A pair of Swedish bantamweights collide on April 16, with Pannie Kianzad facing Lina Lansberg in a rematch nearly 10 years in the making.
A pair of Swedish women’s bantamweights will collide on April 16, with [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag] facing [autotag]Lina Lansberg[/autotag] in a rematch nearly 10 years in the making.
MMA Junkie today confirmed with a person with knowledge of the booking that the contest is expected to take place at a UFC Fight Night event on April 16. That person requested anonymity because promotion officials have yet to make a formal announcement.
Lansberg currently sits at No. 13 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie women’s bantamweight rankings, while Kianzad is an honorable mention. Kianzad was victorious in their first meeting, a 2012 clash on the Swedish regional scene.
Kianzad (15-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC), a finalist on “The Ultimate Fighter 28” fought most recently in September, suffering a decision loss to Raquel Pennington. The setback snapped a four-fight winning streak for “Banzai,” who had previously scored wins over Alexis Davis, Sijara Eubanks, Bethe Correia and Jessica-Rose Clark.
Meanwhile, Lansberg (10-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) is also looking to rebound from a loss after falling short on the cards against Sara McMann in January 2020. She now returns from more than two years on the sidelines, during which she gave birth to a daughter.
With the addition to the card, the UFC Fight Night lineup on April 16 includes:
UFC Fight Night 192 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 192 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $162,000.
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 Fight Night 192 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 192 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
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 2021 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Ask and receive. Pannie Kianzad gets the matchup she’s been calling for when she takes on former title challenger Raquel Pennington.
[autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag] gets the matchup she’s called for.
Kianzad (15-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) meets former title challenger [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] (11-8 MMA, 8-5 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on Sept. 18, which takes place at a location and venue yet-to-be-announced. Both fighters recently confirmed the booking on social media after an initial report by Front Kick.
“The Ultimate Fighter,” Season 28 finalist Kianzad is 4-1 since she rejoined the UFC roster as a bantamweight. At UFC 263 in June, Kianzad notched her fourth straight win when she picked up a unanimous decision win over former title challenger Alexis Davis and will get her wish when she squares off with Pennington in fall.
The winner of two of her past three fights, Pennington hasn’t fought since she defeated Marion Reneau via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 11 in June 2020. Pennington received a six-month suspension from USADA for using the prohormone 7-keto-DHEA and the peptide AOD-9064, both of which she said were prescribed to her by a doctor to treat a medical condition. The 32-year-old issued a statement prior to USADA announcing the suspension which was retroactive in Nov. 17, the date she declared the use of the substances. She was eligible to return in May.
The monster UFC 263 lineup has got another notable addition between women’s bantamweight contenders Alexis Davis and Pannie Kianzad.
The monster UFC 263 lineup has got another notable addition between women’s bantamweight contenders [autotag]Alexis Davis[/autotag] and [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag].
UFC officials announced the matchup between former title challenger Davis (20-10 MMA, 7-5 UFC) and the streaking Kianzad (14-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) on Tuesday.
UFC 263 takes place June 12 at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., with a main card that streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Davis, 36, got a much-needed win over Sabina Mazo in her last trip to the octagon at UFC Fight Night 186 in February. The result snapped a three-fight losing skid for the former UFC title challenger, who owns a TKO win over Amanda Nunes back in September 2011.
The Canadian will attempt to get on a winning streak against Sweden’s Kianzad, 29, who is put together three consecutive wins in her own right over Sijara Eubanks, Bethe Correia and Jessica-Rose Clark.
With the addition, the latest UFC 263 lineup now includes:
Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori – for middleweight title
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno – for flyweight title
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 183, which saw Stephen Thompson beat Geoff Neal in Las Vegas.
The UFC closed out its 2020 schedule on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 183, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The 41st and final headliner of the year saw [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] (16-4-1 MMA, 11-4-1 UFC) put on a classic striking clinic against [autotag]Geoff Neal[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) to secure a unanimous decision victory in the matchup of ranked welterweights.
For more on the numbers behind the card, as well as the rest of the event, check below.
