Tag: Melissa Martinez

Melissa Martinez says no harm, no foul (literally) in UFC phantom low blow vs. Alice Ardelean

Melissa Martinez returned after more than two years away to pick up her first UFC win.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Melissa Martinez[/autotag] beat Alice Ardelean with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 245 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Take a look inside the fight with Martinez, who returned after more than two years away to pick up her first UFC win.

Melissa Martinez def. Alice Ardelean

Melissa Martinez

Result: Melissa Martinez def. Alice Ardelean via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Updated records: Martinez (8-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), Ardelean (9-7 MMA, 0-2 UFC)
Key stats: Ardelean outstruck Martinez 103-78 overall and 92-72 in significant strikes.

Martinez on the fight’s key moment

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 19: (L-R) Melissa Martinez of Mexico punches Alice Ardelean of Romania in a strawweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on October 19, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

“I was happy to actually to put it into practice, everything that I can do. I wasn’t able to do it in my first (UFC) fight because the nerves got in the way. … I knew she was a tough fighter. I think when you get to this level, every fighter is tough. This is an organization that whoever, her or anyone else, is going to be a tough fighter. I knew it was going to be a tough challenge and I think when you’re up here, you have to be ready to face everyone.”

Martinez on a phantom low blow

Melissa Martinez def. Alice Ardelean, UFC Fight Night 245 phantom low blow

“I felt that the shot was legal, and (the ref missed it), … but I didn’t let that distract me from the fight because the focus is actually to come out with the win. I would love for that to be a different result (and it was a TKO), but I think the referees are doing their job and I think that it was the correct procedure because they were not sure whether it was legal. The only thing was not to let myself get distracted and continue to fight.”

Martinez on what she wants next

Melissa Martinez def. Alice Ardelean, UFC Fight Night 245 (via UFC)

“I’m going to rest a little bit, but I’m going to go back into the gym – not with the same intensity as usual, but I’m going to be right there and continue to support all my my other teammates because they have their fights coming.”

To hear more from Martinez, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.

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UFC Fight Night 245 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Darren Elkins’ $21,000 leads card

The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program has now paid out more than $29 million to athletes since its deal began with Venum.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 245 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $155,500.

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 Fight Night 245 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 245 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Anthony Hernandez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Michel Pereira[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Rob Font[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Kyler Phillips[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Charles Johnson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Su Mudaerji[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Cameron Smotherman[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jake Hadley[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Darren Elkins[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Daniel Pineda[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Asu Almabayev[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jean Matsumoto[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Brad Katona[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Joselyne Edwards[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Tamires Vidal[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Elise Reed[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jessica Penne[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Melissa Martinez[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Alice Ardelean[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Austen Lane[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Robelis Despaigne[/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 2451 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 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $6,644,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $29,381,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.

David Martinez pauses work as surgeon for Dana White’s Contender Series, hopes to join sister in UFC

Surgeon by day, soon-to-be UFC fighter by night? David Martinez is simply built different.

Some folks say there’s not enough time in the day to get daily tasks done, but [autotag]David Martinez[/autotag] is proving that to be a myth.

Until recently, Martinez (10-1) simultaneously juggled not one – but two – highly-demanding professional paths. Martinez was a surgeon by day and a fighter by night. He worked in family medicine at a hospital in Mexico.

“It’s very nice because I wake up very early,” Martinez told MMA Junkie. “Then we go to a hospital around 7 o’clock. Then we have many, many patients. I helped with surgery. Sometimes, I stayed very long in the hospital.”

Martinez would then go home, then to training, then back home for a quick snooze before the process began all over again. That was the daily grind – until the UFC came knocking.

It was a difficult decision to put practicing medicine to the side, especially given the current lucrative differential. But Martinez figures the window to compete as a professional athlete is slim compared to working in a hospital.

“I stopped the medicine career for a little time, because I want to put all my focus, all my time in this opportunity, because I know this opportunity is the biggest opportunity and the biggest league in the world,” Martinez said. “… It was very difficult, but I make a decision. For medicine, we have a lot of time. For this sport, it’s a very short career.”

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Martinez made a name for himself with Combate Global, becoming the promotion’s bantamweight champion. With nine finishes in 10 wins, the UFC came knocking immediately once his contractual ties to Combate were up.

Martinez will compete Tuesday at Dana White’s Contender Series 74 against undefeated Texas-based bantamweight Xavier Franklin (5-0).

If all goes well, Martinez hopes to put on an impressive performance in front of Dana White and then join his sister “Super Mely” Melissa Martinez in the UFC.

Melissa (7-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is scheduled for her second promotional bout Oct. 19 at UFC Fight Night 245 vs. Alice Ardelean (9-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) after a lengthy time on the shelf due to a knee injury.

