Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights 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, PFL, and Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 29-Feb. 4.
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.
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 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)
Find out who joined the UFC in August and learn more about them here.
The UFC roster is bigger than ever – and it continues to expand.
Fresh faces appear on nearly every card, whether onboarded as short-notice opening fillers, “Dana White’s Contender Series” signees, or rare straight-up additions. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of the hustle and bustle of the mixed martial arts news beat, but here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got you covered.
“Fresh Ink” is your list of fighters added to the UFC roster the previous month and provides background on who they are and where they came from.
Check out the August 2023 list below.
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.
Kevin Borjas came up big as an underdog at Dana White’s Contender Series 57.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Kevin Borjas[/autotag] came up big as an underdog at Dana White’s Contender Series 57.
Borjas (9-1) defeated Titan FC flyweight champion Victor Dias (11-3) by unanimous decision on Tuesday. He was able to avoid any significant damage on the ground, and outstrike Dias to earn a UFC contract.
Borjas saw multiple opponent changes before landing Dias, and was happy to defy all odds.
“There were some things ,obviously,” Borjas told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter. “The first time they changed my opponent, I was like, OK. The second time, I was like, wow. But things happen for a reason, and if you’re telling me now I was also an underdog? I mean hey, I’m going against all forecasts and predictions. So with me, there’s no problem.”
Borjas plans on getting right back to training, and is looking to return before the end of the year.
“I’m going to keep working. You don’t stop,” Borjas said. “I’m going to keep working on it and try to improve things and all these small mistakes that I think I made … No names to be said here, but December would be great. December would be awesome.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 57.
MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a closer look at the performances of the five winners from Dana White’s Contender Series 57.
Week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series (2023) took place Tuesday in Las Vegas, and we’re grading the winners from the five fight card, which streamed on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex.
With a simple but digestible format that has had the MMA fanbase responding, this series has shown to have legs in multiple ways while serving as a crockpot for contenders the UFC matchmakers can use for future events. With that trend in mind, I once again will be taking a look at the winning fighters, regardless of whether or not they won a UFC contract, and grading their performances in regard to their probability of returning to a UFC stage.
