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 or officially announced by the promotions from Sept. 4-10.
Four more contenders have been added to UFC 295 in New York City.
Two top middleweights and two top flyweights will collide at UFC 295 this November.
Longtime contender [autotag]Derek Brunson[/autotag] returns Nov. 11 when he takes on [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag]. Both men aim to bounce back from recent losses. Additionally, ranked flyweights [autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag] and [autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag] have been once again booked to face one another. The event takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The promotion officially announced both bouts Wednesday. The Brunson-Doldize matchup was first reported by Sentanta Sports.
Brunson (23-9 MMA, 17-8 UFC) teased retirement in recent years but pivoted away from that idea at the end of 2022. Brunson attempts to snap a two-fight skid. While the losses came by TKO, they came against top contenders Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori. Prior to the skid, Brunson won five in a row.
Dolidze (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was on a tear through the middleweight division until he faced Vettori in March and lost a unanimous decision. The defeat snapped a four-fight winning streak that included TKO victories over Jack Hermansson and Phil Hawes among others.
Erceg (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Schnell (16-8 MMA, 6-5 UFC) were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 289 in June in what was to be Erceg’s promotional debut. Schnell withdrew from the fight and was replaced by David Dvorak, who Erceg defeated by unanimous decision.
With the additions, the UFC 295 lineup includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
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 or officially announced by a promotion from May 29-June 4.
Matt Schnell welcomes the opportunity to train with UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno.
DALLAS – [autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag] welcomes the opportunity to train with UFC flyweight champion [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag].
Both currently training at Fortis MMA in Dallas, Schnell has a long history with Moreno. Although they’ve never fought, Schnell and Moreno took part in Season 24 of “The Ultimate Fighter” and have trained with each other in the past.
Schnell (16-7-1 MMA, 6-5-1 UFC) is booked to face David Dvorak (20-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) at UFC 289 on June 10 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and would love the chance to train with Moreno (21-6-2 MMA, 9-3-2 UFC) in preparation.
“Me and Moreno, we’re familiar with each other,” Schnell told MMA Junkie. “He’s brought me out to Mexico City. We have a little bit of a rapport, so no beef. It should be fun. We get good work in. He’s tough and scrappy and in great shape. I look forward to it. Hit me up! I want to know when he’s coming out to Dallas because I’d like to be here for sure.”
Like Schnell, Dvorak will look to rebound at UFC 289. Dvorak is on a two-fight skid, but prior to that was unbeaten for nine years, which Schnell thinks will make him even more hungry.
“David Dvorak: tough opponent – a guy that was really hot,” Schnell said. “He’s lost his last two, but I think that makes him kind of dangerous. It’s an exciting matchup and I look forward to it.”
Schnell has earned Fight of the Night bonuses in two of his past three bouts. He thinks his exciting style should be telling of the kind of fight fans can expect against Dvorak.
“I think it’s going to be a tough one,” Schnell said. “I think it’s going to be a grind. If I remember, they kind of released the card inadvertently. I think they put me on a good spot. I think I’m headlining that prelim card, which is the right spot for a guy like me. Good job by the guys in the back office. It’s going to be exactly what they think it’s going to be. It’s going to be a scrap.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
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 27-April 2.
Check out which epic battle earned MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Year award for 2022.
With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best fights from January to December 2022.
As voted on by our entire staff, here are the top five and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Year.
Islam Makhachev finishing the most decorated grappler in UFC history secured him lightweight gold and MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Year for 2022.
With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best submissions from January to December 2022.
As voted on by our entire staff, here are the top 10 and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Year.
The 2022 Comeback of the Year award goes to Leon Edwards for his stunning head kick knockout of then-champ Kamaru Usman at UFC 278.
On Aug. 20, 2022 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] shook up the MMA universe when he pulled a beautiful head kick out of his back pocket to crumple then pound-for-pound king [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag].
It was an upset. It was a massive moment. A new champion was crowned in front of a raucous crowd, who seemed to be on delay as their brains processed what just unfolded. The UFC 278 main event knockout was as lot of things, but regardless of which word comes to mind first “comeback” is certainly at the top of most lists.
After a successful first round, the wheels quite frankly fell off the wagon for Edwards, as Usman methodically picked him apart in Round 2, then Round 3, then Round 4, and most of Round 5 – until the improbable happened.
Only Edwards himself knows what exactly sparked the one-strike come back, but coach Dave Lovell likely played a big part. In between Round 4 and 5, Lovell gave one of the most memorable pump-up speeches in UFC history.
As the fifth round progressed, many viewers slipped into the fog of the monotonous and somewhat mundane flow of the fight. It looked like the round would coast and Usman would win. That’s particularly what commentator Daniel Cormier indicated, until his partner Jon Anik talked him down, an almost on-queue reprimand proven correct.
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A left jab pump fake was followed by a textbook left high kick. Usman brought his hands down when they should’ve gone up. Edwards’ shin clattered off the then-champion’s noggin and Usman sat down before his upper body flopped over backward due to a mix of gravity and unconsciousness.
As fans tried to wrap their heads around what just transpired, Edwards celebrated upon the cage and gave his best rendition of the billy-strut. Usman, meanwhile, was tended by medical professionals, somewhat clueless to what had just transpired.
The moment will go down in history as one of the biggest and most prolific comebacks in UFC history. That’s why it’s MMA Junkie’s 2022 Comeback of the Year.
We’d be remiss not to mention a comeback, that in likely any other year would be the winner of this award.
What [autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag] did at UFC on ABC 3 in July was one of the most improbable “from the brink of defeat” sort of rallies in major promotional MMA history. He was pummeled, rocked, on the ropes, whatever you want to call it. Schnell was in trouble. Referee Jacob Montalvo may have initially been in the minority to let the fight continue, but he proved to right in the end.
After an absolute whooping by Su Mudaerji at USB Arena in Elmont, N.Y., Schnell slowly but surely flipped the script. The punches piled up and eventually Schnell got the fight down to the canvas. When Mudaerji briefly reversed position, Schnell locked a triangle choke and choked his opponent unconscious from the bottom.
The image of an out-cold Mudaerji covered in blood as he laid on top of Schnell’s leg is one of the best MMA Junkie captured in 2022.
With the victory, Schnell etched himself in UFC history and gained a lot of street credit as a perhaps unwarrantedly overlooked flyweight fighter.
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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.
