Tag: Themba Gorimbo

UFC Fight Night 224 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Two fighters net max non-title money

UFC Fight Night 224 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 224 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $179,500.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 224 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Edmen Shahbazyan[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Anthony Hernandez[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Emily Ducote[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Andre Fialho[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Hayisaer Maheshate[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Viacheslav Borshchev[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Diego Ferreira[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Michael Johnson[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Karolina Kowalkiewicz[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Vanessa Demopoulos[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Gilbert Urbina[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Orion Cosce[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Rodrigo Nascimento[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Ilir Latifi[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Nick Fiore[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Victoria Leonardo[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Themba Gorimbo[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Takashi Sato[/autotag]: $6,000

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 2241 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 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $3,214,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $17,803,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.

UFC Fight Night 224 play-by-play and live results

Check out live play-by-play and official results from UFC Fight Night 224 in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 224 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

In the main event, Mackenzie Dern (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) takes on Angela Hill (15-13 MMA, 10-13 UFC) in a women’s strawweight bout. In the co-feature, Anthony Hernandez (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) meets Edmen Shahbazyan (12-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) at middleweight.

To discuss the show, be sure to check out our UFC Fight Night 224 discussion thread. You can also get behind-the-scenes coverage and other event notes from on-site reporter Ken Hathaway (@kenshathaway ) on Twitter.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (April 17-23)

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 April 17-23.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Dec. 26-Jan. 1)

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 Dec. 26-Jan. 1.

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.

Fresh Ink: Meet the 32 fighters the UFC signed in August 2022

The UFC added 32 fighters to its roster last month. Find out who joined 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 the increasingly 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.

Scroll below to check out the 32 fighters the promotion inked in August 2022.

From blood diamonds to EFC champ to UFC? How stars have aligned for Themba Gorimbo to try and fulfill UFC dream

Themba Gorimbo will look to punch his ticket to the UFC when he competes in front of Dana White at UAE Warriors 24.

[autotag]Themba Gorimbo[/autotag] is doing everything he can to best position himself for a shot at the UFC.

Gorimbo (9-2), EFC’s welterweight champion, almost got that opportunity when he received the call for Dana White’s Contender Series in April. But struggles to obtain a U.S. visa forced the Zimbabwe-born fighter from South Africa to withdraw from the opportunity.

“On April 15, I received a message from my manager telling me Sean Shelby was looking to get me on the Contender Series this year,” Gorimbo told MMA Junkie. “Before I got my contract, I then got a message from Shelby stating that getting guys in for (Contender Series) without a visa has already become a challenge for them, and they have to stop bringing more guys. However, he stated that if anything changes, he will let me know.”

Gorimbo hasn’t competed since defending his title with a second-round submission of Lyle Karam in March 2020 at EFC 84. With his initial chance to punch his ticket to the UFC gone, Gorimbo has taken matters into his own hands by booking a flight and visa to Dubai and his efforts have already paid off.

Initially intending on serving as a backup fighter for UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi, Gorimbo has received the call to face Contender Series alum Ramazan Kurmagomedov (9-0) at UAE Warriors 24 on Oct. 29, a night UFC president Dana White is expected to be in attendance to film an episode of “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight.”

“This is the stars aligning for me to get into the UFC,” Gorimbo said. “Fighting in front of Dana White was something that was supposed to happen on the Contender Series, and I did not get a chance to because of the visa situation. I believe that the stars have aligned for me to win in an impressive fashion in front of Dana to earn my spot in the UFC.”

Gorimbo has a stern test ahead of him in unbeaten Kurmagomedov, who already notched a win on the Contender Series in 2019 against current UFC welterweight Jordan Williams, but it wasn’t enough to impress White. The Russian was also booked to face Alex Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 186 in February, but was forced to withdraw.

But despite all of Kurmagomedov’s experience on the big stage, Gorimbo is not intimidated.

“Ramzan is a great match for me,” Gorimbo said. “I looked him up and saw that he’s already been on the Contender Series and he won. He was booked to fight in the UFC and who knows what happened there, too. He is undefeated right now until I give him his first loss in MMA. I am a winner and I win.”

Gorimbo, 30, grew up in a village in the province of Masvingo and became an orphan after losing both his parents by the age of 13. He fled Zimbabwe in 2008 after a life of mining diamonds as a teenager and is now ready to use his story to inspire others on the big stage.

“At the tender age of 16, I became a diamond smuggler in the bloody diamonds of Marange, Zimbabwe just to get by and look after myself,” Gorimbo said. “Eventually smuggling diamonds had to be stopped by the government, and I almost got killed there, and I left Zimbabwe at the age of 17 for South Africa as a border jumper in search of a better life and opportunities. I’ve worked as a painter, security, and gardener here in South Africa while doing MMA on the road to becoming a champion.

“Ever since becoming a champion in EFC in 2019, I’ve been trying so hard to get a big opportunity in UFC, the best organization in the world. I have always visualized myself becoming a champion in the UFC. I believe if the pandemic didn’t happen, I would be in UFC now and climbing the ranks already because I am willing to fight everyone. Myself and my manager, we have been pushing on getting me in the UFC, but it’s currently hard to get in due to the visa issues all around the world.”

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