Tag: Tafon Nchukwi

UFC on ESPN 51 post-event facts: Event ties modern-era record for first-round finishes

Check out all the facts and figures from UFC on ESPN 51, which saw a record-tying number of first-round stoppage results.

The UFC returns to its home base of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday following three weeks on the road with UFC on ESPN 51, which saw nine of 13 fights end inside the distance.

The main event was one of few that needed the judges. [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) managed to outwork former UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag] (33-15 MMA, 21-13 UFC) to a unanimous decision in the welterweight bout and used a lot of grappling to get it done.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC on ESPN 51.

UFC on ESPN 51 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Two veterans earn max non-title sum of $21,000

UFC on ESPN 51 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 on ESPN 51 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $173,000.

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 ESPN 51 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC on ESPN 51 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Chris Daukaus[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Iasmin Lucindo[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Polyana Viana[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]AJ Dobson[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Tafon Nchukwi[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Josh Fremd[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Marcus McGhee[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]JP Buys[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Terrance McKinney[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Mike Breeden[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Francis Marshall[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Martin Buday[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Josh Parisian[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jaqueline Amorim[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Montserrat Conejo[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jose Johnson[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Luana Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Juliana Miller[/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 $4,510; 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 $51,000 while title challengers get $51,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-51 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $5,395,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $19,984,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.

Tafon Nchukwi missed weight, but says return to 185 will lead to best version at UFC on ESPN 51

Tafon Nchukwi is in the middle of a stretch he’s not particularly used to, and he doesn’t want to get used to it, either.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Tafon Nchukwi[/autotag] is in the middle of a stretch he’s not particularly used to, and he doesn’t want to get used to it, either.

For the first time in his career, Nchukwi is trying to bounce back from consecutive losses. He’s early in his MMA life, and given he started his UFC tenure as a strong prospect off Dana White’s Contender Series, there’s still plenty of promise.

Nchukwi was stopped by Azamat Murzakanov and Carlos Ulberg in 2022, and when he was ready to try to get back to work in December, one fight was canceled on him and he had to pull out of a replacement booking, himself.

Saturday, Nchukwi (6-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) will try to get back on track against AJ Dobson (6-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 51 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.

He was hoping to do it in a return to an old home – middleweight – but some issues with his Friday trip to the scale will mean he’ll be docked some pay and fight at a catchweight. Nchukwi missed weight and came in at 189.5 pounds for the fight. If Dobson accepts it at a catchweight and the commission approves it, Nchukwi will be fined a percentage of his purse.

“I was supposed to fight the end of last year, but my opponent got hurt. Then I got a new opponent. Then I got hurt,” Nchukwi said at Thursday’s media day. “At that time, I was already in pretty good shape. The plan was eventually, coaches always told me that ’85 is where we’re going to be. I was already pretty much ready for a fight, so I was pretty low enough (in weight), so we were like, let’s go ahead and make this transition now. I got better at my discipline as far as controlling my weight. I still wanted to do it right, so we decided to make sure we take the time we needed to just lock down on the discipline before we get back in here.”

Nchukwi isn’t a stranger to the division. It’s where he fought when he picked up his DWCS win to get into the UFC, and his promotional debut against Jamie Pickett was at 185, as was his follow-up, a loss to Jun Yong Park.

Now he thinks the experience from the losses and a rejuvenation at middleweight will pay dividends. But obviously he’ll have to make weight next time out before that will start to happen.

“I go through losses every day,” Nchukwi said. “This one, even though it’s kind of amplified because of the eyes (on it), I just need to get my mind right and do what I need to do. It’s part of the game. Coaches, I’ve had teammates around me who I’ve seen deal with losses. I have people around me who can talk me from being down, bring me back up. All I did was basically just go back to my routine, stick to it and just let time do its thing.

“I don’t think you guys have gotten to see the best of me yet … This time, you guys are going to see a better version of myself.”

Check out Nchukwi’s full interview in the video above.

UFC on ESPN 51

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.

Video: UFC on ESPN 51 media day interviews

Before UFC on ESPN 51 on Saturday, 12 athletes from the card spoke to reporters Thursday at media day.

LAS VEGAS – The UFC schedule for August continues Saturday with UFC on ESPN 51, which takes place at the UFC Apex with a card that airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.

A welterweight bout serves as the main event, with [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] (21-9-1 MMA, 14-5 UFC) set to take on former lightweight titleholder [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag] (33-14 MMA, 21-12 UFC).

Before fight night arrives, though, 12 athletes from this weekend’s card spoke to reporters Thursday at media day.

