Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the latest episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”
Monday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.
On Episode 3,377, the fellas welcome in a pair of guests: UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] and women’s flyweight contender [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag]. The guys also take a look back at the incredible UFC 290 pay-per-view event from Las Vegas, and much more. Tune in!
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from June 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from June 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for June.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
After suffering back-to-back losses, Maycee Barber has reeled off five straight wins in the UFC women’s flyweight division.
[autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] delivered the most emphatic performance of her octagon tenure thus far with a statement victory over Amanda Ribas at UFC on ABC 5.
Barber (13-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) extended her winning streak to five consecutive fights when she put Ribas (11-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) away with a second-round TKO in Jacksonville, Fla. The effort yielded an extra $50,000 in Performance of the Night bonus money, and opened the eyes of many about Barber’s ceiling.
After debuting in the UFC in November 2018 as a 20-year-old, Barber claimed she would be the youngest champion in company history. She ran into consecutive defeats, however, and the window passed, killing some of the hype around her.
[lawrence-related id=2655220,2652939]
Now 25, Barber’s recent performance have restored faith in the eyes of many, though, and she said following her win over Ribas that she sees the title in her future. But can she get there?
MMA Junkie’s “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Nolan King and Farah Hannoun joined host “Gorgeous” George Garcia to discuss Barber’s future.
Check out the video above, and the latest complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below.
UFC on ABC 5 winners Ilia Topuria and Maycee Barber made the biggest moves in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings update.
There was some notable movement in the MMA landscape over the past week, particularly coming out of UFC on ABC 5 in Jacksonville, Fla.
In the main event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] continued his emergence as a featherweight contender when he handed a historic beatdown of Josh Emmett en route to a unanimous decision, extending his impressive undefeated record and proving he’s a name on the rise at 145 pounds. The performance claimed him the No. 5 spot in the newest weight class rankings.
The co-headliner, meanwhile, saw another young potential star take another important career step when [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] emerged victorious from a blood-soaked battle with Amanda Ribas by second-round TKO. “The Future” has now won five consecutive fights, and proving with each performance she belongs near the upper echelon in the women’s flyweight division. With the victory, she advances to No. 15 in the latest divisional rankings.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
Josh Emmett and Justin Tafa suffered graphic injuries at UFC on ABC 5 and are among those suspended indefinitely by the Florida commission.
UFC on ABC 5 took place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. and featured 13 fights.
There were back-and-forth battles, knockouts, an eye gouge, and a submission. Through these fights, the athletes involved sustained injuries that will put them on the shelf for some time, unless cleared by a doctor.
Tuesday, MMA Junkie acquired a list of athlete medical suspensions from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), the sanctioning body that oversaw the event. The DBPR does not disclose injury specifics, but does show the durations of the suspension.
Atop the card, [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] proved he’s a premiere contender when he dominated [autotag]Josh Emmett[/autotag] en route to a unanimous decision, including a rare 10-7 scorecard. The two headliners were suspended indefinitely by DBPR afterward.
Seven fighters total were handed indefinite suspensions, while two were handed terms of specific durations and the rest of the card was cleared on fight night. Fighters are permitted to return prior to the end of their assigned durations if they are cleared by a doctor.
Scroll below to see the suspensions for the full UFC on ABC 5 card.
Analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC on ABC 5, including whether Josh Emmett’s corner allowed him to take too much damage.
What mattered most at UFC on ABC 5 in Jacksonville, Fla.? Here are a few post-fight musings …
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC on ABC 5, where Ilia Topuria’s main event win was boosted by a rare achievement.
The UFC returned to Florida for the second time this year on Saturday with UFC on ABC 5, which took place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville and saw eight of 13 bouts go to a decision.
The main event was one of those bouts to go to the judges, but it was a clear result with [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) defeating [autotag]Josh Emmett[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) in historic fashion in the form of a lopsided unanimous decision in the matchup between featherweight contenders.
For more on the numbers to come out of the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC on ABC 5.
UFC on ABC 5 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ABC 5 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $174,000.
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 ABC 5 takes place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. The main card airs on ABC following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
The full UFC on ABC 5 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Josh Emmett[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Austen Lane[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Justin Tafa[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]David Onama[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Gabriel Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Brendan Allen[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Bruno Silva[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Neil Magny[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Phil Rowe[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Randy Brown[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Wellington Turman[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Tabatha Ricci[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Gillian Robertson[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Zhalgas Zhumagulov[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Jose Mariscal[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Trevor Peek[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jack Jenkins[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jamall Emmers[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Sedriques Dumas[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Cody Brundage[/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 $40,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-40 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $3,964,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $18,553,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 5.
Maycee Barber has gone 5-0 since she lost to Alexa Grasso, and she thinks it’s time to run it back after her UFC on ABC 5 win.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] wants to see [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] standing across the octagon for her next UFC fight, and she doesn’t care if the title is on the line or not.
After suffering a unanimous decision loss to Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) at UFC 258 in February 2021, Barber (13-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) has reeled off five consecutive victories. The most emphatic of those came at Saturday’s UFC on ABC 5 event, where she dismantled Amanda Ribas en route to a second-round TKO that received Performance of the Night honors.
The growth in Barber’s game in recent years was more evident than ever against Ribas, and now she wants to show exactly how far she’s come by rematching the last person to beat her. Grasso, who went on from her fight with Barber to become UFC women’s flyweight champion, is scheduled to defend the belt against Valentina Shevchenko on Sept. 16, and Barber wants to run things back regardless of the result.
“I’ve been saying it time and time again: Whether Alexa wins against Valentina again or not, I do want that rematch,” Barber told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC on ABC 5 post-fight news conference. “So, we’ll see. That would be ideal. We’ll see. I’m going to go back and talk to Hunter (Campbell) and Mick (Maynard) and the team, then we’ll figure it out.”
[lawrence-related id=2652939]
Barber has been the target of some fan criticism during her winning streak because some of the fights went done to the wire. Her split decision wins over Andrea Lee and Miranda Maverick in particular garnered some negativity, and it helped drive Barber to be more dominant.
She hopes the showing against Ribas will be just a sliver of what’s to come, and said it was a serious goal to get her hand raised without the help of the judges.
“It means everything,” Barber said. “Every time I step out of the cage I’m going out for a finish. The competition is getting tougher, but at the same time I really needed to step it up and get in that zone again and get myself in that position where I’m like, ‘There’s no way out of this except for me finishing this girl.'”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 5.
Check out the best photos from Maycee Barber’s second-round TKO win over Amanda Ribas at UFC on ABC 5 in Jacksonville.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag]’s second-round TKO win over [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag] at UFC on ABC 5 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. (Photos by David Yeazell, USA TODAY Sports)