David is one year younger than Melissa but served as inspiration for his sister’s MMA path. David was first to pursue combat sports, and it wasn’t long thereafter that Melissa signed up, too. They estimate they each began around 3 years old, which makes sense given their parents are also martial artists.

“I started in this sport for him,” Melissa told MMA Junkie. “He started in MMA. He was the first fighter in professional ranks. Then I fought in professional MMA. But I started because of him.”

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They went from karate to kickboxing before they came across Bonebreakers MMA in Mexico City. They remain at Bonebreakers MMA to this day.

The Martinez siblings will become the second brother-sister tandem in UFC history should he earn a contract (joining Mizuki and Naoki Inoue in the record books).

“She always gets the goals,” David said. “She inspired me to be better today and the other days. … Fighting in the UFC with my sister is my biggest dream. That’s all.”

But the hopes and dreams don’t end there. The Martinezs know they have a long way to go, but the thought of being siblings holding titles in the UFC is an unavoidable thought.

“Of course we want to be champions some day,” David said. “We start with little, short steps – step-by-step – to achieve our goals.”

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (March 13-19)

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.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 16-22)

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 Jan. 16-22.

UFC 279 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Khamzat Chimaev nets $6,000

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 279 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $202,000.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 279 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $202,000.

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 279 took place at T-Mobile Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNNews and ESPN+.

The full UFC 279 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Daniel Rodriguez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Li Jingliang[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Macy Chiasson[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ion Cutelaba[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jailton Almeida[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Anton Turkalj[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Chris Barnett[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jake Collier[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Norma Dumont[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Danyelle Wolf[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Heili Alateng[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Chad Anheliger[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Elise Reed[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Melissa Martinez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Yohan Lainesse[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Darian Weeks[/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.

Year-to-date total: $6,171,000
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $12,338,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 279.

Photos: UFC 279 ceremonial weigh-ins and faceoffs

Check out these photos from the UFC 279 ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday in Las Vegas.

Check out these photos from the UFC 279 ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (Photos courtesy of Ken Hathaway – MMA Junkie)

Photos: UFC 279 official weigh-ins

Check out the photos from the UFC 279 official weigh-ins at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Check out the photos from the UFC 278 official weigh-ins at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (Images by Ken Hathaway–MMA Junkie)

Hannah Cifers withdraws from UFC 279 bout vs. Melissa Martinez

The UFC 279 women’s flyweight bout between Hannah Cifers and “Super Melly” Melissa Martinez is canceled.

[autotag]Hannah Cifers[/autotag] won’t be the one welcoming [autotag]Melissa Martinez[/autotag] to the UFC this September.

Originally scheduled to fight Sept. 10 at UFC 279, Cifers (10-7 MMA, 2-5 UFC) has withdrawn from her matchup vs. Martinez (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) due to undisclosed reasons.

A person with knowledge of the situation recently informed MMA Junkie of her withdrawal, but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Cifers, 29, is currently on a four-fight skid and has been finished in each of the defeats. All four of those losses came in an eight-month stretch from January-August 2020. She was scheduled to fight Emily Whitmire in February, but also withdrew from that contest.

Martinez, 24, is a former Combate Global standout who signed with the UFC earlier this year. She hasn’t competed since a December 2019 split decision win over now-Bellator fighter Desiree Yanez.

With the change, the UFC 279 lineup now includes:

  • Champion Aljamain Sterling vs. T.J. Dillashaw – for bantamweight title
  • Norma Dumont vs. Danyelle Wolf
  • Melissa Martinez vs. TBA

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Combate Global champion ‘Super Melly’ Melissa Martinez signs with UFC, gets debut vs. Hannah Cifers

Top Mexican prospect Melissa Martinez is now in the UFC.

[autotag]Melissa Martinez[/autotag] is headed to the UFC.

An undefeated prospect and Combate Global strawweight champion, Martinez has signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion. She is set to take on [autotag]Hannah Cifers[/autotag] (10-7 MMA, 2-5 UFC) at a UFC event Sept. 10. at a location and venue yet-to-be-announced.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. The news was first reported by Lichald Scott.

Martinez last defended her belt in December 2019 when she defeated Desiree Yanez in the co-main event of Combate Global 51. She has been fighting professionally in MMA since 2016.

Martinez is also a decorated kickboxer who won a gold medal at the 2016 Panamerican Kickboxing Championship and a silver medal at the World Games 2017 representing the Mexican national kickboxing team.

Meanwhile, Martinez’s opponent, Cifers, is a seasoned veteran in the UFC. She’s currently on a four-fight losing streak and hasn’t fought since August of 2020.

With the addition, the UFC lineup for Sept. 10 includes:

  • Trey Ogden vs. Daniel Zellhuber
  • Nikolas Motta vs. Cameron VanCamp
  • Norma Dumont vs. Danielle Wolf
  • Hannah Cifers vs. Melissa Martinez

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