If you happen to miss any of the individual sessions on the live stream above, check below for the archived videos of each media day session.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (June 5-11)

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 a promotion from June 5-11.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Oct. 31-Nov. 6)

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 Oct. 31-Nov. 6.

UFC adds Tafon Nchukwi vs. Carlos Ulberg to June 25 event

Light heavyweight prospects Tafon Nchukwi and Carlos Ulberg will square off in June.

UFC light heavyweight prospects will square off in June.

[autotag]Tafon Nchukwi[/autotag] faces [autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night on June 25 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Two people with knowledge of the booking informed MMA Junkie of the matchup Wednesday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Nchukwi (6-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has split his first four octagon appearances. After defeating Mike Rodriguez last September, the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate was stopped by Azamat Murzakanov at UFC Fight Night 203 in March.

After losing his promotional debut to Kennedy Nzechukwu in a Fight of the Night effort at UFC 259, City Kickboxing’s Ulberg (4-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Fabio Cherant at UFC 271 in February.

With the addition, the UFC’s June 25 lineup now includes:

  • Amir Albazi vs. Tim Elliott
  • Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Jinh Yu Frey
  • Alan Baudot vs. Josh Parisian
  • Chris Curtis vs. Rodolfo Vieira
  • Tyson Nam vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
  • Neil Magny vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
  • Sergey Morozov vs. Raulian Paiva
  • Christos Giagos vs. Thiago Moises
  • Mateusz Gamrot vs. Arman Tsarukyan
  • Nate Maness vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
  • Tafon Nchukwi vs. Carlos Ulberg

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Azamat Murzakanov took ‘do or die’ approach before landing flying knee knockout at UFC Fight Night 203

Azamat Murzakanov knew he needed to finish Tafon Nchukwi.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Azamat Murzakanov[/autotag] knew he needed to finish [autotag]Tafon Nchukwi[/autotag].

With one judge scoring the first two rounds for Nchukwi this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 203, Murzakanov (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) came into Round 3 with a sense of urgency.

Just 44 seconds into the final frame, Murzakanov landed a flying knee knockout that took out Nchukwi and earned him a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.

“In the second round, it wasn’t going my way, and I knew I lost maybe that round,” Murzakanov told reporters at the post-fight news conference. “And for the third round, I came out with the thought, with the plan, ‘Do or die in this cage. I’m going to give all,’ and this is what happened.

“From the start, it wasn’t going according to plan. He was an awkward opponent for me. It was difficult. I couldn’t find the rhythm. Also, he was stronger physically than I expected. But for me, the most important is the final result – the finish.”

Watch Murzakanov talk about his victory and more in the video above.

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UFC Fight Night 203 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $7.5 million

The UFC paid out just shy of $200,000 to the athletes at UFC Fight Night 203 under its Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay program.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 203 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $198,000.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 203 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Alex Caceres[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Karl Roberson[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Terrance McKinney[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Bruno Silva[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Matthew Semelsberger[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]A.J. Fletcher[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]JJ Aldrich[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Gillian Robertson[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Javid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Trevin Jones[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Damon Jackson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Kamuela Kirk[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Miranda Maverick[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Sabina Mazo[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Cody Brundage[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Dalcha Lungiambula[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Guido Cannetti[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Kris Moutinho[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Azamat Murzakanov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Tafon Nchukwi[/autotag]: $4,500

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 2037 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2031 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 2022 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $1,528,000
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $7,695,500

UFC Fight Night 203 video: Azamat Murzakanov flattens Tafon Nchukwi with sick flying knee

Azamat Murzakanov opened UFC Fight Night 203 with an electric flying-knee knockout of Tafon Nchukwi.

[autotag]Azamat Murzakanov[/autotag] opened UFC Fight Night 203 with an electric knockout of [autotag]Tafon Nchukwi[/autotag].

Murzakanov (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) added to his unbeaten record Saturday when he landed a flying knee in the third round of the light heavyweight bout to knock out Nchukwi (6-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

After controlling the action for the first and second round, Murzakanov came out looking to close out in the third. He did just that, leaping into a flying knee that instantly put Nchukwi out 44 seconds into the round.

Check out the replay below (via Twitter):

After the fight, Murzakanov said he was pleased with the way his UFC debut came to an end.

“Thank you to the opponent for taking this fight,” Murzakanov said through an interpreter during his interview with Paul Felder. “It wasn’t easy. It was a tough fight. We train for any situation, but it’s key to, before the end of the fight, to find the key to the victory.”

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