Tag: Muhammad Mokaev

UFC Fight Night 238 post-event facts: Umar Nurmagomedov on the rise in bantamweight books

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 238, which saw Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Muhammad Mokaev and Umar Nurmagomedov make noise.

The UFC opened its March schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 238, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The main event saw [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) overcome a slow start to batter [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a referee TKO stoppage after the end of the fourth round, putting him back on the winning track.

For more on the numbers behind the card, which featured six finishes in 11 fights – and a couple of them unique – check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 238.

Muhammad Mokaev hopes UFC agrees title shot next: ‘I don’t like decisions, but I’m 23 years old’

Don’t believe Muhammad Mokaev was sick? Well, he has puke receipts to show you.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag] admits decisions don’t typically help resumes when it comes to UFC title shots, but is confident other aspects of his streak make up for the isolated shortcoming.

At UFC Fight Night 238, Mokaev (11-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) won a unanimous decision over former UFC title challenger Alex Perez (24-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) at the UFC Apex. Although he wanted a finish, Mokaev said he battled illness throughout the day that hindered his performance (and even provided receipts on X, in puke picture form).

“Last night, I had a sore throat,” Mokaev told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “Then, in the morning I was throwing up. My team said, ‘Listen, you’ve been through tougher things in life.’ So I put my clothes on and went for a run. I did some rounds this morning at 7 in the morning. I felt a little bit better, went to sleep and came to the arena. Of course, I wasn’t myself. But for me, the main thing was to beat myself to turn up for the fight. Whatever. I know the UFC don’t like the decision. For me, I beat myself today. That was most important.”

https://twitter.com/muhammadmokaev/status/1764077495153041497?s=20

The UFC flyweight division title picture is a bit unclear at the moment.

Titleholder Alexandre Pantoja stated he wants to compete May 4 at UFC 301. Mokaev wants to be his dance partner, but there’s also fellow top contender Brandon Royval waiting in the wings.

Mokaev, 23, has a hunch he’ll be next, but ultimately he admits it’ll come down to how the UFC views his decision win.

“It depends on the UFC,” Mokaev said. “Like I said, they don’t like decisions. I don’t like decisions, but I’m 23 years old. Who else apart from Jon Jones at this age have done six fights within two years? It’ll be two years in this organization March 18 (that) I’ll be in UFC. I fight back-to-back. Of course I want to relax, rest, take a rest. But once I came to the UFC, I said, ‘I just want to go to the title all the way.'”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $24 million

UFC Fight Night 238 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 238 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $133,500.

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 238 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 238 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Vitor Petrino[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tyson Pedro[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Bekzat Almakhan[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Eryk Anders[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Vinicius Oliveira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Bernardo Sopaj[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Aiemann Zahabi[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Javid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Christian Leroy Duncan[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Claudio Ribeiro[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Ludovit Klein[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]A.J. Cunningham[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady[/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 2381 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: $1,362,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $24,069,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 results: Muhammad Mokaev out-battles game Alex Perez, calls for Alexandre Pantoja

Did Muhammad Mokaev do enough to earn a crack at UFC gold?

[autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag] did enough to get the win Saturday at UFC Fight Night 238, but was it enough to get a shot at the promotion’s flyweight title?

The script isn’t finished yet and Mokaev (11-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) will have to wait and see. But after his win over [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag] (24-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC), Mokaev has one more unanimous decision victory on the resume, which he earned with 29-28s across the board.

Mokaev utilized his signature wrestling and suplex abilities, paired with some ground-and-pound to walk away the victor. Perez, despite only having 3:24 of in-cage time since mid-2020, proved to be a worthy foe. Perez had a strong Round 2 and competitive Round 3, but it wasn’t enough to get the nod.

After the fight, Mokaev called for flyweight title holder Alexandre Pantoja. The UFC flyweight champion Pantoja (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) has said he wants to compete May 4 at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Mokaev joins Brandon Royval (16-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in the conversation as to who his opposition could be at that event.

