Rafa Garcia overcame a point deduction to tap out Jesse Ronson at UFC on ESPN 34.
[autotag]Rafa Garcia[/autotag] spoiled [autotag]Jesse Ronson[/autotag]’s return to competition Saturday with a slick submission win at UFC on ESPN 34.
It was one-way traffic for Garcia (14-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in the lightweight bout, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. He established grappling superiority in the first round over Ronson (21-11 MMA, 0-4 UFC), but hurt his own chances by having a point deducted due to an illegal knee on a getup.
The point deduction appeared to only boost Garcia’s aggression for a finish, though. In Round 2, he got Ronson back on the mat, secured a rear-naked choke and forced the tapout.
Check out the replay of Garcia’s handiwork below (via Twitter):
After losing his first pair of UFC fights, Garcia has now turned things around with back-to-back octagon victories. Ronson, meanwhile, remains officially winless under the UFC banner spanning across two stints that date back to 2013.
Jesse Ronson has been suspended by USADA for 20 months after testing positive out-of-competition for a metabolite of metandienone.
UFC welterweight [autotag]Jesse Ronson[/autotag] has accepted a 20-month U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspension after testing positive for banned metabolite metandienone as the result of a sample collected out-of-competition just days before his return to the UFC.
The test was conducted July 22, four days before his “Performance of the Night” submission of Nicolas Dalby at UFC on ESPN 14.
According to a statement by USADA, “Metandienone (also known as methandienone) is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and UFC Prohibited List.”
Here is USADA’s statement on the matter:
“USADA announced today that Jesse Ronson, of London, Ontario, Canada, has accepted a 20-month sanction for a violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.
Ronson, 34, tested positive for metabolite of metandienone (18-nor-17β-hydroxymethyl-17α-methylandrosta-1,4,13-triene-3-one) as the result of a sample collected out-of-competition on July 22, 2020. Metandienone (also known as methandienone) is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and UFC Prohibited List.
Upon being added to the UFC Anti-Doping Program, athletes are required to declare all medications and supplements they have used in the previous 12 months. An athlete who declares the prior use of a prohibited substance will not be deemed to have committed a violation but, depending on the substance, may be required to refrain from competition for a period of at least six months and provide at least two negative samples. Ronson did not declare the use of metandienone on his onboarding declaration forms.
Ronson received a reduction to the period of ineligibility for his Full and Complete Cooperation under the revised UFC ADP announced on November 25, 2019.
Ronson’s 20-month period of ineligibility began on July 22, 2020, the date his positive sample was collected.”
Ronson’s (22-10 MMA, 1-3 UFC) 20-month suspension is retroactive to the administration of the test, meaning he will be eligible to return March 22, 2022.
Check out what Jesse Ronson had to say after his submission win at UFC on ESPN 14.
ABU DHABI – [autotag]Jesse Ronson[/autotag] beat Nicolas Dalby with a first-round read-naked choke finish Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 14 in Abu Dhabi.
Take a look inside the fight with Ronson, who returned to the UFC for the first time in six years.
“I figured out all his little shoulder jukes and everything else, and I could time him. Did I think I was gonna get the submission? No. Nobody’s ever finished this guy, and he’s fought some really good guys. Does that mean I’m better than those guys? Absolutely not. MMA math doesn’t make sense. I was hoping for the TKO, but he’s got a hard head, and he just presented his neck when he turned. And I’m not letting go. I’m gonna steal your soul. I just squeezed the crap out of him.”
On what it means to finally get his first UFC win
“It’s unbelievable. I’ve been waiting for this my whole life to get that UFC win ever since I turned pro. It eluded me in 2013 and 2014, but it’s better than a birthday and better than Christmas. … A lot of people would’ve quit, and they would’ve stopped. A lot of people have quit. They make it to the UFC, doesn’t work out, and they just quit. That’s not me. I’ll never stop. I was born to fight. I was born to punch people in the face. I knew there was a lot of growing that needed to be done, especially as a fighter and as a man and as a human being, and I’ve done all that. It sucks that it’s taken this long. I’m 34 now. I’ll go back to this this line: Now that I’m here, and I’ve got this win, I’m here for a good time. Hopefully it lasts a long, and I’m gonna make the most of my time.”