UFC Fight Night 183 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that launched after the UFC’s deal with Reebok.
LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 183 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $170,000.
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 Fight Night 183 took place at UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 183 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Reebok’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 $3,500 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,000; 6-10 bouts get $5,000; 11-15 bouts earn $10,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $15,000; and 21 bouts and more get $20,000. Additionally, champions earn $40,000 while title challengers get $30,000.
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 2020 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
“UFC Fight Night 183: Thompson vs. Neal” – $170,000
Listen to what Pannie Kianzad had to say after her victory at UFC on ESPN 14.
ABU DHABI – [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag] beat Bethe Correia with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 14 in Abu Dhabi.
Take a look inside the fight with Kianzad, who is on a two-fight winning streak after this latest performance.
It was exactly like I expected. She’s a tough ‘B.’ I can’t say it, because Sean told us not to curse. But she’s tough. It felt amazing fighting a person like her. Now I know where I am, too. I think I deserve a spot in the top 15. I’m proud of my time. The fight didn’t look like maybe the prettiest fight, but I got the job done. … I proved something to myself. After my first UFC win, I felt like I got a foot in. But I don’t want to be someone that goes one win, one loss, one win. No, I want to win. I want to be where the champs are, and that is the main goal. That’s everything I ever worked for.”
On what she wants next
“I see myself fighting late August, early September. Please. I really want to fight. This is just to make up. I’m totally fine. I just really want to fight. I want to fight four times a year honestly. If somebody gives me those fights, I will fight. I don’t fight on social media. I’m not that person that posts stuff all the time. I just want real fighters. And whoever wants to fight, holler.”
Check out all the facts and figures from UFC on ESPN 14, which saw Robert Whittaker score a main-event win over Darren Till in Abu Dhabi.
The final stop of the UFC’s inaugural “Fight Island” stretch took place Saturday with UFC on ESPN 14, which went down at Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi with a record 15-fight card that aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
Former UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] (21-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) rebounded from losing the title to Israel Adesanya last October when he outworked [autotag]Darren Till[/autotag] (18-3-1 MMA, 6-3-1 UFC) to a unanimous decision in the main event.
For more on the numbers behind the historic fight card, check below for 50 post-event facts to come out of UFC on ESPN 14.
The six fight-night bonuses issued at UFC on ESPN 14 set a single-event record for the company.
UFC on ESPN 14 drew an announced attendance of zero for a live gate of $0.
Betting favorites went 11-4 on the card.
Betting favorites improved to 14-6 in UFC headliners this year.
Total fight time for the 15-bout card was 2:40:24.
Main card
Robert Whittaker
Whittaker improved to 9-1 since he moved up to the UFC middleweight division in November 2014.
Whittaker has earned seven of his 12 UFC victories by decision.
Till fell to 1-1 since he moved up to the middleweight division in November.
Till suffered the first decision loss of his career.
[autotag]Mauricio Rua[/autotag]’s (27-11-1 MMA, 11-9-1 UFC) 23 victories in UFC/PRIDE light-heavyweight competition are the most in combined divisional history.
[autotag]Antonio Rogerio Nogueira[/autotag] (23-10 MMA, 6-7 UFC) fell to 2-5 in his past seven fights dating back to July 2014.
Nogueira has suffered six of his 10 career losses by decision.
Werdum (24-9-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) improved to 10-4 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in February 2012.
Werdum has earned 18 of his 24 career victories by stoppage. That includes eight of his 12 UFC wins.
[autotag]Alexander Gustafsson[/autotag]’s (18-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since May 2017.
Gustafsson was unsuccessful in his heavyweight debut.
Gustafsson fell to 3-6 in his past nine UFC appearances dating back to his first title fight against Jon Jones in September 2013.
Carla Esparza
[autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag] (17-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) improved to 7-3 since losing the UFC strawweight title to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in March 2015.
Esparza’s eight victories in UFC strawweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Jedrzejczyk (10).
Esparza’s four-fight UFC winning streak at strawweight is the fourth longest active streak in the division behind Tatiana Suarez (five), Yan Xiaonan (five) and Zhang Weili (five).
