Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the UFC, PFL and Bellator fights 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, PFL, and Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Feb. 26-March 3.
Analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC Fight Night 235, from Renato Moicano to Molly McCann to Themba Gorimbo.
What mattered most at UFC Fight Night 235 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
UFC welterweight Themba Gorimbo sees a title fight in his future this 2024.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Themba Gorimbo[/autotag] plans to do what few have done in UFC history – go from unranked to champion in one calendar year.
The UFC welterweight envisions himself fighting for and winning the UFC belt this 2024 despite only having three fights in the promotion and not yet being seen as a title contender in the division.
It may be a tough buy for some, but Gorimbo (12-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who picked up a first-round KO win at UFC Fight Night 235 this past Saturday, is convinced that he’ll have a quick and unconventional path to the title.
“It’s going to happen,” Gorimbo told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 235 post-fight press conference. “What’s going to happen is that it’s going to be something like a short-notice fight with a top-10 (opponent). I’ll beat him, and then I’ll make my case. It’s not going to be a clear pathway (where) I have to fight through the rankings. I don’t have to do that. When I look at it, I have a big platform. Secondly, I have the skill and I’m a bad fight for anyone in the top 10. They might not think of it, but I am.”
Gorimbo is 2-0 since losing by submission in his UFC debut. He defeated Takashi Sato by decision last May, and knocked out Rodriguez this Saturday.
The 33-year-old made a big splash outside the octagon with his viral reaction video to movie star and WWE wrestler Dwayne Johnson gifting him a house to live in after sleeping at his gym and only having a few dollars to his name.
Gorimbo has a feeling things will work out in his favor and he’ll be fighting for the belt unexpectedly. He thinks he’ll either beat champion Leon Edwards or unbeaten title contender Shavkat Rakhmonov.
“It’s not going to be the case where I have to go top 15, top 10, top five,” Gorimbo said. “For me, I don’t wish anyone to get injured, but someone is going to get out of the fight. The UFC is going to send them a name, and the name is Themba Gorimbo, and they’ll have no choice but to accept it. And then I go in there and do my job, win, and it will be Leon or Rakhmonov. I believe those are the two guys at the top when I get there.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 235.
Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 235, which saw Randy Brown continue his run of success in the loaded welterweight division.
The UFC opened its four-event February schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 235, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
[autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) achieved his first octagon main event win to close out the card when he outworked [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) to a majority decision in their matchup of ranked UFC middleweights.
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 Fight Night 235.
UFC Fight Night 235 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 235 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $170,500.
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 235 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 235 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Randy Brown[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Muslim Salikhov[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Viviane Araujo[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Aliaskhab Khizriev[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Makhmud Muradov[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Charlie Radtke[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Gilbert Urbina[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Diana Belbita[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Charles Johnson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Azat Maksum[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Themba Gorimbo[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Pete Rodriguez[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jeong Yeong Lee[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Blake Bilder[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Julija Stoliarenko[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Marquel Mederos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Landon Quinones[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Thomas Petersen[/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 2351 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: $615,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $23,322,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 235.
Check out what the UFC Fight Night 235 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.
LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 235 took place Saturday with 13 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 235 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 235.
Themba Gorimbo only needed 32 seconds to get the job done – and it’s likely somewhere his pal Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was watching.
[autotag]Themba Gorimbo[/autotag] needed only 32 seconds to get the job done Saturday at the UFC Apex – and it’s likely somewhere his pal Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was watching.
On the UFC Fight Night 235 prelims in Las Vegas, Gorimbo (12-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) starched opponent [autotag]Pete Rodriguez[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) for a quick TKO victory.
A big right hand initially dropped Rodriguez. A bunch of follow-up punches finished off the job soon thereafter.
THEMBA GORIMBO ONLY NEEDED 30 SECONDS 😤 #UFCVegas85 pic.twitter.com/FGmECYREAZ
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 3, 2024
As was highlighted throughout the broadcast, Gorimbo has become a close friend with WWE star and actor “The Rock,” who bought him a house in 2023. “The Rock” was inspired by Gorimbo’s story of growing up in poverty in Zimbabwe – and having only $7 in his bank account while trying to make it as an MMA fighter.
