC let me fight out my contract. If they came right now and told me they’d give me another two contracts, the answer would still be the same.”

Pickett got into the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020 with a second-round TKO win. In an absolute rarity, Pickett’s DWCS win came in his third shot. In 20127, he was submitted by Charles Byrd. Two wins later, he got another shot, but dropped a decision to Punahele Soriano.

But the third time was the charm, and it led to nine fights in the promotion starting when he was 32.

“I’ve done everything I could do,” Pickett said. “I got in the UFC late, and I tried my best to make up for that. … I took care of almost every fight they’ve ever asked. I took it on short notice – I took it on seven days’ notice. I never said no, except for one time (against Alex Pereira), because I wanted to be something in this sport. But I got in a little too late, and I’m pretty banged up.

“Tonight, I tried to give everything I had. I wanted to put on a show for the fans. I wanted to make people where I’m from proud. I come from a very small county. I went from a troubled kid to someone who’s looked at as a role model. I’ve done a lot from where I’m from. It might not be a lot to a lot of people, but where I come from, it’s a lot. So, that’s it.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 post-event facts: Umar Nurmagomedov on the rise in bantamweight books

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 238, which saw Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Muhammad Mokaev and Umar Nurmagomedov make noise.

The UFC opened its March schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 238, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The main event saw [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) overcome a slow start to batter [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a referee TKO stoppage after the end of the fourth round, putting him back on the winning track.

For more on the numbers behind the card, which featured six finishes in 11 fights – and a couple of them unique – check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $24 million

UFC Fight Night 238 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 238 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $133,500.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 238 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Vitor Petrino[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tyson Pedro[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Bekzat Almakhan[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Eryk Anders[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Vinicius Oliveira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Bernardo Sopaj[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Aiemann Zahabi[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Javid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Christian Leroy Duncan[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Claudio Ribeiro[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Ludovit Klein[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]A.J. Cunningham[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady[/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 2381 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: $1,362,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $24,069,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC Fight Night 238 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 238 took place Saturday with 11 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 238 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 238.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC fights announced in the past week (Nov. 27-Dec 3.)

All the 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 Nov. 27-Dec. 3.

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.

Josh Fremd: Jamie Pickett ‘very explosive,’ but I think I can break him

Josh Fremd knows Jamie Pickett won’t be an easy outing, but will look to overwhelm him.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Josh Fremd[/autotag] knows [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag] won’t be an easy outing, but will look to overwhelm him.

Fremd (10-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) meets Pickett (13-9 MMA, 2-5 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 51 main card opener at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.

With Pickett having dropped three straight, Fremd is expecting a sense of urgency from him, but will look to put him away.

“I think that he’s a very explosive, athletic, tough fighter,” Fremd told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Thursday’s media day. “I think he’s very similar to the last guy I fought, (Sedrique Dumas) – just a better version of him, if you will. I think he’s going to be tougher a little bit, but I think I can break him. … I do see a finish.”

Fremd was just in a similar situation to Pickett in the lead-up to his past fight against Sedriques Dumas in March. But the LFA alum remained level headed, and not only was he able to snap a two-fight losing skid, but he also handed Dumas his first-career loss when he submitted in Round 2.

“Honestly, I know it’s hard to believe, but there was no pressure,” Fremd said. “I knew where I stood. I know where I stand. I just knew that I needed to go out there and fight. At the end of the day, it’s a fight. All this extra cameras and microphones and all that, it’s just extra to it. This is a fight, and I just needed to go out there and fight.

“That’s what I told my coach about this fight here. I’m in the same predicament. I just need to go out there and fight. There is no pressure because if I felt the pressure, that means I didn’t do the right things in camp, I didn’t do the right things to prepare myself. So I’m prepared. Even though it was short notice, I was prepared. It is what it is.”

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

Jamie Pickett seeks redemption, sees UFC on ESPN 51 as ‘do or die’ fight

Jamie Pickett knows his back is against the wall at UFC on ESPN 51.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag] knows his back is against the wall at UFC on ESPN 51.

Pickett (13-9 MMA, 2-5 UFC) will look to snap a three-fight losing skid when he faces Josh Fremd (10-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) on Saturday’s main card opener at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.

Pickett’s most recent setback came against highly touted Bo Nickal at UFC 285 – a controversial submission loss which he later appealed. Pickett claimed he was struck below the belt by Nickal, but the referee didn’t catch it. That led to the fight-ending sequence where Nickal took him down and submitted him in Round 1. Pickett’s appeal was rejected when the Nevada State Athletic Commission saw no evidence of a low blow.

“I’m sure everybody saw it,” Pickett told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Thursday’s media day. “I mean, I don’t really b*tch about things. I don’t really say much about anything. Stuff happens. It is what it is.”

Pickett thinks he’s yet to live up to his full potential. He chalks it off to unfortunate circumstances.

“I’ll just say I took a lot of these fights short notice, or taking them right after a fight because I was asked,” Pickett said. “The Bo Nickal fight, I was trained and ready to go. Then things happened. Things just didn’t happen in my favor. I don’t blame anybody, but the UFC offered me a chance to redeem myself and I’m going to take that and run away with it.”

Pickett knows a loss will likely lead to his walking papers, so is looking to make a statement against Fremd.

“(It’s) do or die,” Pickett said. “(I have to) go out there, put hands on him, get him out of there – get him out of there fast as possible.”

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