Tag: Kurt Holobaugh

UFC on ESPN 53 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Main event combines for $22,000

UFC on ESPN 53 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 53 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $148,000.

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 on ESPN 53 took place at the UFC Apex. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC on ESPN 53 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Karl Williams[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Justin Tafa[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Edmen Shahbazyan[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]AJ Dobson[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Payton Talbott[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Cameron Saaiman[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Billy Quarantillo[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Fernando Padilla[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Luis Pajuelo[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Trey Ogden[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Kurt Holobaugh[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Ricardo Ramos[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Miles Johns[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Cody Gibson[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jarno Errens[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Steven Nguyen[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Dariya Zheleznyakova[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Montserrat Rendon[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Andre Lima[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Igor Severino[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Mick Parkin[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Mohammed Usman[/autotag]: $4,500

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 $4,530; 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 $53,000 while title challengers get $53,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-53 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $1,669,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $24,406,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 53.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC fights announced in the past week (Jan. 8-14)

There were 35 UFC 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.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 8-14.

TUF 31 lightweight winner Kurt Holobaugh returns vs. Trey Ogden

The UFC has pinned “TUF 31” lightweight winner Kurt Holobaugh against fellow crafty veteran Trey Ogden.

[autotag]Kurt Holobaugh[/autotag] has his first UFC assignment as an official TUF winner.

“The Ultimate Fighter 31” lightweight winner, Holobaugh (20-7 MMA, 1-4 UFC) returns March 23 vs. [autotag]Trey Ogden[/autotag] (16-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Fighting first reported the news.

Holobaugh (20-7 MMA, 1-4 UFC) is one of the few UFC fighters in the promotion’s history to appear in three separate stints under the company’s banner. The third time has been the charm thus far for Holobaugh, who finished Lee Hammond and Jason Knight in exhibition bouts before a slick, “TUF 31” tournament-clinching submission over Team Chandler teammate Austin Hubbard in the lightweight finale.

Ogden (16-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC) looks to wash the bad taste out of his mouth after a controversial no contest against Nikolas Motta in November. Ogden dominated the majority of the 13-plus-minute performance before referee Mike Beltran erroneously deemed Motta unconscious during a submission attempt. Video replay showed Motta was not out and did not tap, so the bout was called a no contest – a ruling many viewers deemed wildly unfair.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night for March 23 includes:

  • Julian Erosa vs. Ricardo Ramos
  • Cody Gibson vs. Davey Grant
  • Montserrat Rendon vs. Dariya Zheleznyakova
  • Shauna Bannon vs. Stephanie Luciano
  • Fernando Padilla vs. Luis Pajuelo
  • Jarno Errens vs. Steven Nguyen
  • Kurt Holobaugh vs. Trey Ogden

MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for August: Da’Mon Blackshear’s ultra-rare twister

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from August 2023.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from August 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for August.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

Nominees

Fresh Ink: Meet the 30 fighters the UFC signed in August 2023

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.

Kurt Holobaugh’s ‘TUF 31’ chronicles: A victory a decade in the making

Cast member Kurt Holobaugh gives MMA Junkie an exclusive, inside look at “The Ultimate Fighter 31: Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler” one last time.

“The Ultimate Fighter 31” with coaches [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] and [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] finished in style Saturday as the two-fight live finale served as a portion of the UFC 292 prelims.

For 12 straight weeks, lightweight contestant [autotag]Kurt Holobaugh[/autotag] spoke to MMA Junkie for a behind-the-scenes look at his run on the reality series. Not only that, Holobaugh (20-7 MMA, 1-4 UFC) won the entire lightweight bracket when he slickly submitted Austin Hubbard (15-7 MMA, 3-5 UFC) with a triangle choke in Round 2.

With the victory, Holobaugh became the “TUF 31” lightweight winner and secured a multifight deal with the UFC. He joined MMA Junkie for one last edition of “Kurt’s ‘TUF 31’ Chronicles,” which you can read below.

Kurt Holobaugh: Everyone I beat on ‘TUF 31’ is better than Paddy Pimblett, so sign me up

Kurt Holobaugh’s road to an “Ultimate Fighter” championship might be the most unique in the UFC reality competition show’s history.

BOSTON – [autotag]Kurt Holobaugh[/autotag]’s road to an “Ultimate Fighter” championship might be the most unique in the show’s history.

Holobaugh (20-7 MMA, 1-4 UFC) submitted Austin Hubbard (15-7 MMA, 3-5 UFC) in the second round of their lightweight tournament final for Season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Saturday at UFC 292 at TD Garden in Boston. But unlike the majority of past “TUF” winners, Holobaugh already has big-show experience in the UFC.

