Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The UFC’s 2024 campaign will soon kick off – and the first card of the year has experienced a makeover.
The first UFC event of 2024 has been hit with multiple lineup changes.
UFC Fight Night 234 takes place Jan. 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+. The lineup currently sits at 13 fights.
Over the past three days, however, that number has fluctuated with three withdrawals and two additions, as follows:
Nineteen indefinite suspensions were handed out after UFC 295, per the New York State Athletic Commission.
UFC 295 took place Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York and featured 13 fights.
On Monday, MMA Junkie acquired a list of athlete medical suspensions from the New York State Athletic Commission, the sanctioning body that oversaw the event. Most injury specifics were not disclosed.
Nineteen of the 26 combatants were given indefinite suspensions and will need to be cleared by a doctor before they return. That’s a high number of indefinite suspensions compared to the average UFC event, although the NYSAC may have different safety protocols compared to other regulatory bodies. All 26 fighters were also given mandatory suspensions, which vary from seven days to 90 days.
Check out the full list of medical suspensions from UFC 295 below.
Joshua Van entered the UFC with a 100 percent finish rate but has earned decisions in his first two octagon appearances.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag] shined at UFC 295, but he didn’t get the finish he was looking for.
Myanmar’s Van (9-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) defeated Kevin Borjas (9-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) by unanimous decision this past Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Van entered the UFC with a 100 percent finish rate, but his first two octagon wins have come by decision.
“I’m feeling great, but at the same time I feel a little bit of disappointment,” Van told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “Because last time I told you guys I was going to get the finish. We didn’t get the finish, so I guess next time for sure.”
Van had Borjas hurt to the body multiple times but said he was too tentative throughout the fight.
“The thing is I was trying to time his timing,” Van said. “I was trying to get his timing right. So, I think I waited too long and that’s what got me messed up in the fight. Next time I’ll push the pace from the start to the finish.”
Having competed five times in 2022, and just twice in 2023, Van would love it if he could return as soon as possible.
“What’s next for me is they told me I’ve got to wait seven days to fight, so I want to fight next week,” Van said. “But I want to stay as active as possible, you know, while I’m young.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=420030788]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
The best facts from UFC 295, which saw Alex Pereira join the two-division title club in less fights than the eight names before him.
The UFC’s penultimate numbered event of the year, UFC 295 from Madison Square Garden in New York, proved to be arguably the best of the bunch.
Two new champions were crowned to close out a lineup that saw eight stoppages in 13 fights. In the main event, [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) picked up the vacant light heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] (29-4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), while [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) claimed the interim heavyweight strap in the co-main event with a 69-second knockout of [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] (17-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC).
For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 295.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 295 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $272,500.
NEW YORK – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 295 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $272,500.
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 295 took place at Madison Square Garden. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.
The full UFC 295 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag]: $32,000
[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag]: $32,000
[autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Pat Sabatini[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Tabatha Ricci[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Roosevelt Roberts[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Nazim Sadykhov[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Viacheslav Borshchev[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Jared Gordon[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Mark Madsen[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]John Castaneda[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Kyung Ho Kang[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kevin Borjas[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jamall Emmers[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Dennis Buzukja[/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 $4,500; 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: $7,305,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $21,824,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
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 Joshua Van’s unanimous decision win over Kevin Borjas at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Kevin Borjas[/autotag] at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photos by Sarah Stier, Getty Images)
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 Aug. 14-20.
Dana White’s Contender Series will return this summer. Check out the fighters and fights that have been booked thus far.
Dana White’s Contender Series, Season 7 is in the works.
DWCS debuted in 2017 with an eight-episode inaugural season. Season 2 was held in 2018 with eight episodes, followed by a three-episode DWCS: Brasil. In 2019, DWCS was extended to 10 episodes for its third season. The length was repeated in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Each season, the number of fighters signed has increased. Thus far, the show has produced UFC notables including Sean O’Malley, Maycee Barber, Geoff Neal, Ryan Spann, Sodiq Yusuff, Jamahal Hill, Taila Santos, Johnny Walker, Alex Perez, Bo Nickal, Jailton Almeida, Jack Della Maddalena, and Marina Rodriguez among others.
In recent weeks, the UFC matchmakers have been gearing up for a summer DWCS return, expected to launch Aug. 8. Athletes and matchups have slowly but surely been booked. The number of episodes for Season 7 is not yet known.
Scroll below to see the latest athletes and fights booked, which have been confirmed by MMA Junkie or posted about by the fighters involved. This list will be updated as more fighters and matchups come to light.
From Myanmar to Malaysia to Houston, it was an improbable journey for Joshua Van to make UFC history.
[autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag] remembers asking his mother why they had to live in Houston. Why couldn’t they just go back home where things were familiar?
He was 12 years old at the time, and Van wanted to go back to where he lived the first decade of his life, in Myanmar. Life wasn’t easy for an undersized pre-teen who spoke little English and was picked on during school for both of those attributes.
Looking back, the math adds up that he’d become the first Burmese fighter to compete in the UFC.
“I was a small kid,” Van recently told MMA Junkie. “From where I come from, you get picked on. It’s kind of like I fight everyday, and I got to the point where I enjoyed fighting. I watched clips on street fights and how to win street fights. I tried it in my next fight and things like that. That’s what got me into my career.”
Van grew up one of five siblings in Myanmar, a country ridden with military and political conflict. When things increasingly worsened, Van’s parents decided to move to Malaysia. Van was 10 years old.
“The military in Myanmar is always bad,” Van said. “It got worse. At that time, my parents were looking for a better education and a better job, things like that. They were thinking about us, the kids. They wanted to come over here and were looking for a bigger education and freedom.”
[lawrence-related id=2656867,2656848]
Three years later, Van and his family moved to the United States and settled in Houston, where he still resides today. Bullying and his love for Bruce Lee formulated a love for MMA.
In 2020, Van made his amateur debut before he turned professional in 2021.
After a 2-1 start to his pro tenure, Van went on an atypical run up the regional ladder. He won Fury FC gold in December and was signed for a short-notice bout UFC on ABC 5 in June.
The signing was historic as Van became his native country’s first to make the UFC walk. But the history didn’t stop there. Van also notched Myanmar’s first win in promotion history June 24 when he defeated Zhalgas Zhumagulov via split decision.
The Burmese love poured in.
“It meant a lot of things for me,” Van said. “It meant everything to me, to be able to represent my country on the biggest stage. It felt amazing, man. The only thing was I can’t have my flag in there, man. If I was able to have the Myanmar flag in there, that would be amazing. That’s the only thing that was going on.”
While the endearment and pride was felt across borders and bodies of water, Van knows for the time being he cannot experience it in person until Myanmar becomes safer.
For the time being, Van will hold fond memories of the first 10 years of his life close to his heart as he continues to be Myanmar’s most prominent MMA flag bearer outside of ONE Championship star Aung La Nsang.
“It was amazing, my memory from Myanmar. I lived there until I was seven or eight and then I moved to Malaysia. Then Malaysia, from there, I came here. Every memory I have over there was amazing, man. Everybody loved everybody. Everybody supported everybody. Everybody was respectful and stuff like that.
“… This platform that I have right now, I feel like the UFC is the biggest platform you can have. I want to the world to see what’s really going on. The military be cutting off our internet and stuff like that. It’s hard for the other part of the world to really know what’s going on and stuff like that. I will use this platform to know what is really going on over there.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 5.