“The Rock” then surprised Gorimbo with a new place to live. Gorimbo has since promised to pay the good deed forward by launching efforts to build infrastructure for clean drinking water in Africa.
Two hours prior to Gorimbo’s fight Saturday, “The Rock” wished him well on social media.
He fights to pay it forward 🙏🏾👏🏾💪🏾
Wishing my brother @TheAnswerMMA best of luck today in his @UFC welterweight fight on FIGHT NIGHT on @ESPN+
@ 1PM PTThemba’s amazing story caught my eye when MMA fans sent me an ESPN tweet where Themba had just $7 bucks in his bank account… pic.twitter.com/C6FDqS8gKP
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 3, 2024
Gorimbo has now won back-to-back fights and three of his most recent four. Rodriguez moves to 1-2 in his most recent three.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 235 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 235.
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 Jan. 1-7.
The UFC Fight Night 235 lineup Feb. 3 has faced multiple changes in recent days, putting the matchmakers to work early in 2024.
The UFC’s 2024 schedule hasn’t even begun, but that doesn’t mean the matchmakers aren’t having to make some repairs already.
UFC Fight Night 235, which is slated for Feb. 3 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by Roman Dolidze vs. Nassourdine Imavov, has encountered a pair of withdrawals recently.
Check out the changes and full UFC Fight Night 235 lineup below:
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gave UFC fighter Themba Gorimbo a head start. Now Gorimbo is determined to pay it forward.
LAS VEGAS – Many of [autotag]Themba Gorimbo[/autotag]’s dreams have been achieved and replaced with new aspirations of helping others live out theirs.
It’s been a long road for Gorimbo. Despite life’s difficulties, he wouldn’t change a thing. His path led him to success, UFC notoriety, and a friendship with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Rather than bask in the comfort, Gorimbo has made it his mission to pay the kindness forward, helping Africans build clean drinking wells.
“People would think that I’m not grateful for the path that I walked,” Gorimbo recently told MMA Junkie on the red carpet before the 15th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards. “I’m very grateful for the path that I’ve walked and everything that’s led to be here right now. Whatever happened that led me to be broke on that day, it was a blessing.”
Gorimbo was in attendance at the awards show at Sahara Theater, where he won the Fighting Spirit Award for his charitable efforts. He later received a $10,000 donation from UFC star Dustin Poirier, an athlete known for giving back to the community himself.
Life is good for Gorimbo, but he keeps with him the memories of when times were tough. Gorimbo once told reporters before a fight that he only had seven dollars to his name.
“I won the fight and I shared my story because it was still a win for me,” Gorimbo said. “I wanted to inspire people. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day, inspiring people, for me, especially the kids from Africa that come from the same background that I come from, that were orphaned at a very young age, that didn’t have rich parents, that didn’t have parents, that didn’t have the degree, that didn’t have anything to go (do) what’s called the norm in Africa. You have to get a degree. You have a degree and get a job. That’s called the norm there. That’s what’s called success there. I want to give hope to those kind of kids because you cannot be good at everything. Maybe some are good at fighting, which is in part because of me.”
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The story attracted the eyeballs of Johnson, who later surprised Gorimbo with an in-person visit and a new house. The emotional sequence was recorded and produced for a video that shortly thereafter went viral.
Gorimbo and “The Rock” still communicate, inspiring each other through their chats. The experience has resulted in new goals for Gorimbo who is determined to improve the lives of others.
“I speak to DJ often,” Gorimbo said. “Every time I speak to him, sometimes, he’s a late night guy. He’ll message me in the middle of the night sometimes. It’s tricky because I want to go and train straight away because of the energy he gives me every time he messages me or calls me or whatever. I feel very energized because I know I have to make him proud. He’s already proud of what I’ve done or what I do. That’s just that extra energy that he gives me every time he messages me. and the support he has given me.
“He has given me a head start in the United States of America, which is a great country. My dream is to give somebody a head start in America from Africa. Until I achieve that, I’m not done.”