On almost quitting during his long road back
“After I got released from the UFC, they told me get a couple of wins, and we’ll take you back. I got a couple of wins, and they didn’t take me back. And I dropped three in a row. At that point, I took a big, deep breath and I was like, ‘Is this it?’ It took a lot of people close to me telling me, ‘Jesse, you shouldn’t give up.’ At that time, TKO came back, and I always wanted to be a champion there. … So I went there, got on a hot streak, won two titles. It gave me my confidence back. It gave me that ability to grow up and flourish and become the man that I am today to get that ‘W’ I got today. It’s been to hell and back, and here I am.”
Fabricio Werdum and Paul Craig were among those who name-dropped their preferred next opponents at UFC on ESPN 14 in Abu Dhabi.
Earning wins in the UFC is certainly no easy task, but what comes next is often even more important: the post-fight callout.
So after Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 14 event in Abu Dhabi, who took advantage of their time on the mic? See below for this week’s Callout Collection – and just how realistic each one is.
* * * * *
First up, let’s take a look at the preliminary card …
Nathaniel Wood
Wants to fight: [autotag]John Dodson[/autotag]
The callout: “I’d love to come back here, it’s been an absolutely amazing experience. If the UFC do keep this venue here up and running, I’d love to get back on here. I’d like a rematch with John Dodson at some point, but I understand that (the matchmakers) won’t give that to me necessarily, so just whoever the matchmakers want me to fight, I’ll take whoever the UFC give me.”
The reality: [autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag] knows that he’s unlikely to get a rematch with John Dodson straight away, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to plant the seed in the matchmakers’ minds. The Brit was set to face undefeated debutant Umar Nurmagomedov on “Fight Island” but the death of his uncle – and father of cousin Khabib – Abdulmanap meant he withdrew from the event. Wood stayed on the card and showed off his evolving striking game against game debutant John Castaneda. Wood will have to take on, and beat, more established opposition before he can get his rematch, but after another performance full of positives, the Brit is trending in the right direction again.
Next up: Rising featherweight targets fellow hot prospect.
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC on ESPN 14, which saw Robert Whittaker score a main-event win over Darren Till in Abu Dhabi.
The final stop of the UFC’s inaugural “Fight Island” stretch took place Saturday with UFC on ESPN 14, which went down at Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi with a record 15-fight card that aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
Former UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] (21-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) rebounded from losing the title to Israel Adesanya last October when he outworked [autotag]Darren Till[/autotag] (18-3-1 MMA, 6-3-1 UFC) to a unanimous decision in the main event.
For more on the numbers behind the historic fight card, check below for 50 post-event facts to come out of UFC on ESPN 14.
The six fight-night bonuses issued at UFC on ESPN 14 set a single-event record for the company.
UFC on ESPN 14 drew an announced attendance of zero for a live gate of $0.
Betting favorites went 11-4 on the card.
Betting favorites improved to 14-6 in UFC headliners this year.
Total fight time for the 15-bout card was 2:40:24.
Main card
Robert Whittaker
Whittaker improved to 9-1 since he moved up to the UFC middleweight division in November 2014.
Whittaker has earned seven of his 12 UFC victories by decision.
Till fell to 1-1 since he moved up to the middleweight division in November.
Till suffered the first decision loss of his career.
[autotag]Mauricio Rua[/autotag]’s (27-11-1 MMA, 11-9-1 UFC) 23 victories in UFC/PRIDE light-heavyweight competition are the most in combined divisional history.
[autotag]Antonio Rogerio Nogueira[/autotag] (23-10 MMA, 6-7 UFC) fell to 2-5 in his past seven fights dating back to July 2014.
Nogueira has suffered six of his 10 career losses by decision.
Werdum (24-9-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) improved to 10-4 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in February 2012.
Werdum has earned 18 of his 24 career victories by stoppage. That includes eight of his 12 UFC wins.
