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Check out the best photos from Joel Alvarez’s second-round submission win over Marc Diakiese at UFC Fight Night 224 at The O2 in London.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Joel Alvarez[/autotag]’s second-round submission win over [autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 224 at The O2 in London. (Photos by Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)
Joel Alvarez is prepared for the wrestling threat, but hopes to get into a striking battle with Marc Diakiese at UFC Fight Night 224.
[autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag]’s style has evolved plenty over the years, and his upcoming opponent [autotag]Joel Alvarez[/autotag] is well aware of that.
The two lightweights are scheduled to fight this Saturday on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 224 at The O2 in London. Alvarez (19-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) is hoping for a striking battle, as he wants to put a show for the fans in his first fight in over a year, but knows that likely won’t be the reality of the situation with this version of Diakiese (16-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) in 2023.
“I hope to get Marc the striker, so we can do a striking fight the both of us,” Alvarez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “But yeah, it is true that he’s been doing well, and he’s been winning fights using his wrestling. It’s a drastic change that he’s made. I assume at some point in the fight he’ll use his wrestling. We’ve trained for that and prepared for that a lot.”
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Alvarez is unsure why Diakiese shifted to a wrestling-based attack, as he found his striking to be good. Regardless, he respects the threat that Diakiese poses to win a fight, even if it’s lost some of its flashiness.
“Yeah, there’s been a very drastic change, but it’s helped him win fights,” Alvarez said. “There’s no denying he’s a less spectacular Marc, I’d say, but if he’s winning fights with that, then that’s his thing.”
Alvarez hasn’t fought since losing to top contender Arman Tsarukyan back in February 2022. Entering the fight with Tsarukyan, Alvarez was in the UFC’s official top 15 rankings at lightweight.
The 30-year-old doesn’t think a win over Diakiese will put him back in the top 15, given his absence from the octagon, but could set him up so that his next fight is for a spot in the rankings.
“I don’t think so,” Alvarez said. “At the end of the day, I’ve been inactive for a year and a half. I would need to get on a winning streak again. But there are sites out there, not the official one from UFC, but these sites have me between 15 and 20. That’s where everyone seems to put me. And I think that helps, the fans always see me in that area.
“I think a good win over Marc, if it doesn’t put me in the rankings, it sets me at 16. I’m right there. But I’m only worried about winning the fight. That’s what I came here to do.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.
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 1-7.
Rafael dos Anjos became the first fighter in history to log eight hours of octagon fight time in his win at UFC on ESPN 42.
The UFC returned to Orlando, Fla., for the first time in nearly four years Saturday with UFC on ESPN 42, which took place at Amway Center and saw nine out of 14 fights end in a stoppage.
Stephen Thompson (17-6-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) earned the most memorable result of all in the main event. The longtime welterweight contender went to war with Kevin Holland (23-9 MMA, 9-6 UFC). He emerged on top by fourth-round TKO due to corner stoppage and netted another Fight of the Night award in the process.
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 on ESPN 42.
UFC on ESPN 42 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.
ORLANDO – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 42 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $297,500.
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 on ESPN 42 took place at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC on ESPN 42 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Bryan Barberena[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Eryk Anders[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Kyle Daukaus[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Phil Rowe[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Niko Price[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Emily Ducote[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Clay Guida[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Scott Holtzman[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Michael Johnson[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Jonathan Pearce[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Darren Elkins[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Natan Levy[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Genaro Valdez[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Francis Marshall[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Marcelo Rojo[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Yazmin Jauregui[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Istela Nunes[/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 $42,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-42 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2022 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $7,932,000
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $14,109,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 42.
Check out the best photos from Michael Johnson’s unanimous decision win over Marc Diakiese at UFC on ESPN 42.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Michael Johnson[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 42 at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. (Photos by Nathan Ray Seebeck, USA TODAY Sports)
The best facts and figures for Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 42, where several familiar veterans have a shot at history.
The UFC returns to Florida on Saturday for UFC on ESPN 42, which takes place at Amway Center in Orlando with a card that airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
A welterweight headliner will close out the card as longtime contender [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] (16-6-1 MMA, 11-6-1 UFC) will search for his first win in two years when he takes on [autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag] (23-8 MMA, 9-5 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 for UFC on ESPN 42.
Lightweights Marc Diakiese and Michael Johnson will throw down in December.
Lightweights [autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag] and [autotag]Michael Johnson[/autotag] will throw down in December.
Diakiese meets Johnson at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 3, which doesn’t yet have a publicly known venue or location. Both fighters confirmed the matchup on social media after an initial report from Al Zullino on Tuesday.
Diakiese (16-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) has split his past four appearances. After dropping two consecutive fights to Rafael Fiziev and Rafael Alves, Diakiese showed off new wrinkles when he used a heavy grappling approach to dominate Viacheslav Borschev and Damir Hadzovic back to back.
Meanwhile, Johnson (20-18 MMA, 12-14 UFC) has struggled as of late. The Season 12 “Ultimate Fighter” finalist has lost five of his past six, most recently a split decision to Jamie Mullarkey in a Fight of the Night effort at UFC on ESPN 39 in July. His lone win in that stretch was a knockout of Alan Patrick in May.
With the addition, the UFC’s Dec. 3 lineup now includes:
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Molly McCann owns two of six spinning elbow knockouts in UFC history after UFC Fight Night 208.
The UFC’s encore in London did not live up to the standards of its visit to the city earlier this year. Nine of the 14 bouts at UFC Fight Night 208 on Saturday at The O2 went to a decision.
The heavyweight main event capped off in disappointing fashion when [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) suffered a knee injury just 15 seconds into the fight, giving [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) a TKO victory.
For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 208.
Check out the best photos from Marc Diakiese’s unanimous decision win over Damir Hadzovic at UFC Fight Night 208 in London.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Damir Hadzovic[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 208 at The O2 in London. (Photos by Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)
