Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from November 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from November 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for November.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
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.
Mateusz Rebecki beat Roosevelt Roberts with a first-round submission Saturday at UFC 295 – his 16th straight win.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag] beat Roosevelt Roberts with a first-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Take a look inside the fight with Rebecki, who won for the 16th straight time.
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 what the UFC 295 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
NEW YORK – UFC 295 took place Saturday with 13 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from Madison Square Garden in New York.
You can hear from all the UFC 295 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
Check out the best photos from Mateusz Rebecki’s first-round verbal submission win over Roosevelt Roberts at UFC 295 in New York.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag]’s first-round verbal submission win over [autotag]Roosevelt Roberts[/autotag] at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photos by Wendell Cruz, USA TODAY Sports; Sarah Stier, Getty Images; and MMA Junkie)
Mateusz Rebecki has now won 16 consecutive fights after swiftly submitting Roosevelt Roberts on the UFC 295 prelims.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Roosevelt Roberts[/autotag] took a big risk fighting [autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag] on five days’ notice at UFC 295, and it did not go well for him.
After Roberts (12-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) stepped in as a replacement to fight the streaking Rebecki (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), and missed weight prior to the contest, it seemed he might’ve bitter off more than he could chew. That proved to be the case, because the fight ended with a verbal submission at the 3:08 mark of Round 1 at Madison Square Garden.
It was slick work from Rebecki, who used bottom position to roll into an armbar near the cage, and Roberts was forced to yell out that he was done and have referee Mike Beltran step in.
Check out the replay below (via X):
A smooth finish for Mateusz Rebecki 😮💨
Stream #UFC295 NOW on ESPN+ ▶️https://t.co/2KZBNgp0yD pic.twitter.com/0tj9F3Xhix
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 12, 2023
The winning streak continues for @RebeckiMateusz 👏
With that submission he moves to 3-0 in the UFC! #UFC295 pic.twitter.com/Pdk0FvKQ7n
— UFC (@ufc) November 12, 2023
Rebecki has now won 16 consecutive fights dating back to his lone career loss in September 2014. Roberts has dropped four straight under the UFC banner.
“I’m really happy because I won in the most famous arena in the world,” Rebecki said during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “This was my biggest dream. Thank you everybody for coming. And Dana (White), please do a UFC event in Poland. We want to fight for you. … I want to fight somebody from top 15.”
Up-to-the-minute UFC 295 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
Check out results from the UFC 295 weigh-ins in New York, where the vacant light heavyweight and interim heavyweight titles are on the line.
NEW YORK – MMA Junkie was at Friday’s official UFC 295 fighter weigh-ins, which took place at the UFC host hotel in New York and preceded the ceremonial weigh-ins for the fans at 5 p.m. ET at The Theater at MSG in New York.
The attached Madison Square Garden hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
Among those who weighed in were former light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and ex-middleweight champ [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (8-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who meet for the vacant 205-pound title. Pereira will attempt to become the UFC’s newest two-division titleholder. In the co-feature, the interim heavyweight title is on the line between [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC).
The four title fight combatants made weight in the first 90 minutes, but two undercard fighters closed the two-hour window with misses.
[autotag]Jamall Emmers[/autotag] registered at 147, one pound over the featherweight limit, for his fight vs. [autotag]Dennis Buzukja[/autotag]. He was followed by [autotag]Roosevelt Roberts[/autotag], who took a lightweight fight vs. [autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag] on less than one week’s notice and weighed 158 pounds, two pounds over the divisional limit.
According to the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) protocols, only title fight combatants receive an additional hour to hit their marks so Emmers and Roberts were one-and-done on the scale.
At the time of publication, statuses of the fights and fines are unknown. This story will be updated when confirmation is received.
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The full UFC 295 weigh-in results include:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews, 8 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
* = misses featherweight limit by one pound
** = misses lightweight limit by two pounds
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
The UFC matchmakers need a lightweight replacement.
[autotag]Nurullo Aliev[/autotag] won’t fight at UFC 295 as was previously expected.
Eight days out from the Nov. 11 pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden, lightweight Nurullo Aliev announced Friday on social media his withdrawal from his preliminary card matchup vs. [autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag] due to a leg injury.
Tajikistan’s Aliev (9-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) only has one fight in the UFC in addition to a Dana White’s Contender Series appearance, but has already garnered a large fanbase and strong social media presence rooted in his home country. He debuted in February and defeated Rafael Alves by majority decision.
“Over the last few months due to some life circumstances, I have taken a break in my career,” Aliev wrote on Instagram in Russian. “I haven’t stopped training hard though. I never looked for a comfortable opponent. When UFC offered me a worthy opponent, I gladly agreed. … I prepared particularly hard for this battle. Everything went according to plan, the best gyms, coaches and nutritionists. … Unfortunately, a couple of days ago, I injured my leg. After the examination, the doctor from UFC was banned and did not consent for the fight.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzMc44iOpTC/?img_index=1
It’s unclear if Rebecki (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) will remain on the card at this time. Also a DWCS standout, Rebecki has promotional victories over Nick Fiore and Loik Radzhabov in his UFC tenure to date.
With the change, the UFC 295 lineup includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
