Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out what the UFC on ESPN 49 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – UFC on ESPN 49 took place Saturday with 13 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 on ESPN 49 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.
Junyong Park will start commanding some attention at 185 pounds if he can extend his streak to four at UFC on ESPN 49.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag] will search for his fourth consecutive octagon win on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 49, but he knows it won’t come easy against Albert Duraev.
“It is going to be a long three rounds,” Park told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 49 media day. “Pretty much like a war.”
Park (16-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) meets Duraev (16-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout at the UFC Apex. The card airs on ESPN, which presents the fighters with a platform to show their skills to a notable audience.
This matchup has been on Park’s raar for several years, he said, and although he expects to have “the upper hand in the striking,” he knows it’s not a layup.
“He’s definitely a fighter I’ve known before I got into UFC,” Park said. Then I got his name I was like, ‘OK, this might be a fight that I can challenge myself to.'”
If Park can extend his winning streak to four fights in this spot, it should set him up to make a leap in the 185-pound pecking order. However, he won’t look beyond the task at hand.
“I really don’t look past this fight,” Park said. “I continue focusing on the fight ahead of me and nothing beyond that point. It’s not even like I look left or right. It’s just focusing on the fight ahead.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.
The best facts and figures about UFC on ESPN 49, where the oldest female on the roster, Holly Holm, looks to make a case for a shot at gold.
Another Saturday, another offering from the UFC as this weekend sees UFC on ESPN 49 go down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The entire fight card airs on ESPN.
Women’s bantamweight contenders, keen to fight for the belt now that Amanda Nunes has retired, take center stage in the main event. Former UFC champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) meets the streaking [autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag] (10-2-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) in a matchup with potential title stakes.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC on ESPN 49.
* * * *
Before UFC on ESPN 49 on Saturday, check out the media interviews with eight athletes Wednesday in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – The UFC schedule for July continues Saturday with UFC on ESPN 49, which takes place at the UFC Apex with a card that airs entirely on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
A women’s bantamweight bout serves as the main event, with former champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) taking on [autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag] (10-2-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) in a key matchup following the recent retirement of former champ Amanda Nunes.
Before fight night arrives, eight athletes from this weekend’s card spoke to reporters Wednesday at media day.
If you happen to miss any of the individual sessions on the live stream above, check below for the archived videos of each media day session.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.
Eight fights into his career with the promotion, Junyong Park still thinks he’s an amateur when it comes to the UFC.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag] beat Denis Tiuliulin with a first-round technical submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 218 in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Park, who won for the third straight time and second straight time by rear-naked choke.
Derrick Lewis, the UFC’s all-time knockout record holder, is on a personal worst losing skid after UFC Fight Night 218.
The UFC opened its February schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 218, which went down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The main event saw [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) continue his climb as a heavyweight contender when he halted former title challenger [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] (26-11 MMA, 17-9 UFC) with a first-round submission.
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 Fight Night 218.
UFC Fight Night 218 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 218 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $136,000
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 Fight Night 218 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 218 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Devin Clark[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Da-un Jung[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Blagoy Ivanov[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Dooho Choi[/autotag]: $6,000
vs. [autotag]Kyle Nelson[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Adam Fugitt[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yusaku Kinoshita[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Anshul Jubli[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jeka Saragih[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jeong Yeong Lee[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yi Zha[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Rinya Nakamura[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Toshiomi Kazama[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Sung Hyun Park[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Seung Guk Choi[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Tatsuro Taira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jesus Santos Aguilar[/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 2187 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2181 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: $632,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $15,151,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 217.
Check out what the UFC Fight Night 218 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.
LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 218 took place Saturday with 12 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from the UFC Apex.
You can hear from all the UFC Fight Night 218 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 218.
Check out the numbers behind UFC Vegas 68, where Derrick Lewis can add to his all-time UFC knockout record.
The UFC opens a busy February schedule on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 218, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.
A heavyweight headliner serves atop the card. The most decorated knockout artist in UFC history returns to competition as [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] (26-10 MMA, 17-8 UFC) looks to buck his losing skid against the streaking [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (15-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC).
For more on the numbers behind the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC Fight Night 218.
Junyong Park submitted Joseph Holmes at UFC Fight Night 213, but the South Korean middleweight was too concerned to celebrate.
LAS VEGAS – A dominant performance that led to a second-round finish wasn’t enough to shake UFC middleweight [autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag]’s concerns.
On the prelims of UFC Fight Night 213 at UFC Apex, Park (15-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) submitted Joseph Holmes with a rear-naked choke to record his second straight victory. As Park’s corner began to celebrate at the moment of the stoppage, the South Korean middleweight motioned for them to quiet down.
What seemed like a “humble in victory, humble in defeat” moment after tapping Holmes (8-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC), Park later revealed his actions had a much deeper meaning. While he usually embodies the previous phrase regardless, this time was different.
“There’s been a tragedy not too long ago in Korea, and as much as I want to celebrate, I’m holding back,” Park told reporters through an interpreter at the post-fight news conference.
[lawrence-related id=2592870,2592819]
During Halloween festivities in South Korea’s capital, 150 people were killed during a crowd surge incident on a narrow street in Seoul.
“I just got word, because the team didn’t want to tell me, that my friend was a part of the tragedy that happened,” Park said. “I just got word that my friend is awake, but my main goal now is to get back, get on my phone, and start making calls back home.”
Park was pleased with his performance because all of his hard work leading up to this bout paid off, but he couldn’t find it in him to celebrate the moment due to concerns for his friend and others involved in the accident.
The win over Holmes marked Park’s fifth UFC victory, but it was his first win by stoppage. He entered Saturday’s contest on the heels of a split decision win over Eryk Anders in May. Park also holds decision wins over Marc-Andre Barriault, John Phillips, and Tafon Nchukwi.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 213.
[listicle id=2592286]
