UFC Fight Night 237 post-event facts: Yair Rodriguez hits unprecedented career slump

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 237, which saw Yair Rodriguez hit the first losing skid of his career.

The UFC’s final event of February took place Saturday with UFC Fight Night 237 at Mexico City Arena in Mexico.

A flyweight contender re-emerged in the main event, when replacement headliner [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] (16-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) exacted revenge on former UFC champ [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] (21-8-2 MMA, 9-4-2 UFC) with a split decision victory in their rematch from November 2020.

For more on the numbers to come out of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 237.

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UFC Fight Night 237 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Headliners get combined $17,000

UFC Fight Night 237 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

MEXICO CITY – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 237 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $135,500.

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 Fight Night 237 took place at Mexico City Arena. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 237 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Daniel Zellhuber[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Fransisco Prado[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Yazmin Jauregui[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Sam Hughes[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Manuel Torres[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Chris Duncan[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Raoni Barcelos[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Cristian Quinonez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jesus Aguilar[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Mateus Mendonca[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Edgar Chairez[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Daniel Lacerda[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Fares Ziam[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Claudio Puelles[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Ronaldo Rodriguez[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Denys Bondar[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Felipe dos Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Victor Altamirano[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Muhammad Naimov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Erik Silva[/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 2371 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 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $1,228,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $23,935,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 237.

Video: UFC Mexico fan drops two other spectators in large crowd melee

There were no TKOs on the UFC Mexico prelims, but one fan scored two knockdowns at the start of the main card.

There were no TKOs on the UFC Fight Night 237 prelims, but one fan scored two knockdowns at the start of the main card.

As fighters threw down inside the cage, some spectators decided to do the same in the crowd. Just before the decision was read for the [autotag]Manuel Torres[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Chris Duncan[/autotag] main card opener Saturday, a large melee broke out among fans in attendance on the floor at Mexico City Arena.

One large gentleman dressed in black put two other brawlers on their backs in succession, much to the delight of those who viewed from a distance. The rumble distracted many spectators from Bruce Buffer’s reading of the winner, Torres, who immediately attempted to de-escalate the situation on the microphone.

Check out videos of the brawl below:

Many fans were in attendance from the first preliminary card bout, a rarity at most UFC events. It’s quite possible the alcohol consumption was flowing for hours at the point of the squabble.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 237.

UFC Fight Night 237 video: Manuel Torres squeezes Chris Duncan into submission

The UFC Fight Night 237 main card kicked off with a bang – or a submission rather – as Manuel Torres sent the crowd into a frenzy.

[autotag]Manuel Torres[/autotag] lived out a dream Saturday when he made quick work of [autotag]Chris Duncan[/autotag] in front of his home country’s crowd.

The lightweight bout kicked off the UFC Fight Night 237 main card and sent the Mexico City Arena faithful into a frenzy when Torres (14-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) submitted Duncan (11-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) with a rear-naked choke at the 1:46 mark of the opening round.

Duncan clipped Torres early and put him on his back foot, but the Mexican fighter weathered the storm and grabbed a hold. From there, he worked his way to the back and ended the fight.

The win was Torres’ sixth finish in a row. After the fight, Torres called for a top-20 opponent.

Scotland’s Duncan loses for the first time in the UFC.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 237 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 237.

Manuel Torres excited to put on a show in front of home fans at UFC Mexico

Manuel Torres vows to put on a show in front of his home fans.

MEXICO CITY – [autotag]Manuel Torres[/autotag] vows to put on a show in front of his home fans.

Mexico’s Torres (14-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) meets [autotag]Chris Duncan[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a lightweight bout which opens up Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 237 (ESPN+) main card at Mexico City Arena.

Torres will look to continue riding the momentum from his viral elbow knockout of Nikolas Motta this past June.

“I’m really proud of myself, because of the hard work, I’m here fighting for the UFC,” Torres told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s media day. “Again, it’s in Mexico with my people, so of course I’m excited, and I’m going to make a spectacular fight.”

Watch Torres’ full media day interview in the video above.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 237.

Four fights added to UFC Mexico City as lineup nears completion

The UFC is headed to Mexico City for the first time since 2019 and it’s lineup continues to grow each day.

The UFC’s long-awaited return to Mexico is less than two months away and the lineup is nearing it’s filling point.

For the first time since September 2019, the promotion hits Mexico City for a UFC Fight Night event Feb. 24 at Arena CDMX.

Headlined by Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi, the card also features a second-five round co-main event between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez.

With ticket presales beginning Friday, the UFC is putting it’s finishing touches on the lineup, including four recent additions:

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Matchup Roundup: New UFC fights announced in the past week (Jan. 1-7)

All the 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. 1-7.

MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month for June: Sadibou Sy wheel kicks his way to PFL playoffs

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

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

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

UFC on ESPN 46 winner Manuel Torres dreams of future Islam Makhachev fight

After scoring a bonus-winning knockout of Nikolas Motta at UFC on ESPN 46, Manuel Torres dreams of an Islam Makhachev matchup.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Manuel Torres[/autotag] spoke to the media after his UFC on ESPN 46 win.

Torres (14-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) answered questions from MMA Junkie and other media members after scoring a bonus-winning elbow knockout of Nikolas Motta this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Torres broke down the elbow finish, his desire to fight on the UFC’s Sept. 16 card and his dream matchups at lightweight.

Watch the video of Torres’ complete post-fight media availability above.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 46.

UFC on ESPN 46 post-event facts: Jared Cannonier, Marvin Vettori set striking records in main event

The UFC on ESPN 46 main event between Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori set a new bar for strikes landed in a middleweight bout.

UFC on ESPN 46 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas proved to be a historic night.

The main event saw [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] (17-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC) emerge from a key matchup of former middleweight title challengers with a unanimous decision win over [autotag]Marvin Vettori[/autotag] (19-7-1 MMA, 9-5-1 UFC) in which he set a new single-fight record for most significant strikes landed in a divisional contest.

The Fight of the Night delivered, but for more numbers on the entire card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC on ESPN 46.

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