Rei Tsuruya enjoyed UFC debut win, but wanted finish of Carlos Hernandez at UFC 303

Rei Tsuruya stayed unbeaten and won his UFC debut Saturday, but maybe not in the way he dreamed it up.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Rei Tsuruya[/autotag] stayed unbeaten and won his UFC debut Saturday, but maybe not in the way he dreamed it up.

Tsuruya (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) held on and took a trio of 29-28 scores on the early prelims against Carlos Hernandez (9-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) at UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena. Tsuruya said he was hoping to get a finish.

“The grappling is something I expected,” Tsuruya said. “I definitely wanted to finish in the first round. I tried – armlocks, knees – I tried a lot of stuff, but I just couldn’t get that finish.”

Still, Tsuruya said he’s happy to stay unbeaten and get his UFC debut out of the way with a win and experience at that level of competition.

Check out Tsuruya’s full post-fight news conference in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.

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UFC 303 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Alex Pereira leads card with $42,000

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 303 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $306,500.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 303 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $311,500.

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

The full UFC 303 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Macy Chiasson[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Jean Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Charles Jourdain[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Payton Talbott[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yanis Ghemmouri[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Gillian Robertson[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Michelle Waterson-Gomez[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Martin Buday[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Andrei Arlovski[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Rei Tsuruya[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Carlos Hernandez[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Vinicius Oliveira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ricky Simon[/autotag]: $11,000

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.

Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $3,948,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $26,685,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.

Rei Tsuruya def. Carlos Hernandez at UFC 303: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Rei Tsuruya’s win over Carlos Hernandez at UFC 303.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Rei Tsuruya[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Carlos Hernandez[/autotag] at UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Fight and venue photos by Mark J. Rebilas and Per Haljestam, USA Today Sports)

Fresh Ink: Meet the 10 fighters the UFC signed in November 2023

Find out who joined the UFC in November and learn more about them here.

The UFC roster is bigger than ever – and it continues to expand.

Fresh faces appear on nearly every card, whether onboarded as short-notice opening fillers, “Dana White’s Contender Series” signees, or rare straight-up additions. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of the hustle and bustle of the mixed martial arts news beat, but here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got you covered.

“Fresh Ink” is your list of fighters added to the UFC roster the previous month and provides background on who they are and where they came from.

Check out the November 2023 list below.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Oct. 30-Nov. 5)

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 Oct. 30-Nov. 5.

‘Road to UFC 2,’ Episode 1 results: Sang Won Kim scores slick knockout

Flyweight and featherweight fighters were featured in the opening episode of “Road to UFC 2,” which featured three finishes in five fights.

A quiet weekend in the world of MMA allowed some Asian prospects to shine, because the second coming of the “Road to UFC” kicked off from China.

The initial season of the tournament format series was a success throughout 2022, and the UFC continued the format starting today from the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai.

Flyweight and featherweight fighters were featured in the opening episode, and it was Sang Won Kim who stole the show in the final bout of the card when he scored a devastating second-round knockout of Keisuke Sasu that claimed up space on the highlight reel.

Check out complete results from Episode 1 of “Road to UFC 2” below.

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