Holobaugh had one fight for Strikeforce in 2012, and when the UFC absorbed that promotion, Holobaugh came with it. He had a UFC fight in 2013, but a loss to Steven Siler had him outside the company trying to work his way back.

And make it back, he did, after years fighting mostly for Titan FC, for which he won the featherweight and interim lightweight titles. He finally returned in 2018, but an 0-3 run had him outside the UFC again. The way back in for a third stint was through “TUF.”

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“This means the world. It means everything. I’ve worked so hard for so many years,” Holobaugh said at his post-fight news conference. “I literally made my debut in the UFC back in 2013. I’ve had a heck of a lot of fights from then to now, and to come back the way I did – at 36 years old, not knowing if I was going to find a good home to fight at, didn’t fight for two years, and then on the verge of just saying, ‘Hey, maybe I’m just going to hang this up, retire, finish, keep coaching my kids, keep coaching my students in my gym – I’ve got professional fighters, amateur fighters that I coach back home – and then, boom, I got the call for ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ and here we are.”

Holobaugh used his win over Hubbard, who was one of his teammates on the show, to call out Irish standout Paddy Pimblett, who may be several months away from a return fight.

Holobaugh said he takes a little bit of umbrage with how Pimblett has been treated by the UFC so far and wonders if it’s deserved.

“He’s got a name. He’s a rising star,” Holobaugh said. “But reality is, I was in the UFC long before that guy. He comes in and I feel like the UFC kind of butters him a little bit, kind of gives him some easy fights. He’s never fought somebody with the experience that I have. He’s never fought somebody that’s just did what I did on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ show.

“And it’s not just a regular ‘Ultimate Fighter’ show – this was ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ show where we had guys that were really, really good, but may have got cut in the UFC. I had to go through a murderer’s row of guys in the house. That’s fighting twice in 10 days and then preparing for this fight tonight. I feel like every guy that I fought and beat in the house is better than Paddy, so why not give me a big fight against one of the biggest rising stars in the world?”

Regardless of who he gets for his next shot at the UFC, the Louisianan said he’s probably got to be in a hurry for it. The mid-20s he was when he first made the walk for a UFC fight is a far cry from his current mid-30s.

“All gas, no brakes – I’m not getting any younger,” Holobaugh said. “I’m not satisfied just being back here in the UFC. I want to be here. I want to make a legit run. I think I could do that. I want to get a (ranking) number beside my name and I want to keep on going. I want to keep on fighting some of the best guys in the world. I want to keep testing myself. And always, the ultimate goal is to be UFC world champion.”

Check out Holobaugh’s full interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.

UFC 292 post-event facts: Ian Machado Garry enters record book with 6-0 octagon start

The best facts to come out of UFC 292, which saw Sean O’Malley, Zhang Weili, Ian Machado Garry and others record statistical achievements.

One of the biggest UFC events of the year thus far went down Saturday with UFC 292, which took place at TD Garden in Boston and featured two championship fights with different results.

In the main event, [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) shocked [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) with a second-round TKO to capture the bantamweight belt, while in the co-headliner, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] (24-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) got her second strawweight title reign off a dominant start with a lopsided unanimous decision over Brazilian challenger [autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag] (13-3-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC).

For more on the numbers behind the two championship bouts, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 292.

UFC 292 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: All-time program total passes $20 million

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 292 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $340.500.

BOSTON – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 292 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $340.500.

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 292 took place at TD Garden. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

The full UFC 292 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]: $42,000

[autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Neil Magny[/autotag]: $21,00

[autotag]Mario Bautista[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Pedro Munhoz[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Gregory Rodrigues[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Kurt Holobaugh[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Austin Hubbard[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Brad Katona[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Cody Gibson[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Andre Petroski[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Andrea Lee[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Karine Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Maryna Moroz[/autotag]: $11,000

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: $5,735,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $20,324,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.

UFC 292 play-by-play and live results

Check out live play-by-play from UFC 292 in Boston with Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O’Malley and Zhang Weili vs. Amanda Lemos title fights.

BOSTON – UFC 292 took place at TD Garden. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

In the main event, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) took on challenger Sean O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC). Sterling holds the UFC record for most consecutive title defenses at 135 pounds. In the co-feature, women’s strawweight champ Zhang Weili (24-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) met challenger Amanda Lemos (13-3-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in the first test of her second reign as titleholder.

In addition, former middleweight champ Chris Weidman (15-7 MMA, 11-7 UFC) returned from more than two years out after a severe broken leg in 2021. He took on Brad Tavares (20-9 MMA, 15-8 UFC) in a featured bout on the prelims. Plus, two new “Ultimate Fighter” winners will be crowned on the prelims.