Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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 Oct. 16-22.
UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall made a successful main event return from injury, but did it shake up the rankings?
The UFC’s return to The O2 in London saw a few big wins throughout the card.
From [autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over Pannie Kianzad early on the prelims, to [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag]’s main event first-round finish of Marcin Tybura, there were a number of key wins for fighters already in, or hovering around the top 15 of their divisions.
Vieira entered the week at No. 3 in the USA TODAY SPORTS/MMA Junkie women’s bantamweight rankings, while Kianzad was No. 9. Considering who is above and between both fighters, they maintain their positions in this week’s update.
A similar story played out in the heavyweight division. Aspinall entered at No. 8, and keeps the same spot despite a spectacular finish. Tybura keeps his place at No. 10 as well, but there are a few big fights at heavyweight on the horizon that could shake up the division.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 224, which saw several fighters suffer their first career or octagon defeat.
The UFC made its 15th stop in London on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 224, which went down at The O2. It was the longest event of the year so far.
Many of the 15 fights on the docket went to decisions, but one man who didn’t need the judges was [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who effortlessly ran through [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag] (24-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC) for a first-round TKO in his return from a lengthy injury layoff.
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 224.
Ketlen Vieira doesn’t think Julianna Peña should get the next crack at the UFC women’s bantamweight title vacated by Amanda Nunes in June.
LONDON – [autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag] doesn’t think [autotag]Julianna Peña[/autotag] should fight for the title next.
With the UFC’s women’s bantamweight title now vacant, former champion Peña sees a fight between her and [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] as the matchup that makes most sense.
But because Peña just lost her title to Amanda Nunes, Vieira (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) agrees with Pennington, but says Peña shouldn’t be one half of the vacant title fight.
“I think Raquel Pennington deserves it. She’s coming off five wins,” Vieira told reporters at her UFC Fight Night 224 post-fight news conference. “A lot of people think that I beat her, but I’m not here to cry over that. I do think that she deserves it. But Julianna Peña – it doesn’t make too much sense for someone coming off a loss to be fighting for the title.”
Vieira returned to the win column at UFC Fight Night 224 on Saturday when she defeated Pannie Kianzad by unanimous decision at The O2. The Brazilian has now won three of her past four.
“I see myself as the person that if you want to get to the belt, you have got to get through me,” Vieira said.
Vieira used a grapple-heavy approach to frustrate Kianzad, and says her control throughout the majority of the fight made it a definitive win.
“I’ve never had an easy run in the UFC. I’ve always faced the biggest names,” Vieira said. “I don’t believe in shortcuts. I believe you have to always face the toughest challenges and I knew Pannie was going to be a tough challenge.
“You really show how good you are, your worth, when you fight on the ground – not just when you land a lucky shot or a lucky knockout. I knew it was going to be a tough fight. I knew she was going to come in strong, and I knew it was going to be three rounds. I don’t feel I’m better than anyone, but I showed that I’m better over three rounds.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.
UFC Fight Night 224 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.
LONDON – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 224 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $225,000.
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 224 took place at the The 02. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 224 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
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[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Julija Stoliarenko[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Fares Ziam[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jai Herbert[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Lerone Murphy[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Josh Culibao[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Daniel Marcos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Davey Grant[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Jonny Parsons[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Danny Roberts[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Joel Alvarez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Mick Parkin[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Makhmud Muradov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Bryan Barberena[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Chris Duncan[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yanal Ashmoz[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Bruna Brasil[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Shauna Bannon[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jafel Filho[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Daniel Barez[/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 2241 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: $4,780,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $19,369,000
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.
Ketlen Vieira was dominant for 2.5 rounds before Pannie Kianzad turned the table – but it was too little, too late.
All [autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag] needed to do Saturday to notch a win over [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag] was drag the fight to the ground.
At UFC Fight Night 224, Vieira (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) defeated Kianzad (16-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). The bantamweight bout at The O2 in London was a smothering, one-sided performance between two UFC-ranked contenders.
In each round, Vieira quickly dragged the fight to the canvas with relatively no issue at all. Despite the dominant control, Vieira was unable to lock in a submission, though there were attempts. She tried an arm-triangle choke, but Kianzad evaded the finish.
Midway through the final round, Kianzad found a way to finally turn the tables. She reversed Vieira on the ground and ended up on top. Despite her visible urgency, Kianzad was unable to muster up significant offense and the horn sounded with her on top.
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With the victory, Vieira reenters the win column after a split decision loss to Raquel Pennington in January. She is 3-1 in her most recent four. On the flip side, Kianzad loses her second fight in a row and falls to 1-3 in her most recent four.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 224 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.
Check out the best photos from Ketlen Vieira’s unanimous decision win over Pannie Kianzad at UFC Fight Night 224 at The O2 in London.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 224 at The O2 in London. (Photos by Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)
Check out the numbers behind UFC Fight Night 224 in London where Paul Craig brings 205-pound records into his middleweight debut.
The UFC returns to London for the second time this year Saturday with UFC Fight Night 224, which takes place at The O2 with a card that streams entirely on ESPN+.
A matchup of ranked heavyweights serves as the main event. After suffering a blown-out knee against Curtis Blaydes last summer, England’s own [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) returns to action for another headlining act, this time against [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag] (24-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC).
For the numbers behind the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC Fight Night 224.
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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 from May 8-15.
Sean Strickland accomplished something only two other men in history have done with his win at UFC Fight Night 217.
The UFC kicked off another busy year of action Saturday with UFC Fight Night 217. It was the first of an expected 42 events from the promotion in 2023, and it went down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Although six fights on the card ended in a stoppage, the main event went the distance as [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (26-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) managed to outwork and outpoint [autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag] (12-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) to win a unanimous decision on short notice in the light heavyweight headliner.
Fore 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 217.
