Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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 March 13-19.
After both called for matchups against Paddy Pimblett, Drew Dober and Matt Frevola will instead fight each other at UFC 288.
Lightweight notables are set to collide at UFC 288 in Newark, N.J..
After both fighters called for matchups against Paddy Pimblett, [autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag] and [autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag] will instead fight each other. The event takes place May 6 at Prudential Center and is the promotion’s first trip to New Jersey since 2019.
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.
Dober (26-11 MMA, 12-7 UFC) turned his momentum around in 2022. He entered the year on a two-fight skid and exited on a three-fight winning streak that included TKO victories over Terrance McKinney, Rafael Alves, and Bobby Green.
Frevola (10-3-1 MMA, 4-3-1 UFC) has won two fights in a row after back-to-back losses. In January 2022, Frevola stopped Genaro Valdez with strikes in Round 1 at UFC 270. In November, he knocked out previously undefeated Ottman Azaitar in 2:30 at UFC 281.
With the addition, the current UFC 288 lineup includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from November 2022.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from November 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout 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.
“Even if Paddy goes out there and gets smoked by Jared, I want to fight Paddy in London.”
NEW YORK – Whether [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] wins or loses his next fight, [autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag] is eyeing him next.
Frevola (10-3-1 MMA, 4-3-1 UFC) scored his second straight first-round knockout when he bounced Ottman Azaitar out of the ranks of the unbeaten this past Saturday at UFC 281.
It was a career-defining moment for Frevola, but he’d like to top that with a finish of Pimblett. “The Baddy” meets Jared Gordon at UFC 282 on Dec. 10, and Frevola hopes they can get matched up for the rumored U.K. pay-per-view card in March.
“When I knock out Paddy in London, that’ll be the best moment,” Frevola told reporters at the UFC 281 post-fight press conference. “Honestly, Paddy’s got a tough fight. Jared Gordon is very good, but win lose or draw, even if Paddy goes out there and gets smoked by Jared, I want to fight Paddy in London.”
Frevola admits that part of the lure of fighting Pimblett (19-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is all the attention that comes with fighting such a notable name.
“I love that atmosphere that he brings to the fight game,” Frevola said. “It’s electric. He’s the way Conor McGregor was coming up, he brings such an atmosphere to the fight, it’s amazing and he’s a great fighter. I think me and him will go out there and bang and put on a great fight for the fans.”
He continued, “Maybe I rock him and knock him out and finish him, maybe we wrestle and we do a little grappling. I love to grapple as well. He’s a well-rounded mixed martial artist as well, so am I, so I think it’ll be a fun fight everywhere.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
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Check out the numbers to come out of an insane UFC 281, where Alex Pereira’s title win put him in the record books alongside Brock Lesnar.
UFC 281 took place Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, and with 11 finishes in 14 fights, including two title changes, it proved to be among the best cards of the year.
The main event saw [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) earn another combat victory over [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC), but this time with the highest stakes imaginable when he claimed the middleweight title with a fifth-round TKO.
The co-headliner saw [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) begin a second reign as women’s strawweight champion when she submitted [autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) with a choke in the second round.
For more on the numbers behind both title fights, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 281.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 281 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $332,500.
NEW YORK – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 281 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $332,500.
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 281 took place at Madison Square Garden. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.
The full UFC 281 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]: $42,000
[autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag]: $42,000
[autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Chris Gutierrez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Claudio Puelles[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Brad Riddell[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Ryan Spann[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Erin Blanchfield[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Andre Petroski[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Wellington Turman[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ottman Azaitar[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Karolina Kowalkiewicz[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Silvana Gomez Juarez[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Michael Trizano[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Seungwoo Choi[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Montel Jackson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Julio Arce[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Nicolae Negumereanu[/autotag]: $6,000
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 2022 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $7,554,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $13,732,000
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
Check out all the fighter walkout songs from Saturday’s UFC 281 event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
While it takes intense training, world-class skills and maybe even a bit of luck to register a UFC win, picking the right song to accompany you to the cage is a key talent, as well.
See what the fighters from UFC 281 went with as their backing tracks in New York.
Matt Frevola dropped Ottman Azaitar like a sack of potatoes at Madison Square Garden.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag] and [autotag]Ottman Azaitar[/autotag] finally got to fight Saturday and after years of anticipation, it ended quickly.
In a UFC 281 preliminary card bout, Frevola (10-3-1 MMA, 4-3-1 UFC) knocked out Azaitar (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) with a brutal three-punch combination that ended the fight at 2:30 of Round 1.
THE STEAMROLLA LIVED UP TO HIS NAME 👊 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/sqp1zvq4HU
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 13, 2022
The matchup between Frevola and Azaitar was originally scheduled for UFC 257 in January 2021. It was canceled when Azaitar was caught by UFC staff sneaking a person and items into the then-COVID-19 bubble. UFC president Dana White said Azaitar would be cut, but later changed his mind.
Frevola becomes the first man to defeat Azaitar and he does so on the first fight of a new multifight UFC contract. Frevola turns a standalone knockout win over Genaro Valdez into a two-fight winning streak.
The up-to-the-minute UFC 281 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
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Check out the best photos from Matt Frevola’s first-round knockout win over Ottman Azaitar at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag]’s first-round knockout win over [autotag]Ottman Azaitar[/autotag] at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photos by Jessica Alcheh, USA TODAY Sports)
Who better to “humble” Ottmain Azaitar than Matt Frevola?
NEW YORK – [autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag] spoke to reporters at media day ahead of UFC 281.
Frevola (9-3-1 MMA, 3-3-1 UFC) meets unbeaten [autotag]Ottman Azaitar[/autotag] (13-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) on Saturday in a rebooking from their scrapped bout at UFC 257. Frevola was scheduled to face Azaitar in January 2021, but Azaitar was pulled from the matchup and briefly cut by the UFC for breaching COVID-19 safety protocols.
“This guy is undefeated, and I’m gonna give him his first loss,” Frevola told reporters, including MMA Junkie. “This guy needs to be humbled and who better to humble him than me?”
He continued, “As soon as I heard they signed him back to the UFC, I knew I wanted that fight back, because I love the matchup, and I wanted this fight, and we got it. We got it on the biggest stage in the world, Madison Square Garden.”
UFC 281 takes place Saturday at Madison Square Garden. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
Watch the video of Frevola’s complete pre-fight media availability above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
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