Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out what the UFC Fight Night 232 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.
LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 232 took place Saturday with 14 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 232 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 232.
Joanderson Brito was getting annoyed with his opponent’s complaints, but choked him out and celebrated by disrobing at UFC Fight Night 232.
Featherweight finisher [autotag]Joanderson Brito[/autotag] was getting a little frustrated with his opponent’s complaints to the ref, but found a way to silence everything in the second round.
In the final preliminary bout of UFC Fight Night 232, Brito (16-3-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) took on Jonathan Pearce (14-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC). It was a close fight with a steady back-and-forth flow. Pearce vocalized a few complaints to the referee during the action though, which prompted Brito to loudly mock him during grappling exchanges against the cage. While on top, Pearce challenged Brito to “get up and do something.”
Challenge accepted.
Brito worked his way back to his feet, and slapped on a sneaky ninja choke against the fence, and Pearce couldn’t escape. The tap came at 3:43 of Round 2, recording Brito’s fourth consecutive finish. When the referee stopped the fight, Brito popped up off the canvas, took off his fight shorts, and threw his mouthpiece in celebration.
Check out the finish and celebration below (via X):
Closing out the #UFCVegas82 prelims with a BANG 🤯
Joanderson Brito gets the submission victory in round 2! pic.twitter.com/GQDz18vgCs
— UFC (@ufc) November 18, 2023
[lawrence-related id=2697267,2697269,2697275]
With the win, Brito extended his current winning streak to four. Each fight during his run ended before the third round; he finished Andre Fili, Lucas Alexander and Westin Wilson in the first round, and now Pearce in Round 2. Brito dropped a unanimous decision in his debut after an appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, but has since looked like a real future contender.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 232 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.
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. 25-Oct. 1.
Two fighters on the verge of a UFC ranking collide in Las Vegas this November.
A bout between two fighters on the cusp of the UFC featherweight rankings is set for this fall.
[autotag]Jonathan Pearce[/autotag] and [autotag]Joanderson Brito[/autotag] will collide Nov. 18 at a UFC Fight Night event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, multiple people with knowledge of the bout Friday informed MMA Junkie. The people asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Brito (15-3-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) looks to continue momentum off three-straight finish victories against Andre Fili, Lucas Alexander, and most recently, Westin Wilson.
Pearce (14-4 MMA, 5-1 UFC) returns for the first time since tearing his PCL, ACL, and meniscus earlier this year in preparation for a bout vs. Bryce Mitchell, which was later canceled. Pearce rides a five-fight winning streak into the bout.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Nov. 18 includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night.
Our “Spinning Back Clique” discusses which fighter left a lasting impression with their performance at UFC on ESPN 48.
Half of the fights at UFC on ESPN 48 ended early, including the main event.
A number of rising prospects put a stamp on their performances by recording finishes at the UFC Apex, including [autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag], [autotag]Nursulton Ruziboev[/autotag], [autotag]Rinat Fakhretdinov[/autotag], [autotag]Joanderson Brito[/autotag], and [autotag]Elves Brener[/autotag].
A more established name in the middleweight division, [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag], capped off the evening with a finish of Abus Magomedov in the feature bout of the event.
But which performance stood out the most?
Was it Fakhretdinov who spoiled the UFC return of former lightweight interim title challenger Kevin Lee? Was it Brener who shocked many with a stoppage of massive favorite Guram Kutateladze? What about a non-stoppage performance from Michael Morales who picked up a big win over veteran Max Griffin by unanimous decision?
MMA Junkie’s “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Farah Hannoun, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Danny Segura joined host “Gorgeous” George Garcia to discuss which fighter made an impact at the event.
Check out the video above, and the latest complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 48.
Joanderson Brito beat Westin Wilson with a vicious first-round knockout Saturday at UFC on ESPN 47. Then he called out Dan Ige.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Joanderson Brito[/autotag] beat Westin Wilson with a first-round knockout Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 47 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Brito, who won for the third straight time since a loss in his UFC debut.
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC on ESPN 48, where Grant Dawson joined an exclusive club by putting together a nine-fight unbeaten streak in the octagon.
The UFC’s loaded July schedule got off to a hot start on Saturday with UFC on ESPN 48, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and featured six stoppages out of 12 fights.
One of those finishes came in the main event, when [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) held serve as a top middleweight when he turned back [autotag]Abus Magomedov[/autotag] (25-5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) with a second-round TKO before calling for a title shot.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check out MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC on ESPN 48.
UFC on ESPN 47 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 47 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $144,500.
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 47 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC on ESPN 47 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Abus Magomedov[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Grant Dawson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Damir Ismagulov[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Michael Morales[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Max Griffin[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Melissa Gatto[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Ismael Bonfim[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Nursulton Ruziboev[/autotag]: $4,000
def.[autotag]Brunno Ferreira[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Rinat Fakhretdinov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kevin Lee[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Joanderson Brito[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Westin Wilson[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Yana Santos[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Elves Brener[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ivana Petrovic[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Alexandr Romanov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Blagoy Ivanov[/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 $47,000 while title challengers get $47,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-47 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $4,109,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $18,698,000
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 47.
Joanderson Brito brought the heat with a brutal knockout followed by a fiery callout of a top featherweight contender.
[autotag]Joanderson Brito[/autotag] smashed his way to another victory Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
In a featherweight prelim bout at UFC on ESPN 47, Brito (14-3-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) brutally knocked out 14-to-1 underdog [autotag]Westin Wilson[/autotag] (16-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) during a submission attempt. The stoppage came at 2:54 of Round 1.
Wilson was a short-notice replacement who filled in for the withdrawing Khusein Askhabov and was met early with a signature Brito flurry. Wilson tied up Brito, who then took him down. Once on the ground, Wilson, a submission specialist, attempted a kneebar. After he failed to slip his leg out, Brito rained down some powerful right hands that eventually knocked Wilson unconscious.
Brito escapes with a TKO victory #UFCVegas76 pic.twitter.com/O1iYya12BY
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 1, 2023
After the fight, Brito debuted English during his in-cage interview when he called out featherweights Dan Ige and Alex Caceres for a bout in Brazil this November. Brito has won three straight bouts since he lost his promotional debut to Bill Algeo.
Wilson had a three-fight winning streak snapped with the loss.
Why does Brito wanna beat me up
So bad 😂😭 #UFCVegas76— Dan Ige (@Dynamitedan808) July 1, 2023
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 47 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 47.
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 19-25.