[autotag]Alexander Gustafsson[/autotag]’s (18-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since May 2017.
Gustafsson was unsuccessful in his heavyweight debut.
Gustafsson fell to 3-6 in his past nine UFC appearances dating back to his first title fight against Jon Jones in September 2013.
Carla Esparza
[autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag] (17-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) improved to 7-3 since losing the UFC strawweight title to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in March 2015.
Esparza’s eight victories in UFC strawweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Jedrzejczyk (10).
Esparza’s four-fight UFC winning streak at strawweight is the fourth longest active streak in the division behind Tatiana Suarez (five), Yan Xiaonan (five) and Zhang Weili (five).
Esparza has earned seven of her eight UFC victories by decision.
Esparza’s 39 takedowns landed in UFC strawweight competition are most in divisional history.
[autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag] (13-1-2 MMA, 2-1-2 UFC) had her 15-fight unbeaten streak snapped for the first defeat of her career.
Craig (13-4-1 MMA, 5-4-1 UFC) has earned all of his career victories by stoppage.
Craig became the first fighter in UFC history to win three separate fights by triangle choke submission.
Craig’s five submission victories in UFC light heavyweight competition are tied with Jones, Misha Cirkunov, Ovince Saint Preux, and Glover Teixeira for most in divisional history.
[autotag]Gadzhimurad Antigulov[/autotag] (21-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has suffered all eight of his career losses by stoppage.
Antigulov suffered his first submission loss since Apr. 27, 2013 – a span of 2,646 days (more than seven years) and 18 fights.
[autotag]Alex Oliveira[/autotag] (21-8-1 MMA, 11-6 UFC) improved to 9-5 (with one no contest) in UFC welterweight competition.
[autotag]Peter Sobotta[/autotag] (17-7-1 MMA, 4-6 UFC) fell to 4-3 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in May 2014.
Sobotta has suffered four of his six UFC losses by decision.
Khamzat Chimaev
Chimaev (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) set a record for fastest time between UFC wins with two victories in 10 days.
Chimaev earned a fight-night bonus for both of his wins.
Chimaev has earned all eight of his career victories by stoppage. He’s finished five of those wins in Round 1.
[autotag]Rhys McKee[/autotag] (10-3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career stoppage losses by knockout.
Preliminary card
Francisco Trinaldo
[autotag]Francisco Trinaldo[/autotag]’s (26-7 MMA, 16-6 UFC) 15 victories in UFC lightweight competition are tied for fourth most in divisional history behind Jim Miller (19), Donald Cerrone (17) and Gleison Tibau (16).
[autotag]Jai Herbert[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career losses by knockout.
Ronson (22-10 MMA, 1-3 UFC) was successful in his return to the UFC after going winless in his first stint from 2013-2014.
[autotag]Nicolas Dalby[/autotag] (18-4-1 MMA, 2-3-1 UFC) fell to 1-1 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in September.
Dalby suffered the first submission loss of his career.
Aspinall (8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned all eight of his career victories by stoppage.
[autotag]Jake Collier[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) was unsuccessful in his UFC heavyweight debut.
Collier has alternated wins and losses over his past eight fights.
Collier has suffered four of his five career losses by stoppage.
[autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] (13-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.
[autotag]Mike Grundy[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) had his nine-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
Grundy suffered the first decision loss of his career.
Tanner Boser
Boser (19-6-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) earned his second UFC victory in a 28-day stretch. He also won at UFC on ESPN 12 on June 27.
Raphael Pessoa (10-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has suffered both of his career losses by stoppage.
Pessoa suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
[autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has earned nine of her 12 career victories by decision. That includes both of her UFC wins.
[autotag]Ramazan Emeev[/autotag] (19-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) improved to 3-1 since he dropped to the UFC welterweight division in May 2018.
Emeev improved to 16-2 in his past 18 fights.
Emeev has earned all four of his UFC victories by decision.
[autotag]Niklas Stolze[/autotag] (12-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered all four of his career losses by decision.
[autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) earned his first decision victory since Nov. 14, 2015 – a span of 1,715 days (nearly five years) and 11 fights.
[autotag]John Castaneda[/autotag] (17-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first decision loss of his career.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
UFC on ESPN 14 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that launched after the UFC’s deal with Reebok.
ABU DHABI – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 14 event took home event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $209,500
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 on ESPN 14 took place at Flash Forum in Yas Island. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC on ESPN 14 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Reebok’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 $3,500 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,000; 6-10 bouts get $5,000; 11-15 bouts earn $10,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $15,000; and 21 bouts and more get $20,000. Additionally, champions earn $40,000 while title challengers get $30,000.
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 2020 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Check out all the fighter walkout songs from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 14 event.
While it takes intense training, world-class skills and maybe even a bit of luck to register a UFC win, picking the right song to accompany you to the cage is a key talent, as well.
See what the fighters from UFC on ESPN 14 went with as their backing tracks in Abu Dhabi.
[autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag]: “I’m A Man” by Black Strobe
[autotag]John Castaneda[/autotag]: “Run This Town” by Jay-Z
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
A marathon 15-fight show meant six post-fight bonuses instead of the usual four on Saturday night.
[autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] set a modern-day UFC record Saturday when he earned his second victory in 10 days, the shortest span between octagon wins since the days of one-night tournaments.
He’s also earned $100,000 more than his fight purses over that time span after notching his second “Performance of the Night” bonus in as many bouts.
Chimaev (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) overwhelmed Rhys McKee in a welterweight fight on the main card of UFC on ESPN 14 at Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The Russian competitor completely shut down his foe before earning the TKO stoppage at 3:09 of the opening round. For that, he took home “POTN” and an extra $50,000.
Previously, Chimaev’s first-round TKO of John Phillips in a middleweight fight at UFC on ESPN 13 also earned him a bonus.
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Meanwhile, with 15 fights on the show, the most since UFC 2 in 1994, the company handed out six post-fight bonuses, as opposed to the usual four. The remainder of the “Performance of the Night” winners were:
[autotag]Tanner Boser,[/autotag] the Canadian heavyweight who took a second-round KO victory over Raphael Pessoa
[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag], who in his UFC debut stopped Jake Collier via TKO just 45 seconds into their heavyweight fight
[autotag]Jesse Ronson,[/autotag] who, with a first-round submission of Nicolas Dalby, earned his very first UFC win after six years away from the promotion
[autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag], who submitted Gadzhimurad Antigulov in the first round of their light heavyweight bout
[autotag]Fabricio Werdum[/autotag], the former UFC heavyweight champion, who had a first-round submission of Alexander Gustafsson and earned his fourth career postfight bonus
Jesse Ronson finally made it back to the UFC after all these years and wasn’t about to waste the opportunity away.
Seven years removed from his first time stepping inside the octagon, [autotag]Jesse Ronson[/autotag] has his first career UFC win.
Ronson, the 34-year-old out of London, Ontario, Canada, first joined the promotion in 2013 and found himself on one of the hardest-luck stretches imaginable, as he dropped three consecutive decisions to legit competition in Michel Prazeres, Francisco Trinaldo and Kevin Lee.
That last one in 2014 was his final UFC bout … until Saturday at UFC on ESPN 14. This time, Ronson (22-10 MMA, 1-3 UFC) wasn’t letting it go to the judges.
In a welterweight undercard matchup, Ronson, usually a lightweight, wasted little time getting the job done in a first-round victory over Nicolas Dalby.
Ronson, who took the fight on short notice, hit Dalby (18-4-1 MMA, 2-3-1 UFC) with a right hand and then dropped him with a left. He followed up with elbows on the mat, then when Dalby gave up his back, Ronson sunk in a rear-naked choke for the submission at the 2:48 mark.
[lawrence-related id=538223,538252]
Ronson didn’t hide his feelings about his long journey back to the UFC.
“It was to hell and back. I clawed tooth and nail to get back here,” Ronson said in his post-fight interview. “To hell with all that. Here I am. I’m freakin’ back.”