Esparza has earned seven of her eight UFC victories by decision.
Esparza’s 39 takedowns landed in UFC strawweight competition are most in divisional history.
[autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag] (13-1-2 MMA, 2-1-2 UFC) had her 15-fight unbeaten streak snapped for the first defeat of her career.
Craig (13-4-1 MMA, 5-4-1 UFC) has earned all of his career victories by stoppage.
Craig became the first fighter in UFC history to win three separate fights by triangle choke submission.
Craig’s five submission victories in UFC light heavyweight competition are tied with Jones, Misha Cirkunov, Ovince Saint Preux, and Glover Teixeira for most in divisional history.
[autotag]Gadzhimurad Antigulov[/autotag] (21-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has suffered all eight of his career losses by stoppage.
Antigulov suffered his first submission loss since Apr. 27, 2013 – a span of 2,646 days (more than seven years) and 18 fights.
[autotag]Alex Oliveira[/autotag] (21-8-1 MMA, 11-6 UFC) improved to 9-5 (with one no contest) in UFC welterweight competition.
[autotag]Peter Sobotta[/autotag] (17-7-1 MMA, 4-6 UFC) fell to 4-3 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in May 2014.
Sobotta has suffered four of his six UFC losses by decision.
Khamzat Chimaev
Chimaev (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) set a record for fastest time between UFC wins with two victories in 10 days.
Chimaev earned a fight-night bonus for both of his wins.
Chimaev has earned all eight of his career victories by stoppage. He’s finished five of those wins in Round 1.
[autotag]Rhys McKee[/autotag] (10-3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career stoppage losses by knockout.
Preliminary card
Francisco Trinaldo
[autotag]Francisco Trinaldo[/autotag]’s (26-7 MMA, 16-6 UFC) 15 victories in UFC lightweight competition are tied for fourth most in divisional history behind Jim Miller (19), Donald Cerrone (17) and Gleison Tibau (16).
[autotag]Jai Herbert[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career losses by knockout.
Ronson (22-10 MMA, 1-3 UFC) was successful in his return to the UFC after going winless in his first stint from 2013-2014.
[autotag]Nicolas Dalby[/autotag] (18-4-1 MMA, 2-3-1 UFC) fell to 1-1 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in September.
Dalby suffered the first submission loss of his career.
Aspinall (8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned all eight of his career victories by stoppage.
[autotag]Jake Collier[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) was unsuccessful in his UFC heavyweight debut.
Collier has alternated wins and losses over his past eight fights.
Collier has suffered four of his five career losses by stoppage.
[autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] (13-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.
[autotag]Mike Grundy[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) had his nine-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
Grundy suffered the first decision loss of his career.
Tanner Boser
Boser (19-6-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) earned his second UFC victory in a 28-day stretch. He also won at UFC on ESPN 12 on June 27.
Raphael Pessoa (10-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has suffered both of his career losses by stoppage.
Pessoa suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
[autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has earned nine of her 12 career victories by decision. That includes both of her UFC wins.
[autotag]Ramazan Emeev[/autotag] (19-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) improved to 3-1 since he dropped to the UFC welterweight division in May 2018.
Emeev improved to 16-2 in his past 18 fights.
Emeev has earned all four of his UFC victories by decision.
[autotag]Niklas Stolze[/autotag] (12-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered all four of his career losses by decision.
[autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) earned his first decision victory since Nov. 14, 2015 – a span of 1,715 days (nearly five years) and 11 fights.
[autotag]John Castaneda[/autotag] (17-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first decision loss of his career.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
UFC on ESPN 14 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that launched after the UFC’s deal with Reebok.
ABU DHABI – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 14 event took home event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $209,500
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 14 took place at Flash Forum in Yas Island. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC on ESPN 14 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Reebok’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 $3,500 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,000; 6-10 bouts get $5,000; 11-15 bouts earn $10,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $15,000; and 21 bouts and more get $20,000. Additionally, champions earn $40,000 while title challengers get $30,000.
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 2020 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