Mokaev, 23, has been highly-touted since his amateur days with UFC wins over Perez, Tim Elliott, Charles Johnson and others.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 238 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC Fight Night 238 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 238 took place Saturday with 11 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

You can hear from all the UFC Fight Night 238 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 233 winner Tatsuro Taira surprised by first octagon KO, eyes Muhammad Mokaev next

Tatsuro Taira explains why he called out Muhammad Mokaev at UFC Fight Night 233.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Tatsuro Taira[/autotag] spoke to the media after UFC Fight Night 233 at Saturday’s post-fight news conference.

Taira (15-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) answered questions from MMA Junkie and other media members after his second-round TKO of Carlos Hernandez. Japan’s Taira discussed being surprised by his first UFC knockout, his callout of [autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag], and being open to David Dvorak.

UFC Fight Night 233 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streamed on ESPN+.

Watch the video of Taira’s complete post-fight media availability above.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC fights announced in the past week (Dec. 4-10)

All the UFC 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.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Dec. 4-10.

Unbeaten Muhammad Mokaev booked vs. Alex Perez at UFC’s Saudi Arabia debut

The UFC’s inaugural event in Saudi Arabia is taking shape with the addition of a key flyweight bout between Muhammad Mokaev and Alex Perez.

The UFC’s inaugural event in Saudi Arabia is beginning to take shape with the addition of a key flyweight bout between [autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag].

After the promotion recently struck a deal to start bringing events to the flourishing Middle Eastern combat sports hub of Riyadh, matchups are beginning to be made for UFC Fight Night on March 2, including Mokaev (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) vs. Perez (23-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC).

Two people with knowledge of the booking informed MMA Junkie that agreements are in place for the bout following an initial report from UFC op Eurosport on X. The people requested anonymity because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

UFC Fight Night on March 2 is expected to take place at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh. Broadcast plans have not been announced.

Mokaev, No. 8 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie flyweight rankings, has been on a quest to become the youngest champion in UFC history and break Jon Jones’ longstanding record. The 23-year-old is unlikely to meet the timeline, however, but can take a big step toward solidifying a championship fight against former title contender Perez.

No. 15 Perez, for his part, will attempt to compete for just the second time since he unsuccessfully challenged then-champ Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 255 in November 2020. The 31-year-old has had nine scheduled fights canceled over the past three years, hurting his chances to build any momentum in the weight class.

The latest lineup for UFC Fight Night in Saudi Arabia now includes:

  • Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett
  • Muhammad Mokaev vs. Alex Perez

Muhammad Mokaev wants to be backup for Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval flyweight title fight at UFC 296

Fresh off a win at UFC 294, Muhammad Mokaev wants to be a backup for the UFC 296 flyweight title fight in December.

ABU DHABI – [autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag] wants UFC gold around his waist as soon as possible, and he’s willing to go to any length to achieve that.

Mokaev, a rising flyweight contender, is hoping the UFC uses him as a backup for the upcoming flyweight title bout between champion Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval on Dec. 16 in the UFC 296 co-main event in Las Vegas.

“I’m ready,” Mokaev told reporters at the UFC 296 post-fight press conference. “I’ve never missed weight – even in my debut against Cody Durden I made championship weight. I can make it. If they want, I can be backup – whatever fight they want.”

This request comes after Mokaev (10-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) submitted former UFC title challenger Tim Elliott (19-13-1 MMA, 8-11 UFC) in the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC 294 at Etihad Arena.

It was his fifth consecutive victory since entering the UFC in 2022.

“Amazing emotions,” Mokaev said of his win over Elliott. “I feel very happy. I still don’t believe I’ve put my full performance yet. They tried to bully me. They don’t try to fight me with fight IQ. These guys think, ‘OK, this young, overhyped, fifth time overhyped inside the UFC octagon …’ They don’t work smart. That’s why I just have to grind them out.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.