Tag: Tim Elliott

Unbeaten Tatsuro Taira draws Tim Elliott at UFC Fight Night on May 18

Tatsuro Taira will look to climb the flyweight rankings when he takes on a savvy veteran.

[autotag]Tatsuro Taira[/autotag] will look to climb the flyweight rankings when he takes on a savvy veteran.

Taira (15-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) meets [autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag] (20-13-1 MMA, 9-11 UFC) at the UFC’s May 18 Fight Night event, which does not have a publicly announced venue or location. Both fighters confirmed the news on social media after an initial report from Eurosport NL.

Japan’s Taira continued his finishing ways when he took out Carlos Hernandez by second-round TKO this past December at UFC Fight Night 233. The undefeated 24-year-old has finished most of his wins by submission.

Former title challenger Elliott has won three of his past four. He also most recently competed at UFC Fight Night 233, when he stepped in on five days’ notice to submit Su Mudaerji in a Performance of the Night effort.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for May 18 includes:

  • Angela Hill vs. Luana Pinheiro
  • Hailey Cowan vs. Tamires Vidal
  • Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Emily Ducote
  • Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Themba Gorimbo
  • Victor Martinez vs. Tom Nolan
  • Warlley Alves vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov
  • Tim Elliott vs. Tatsuro Taira

MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for December: Sean Brady mauls Kelvin Gastelum

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from December 2023.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from December 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for December.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

Nominees

4 biggest takeaways from UFC Fight Night 233: The fallout of Khalil Rountree punishing Anthony Smith

Analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC Fight Night 233, including the fallout of Khalil Rountree battering Anthony Smith.

What mattered most at UFC Fight Night 233 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …

* * * *

UFC Fight Night 233 post-event facts: Khalil Rountree inches closer to Chuck Liddell’s KO record

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 233, which saw Khalil Rountree move closer to Chuck Liddell’s longstanding knockout record.

There’s just one event left on the UFC’s 2023 schedule after UFC Fight Night 233 came to a conclusion on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

An underwhelming lineup fell in the shadow of UFC 296 this weekend, and the main event wasn’t particularly memorable as [autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag] (21-7-1 MMA, 10-2-1 UFC) proved to be too much for [autotag]Chris Gutierrez[/autotag] (20-6-2 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) in their bantamweight matchup en route to a unanimous decision win.

For more on the numbers to come out of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts about UFC Fight Night 233.

* * * *

With new contract, UFC Fight Night 233 winner Tim Elliott aims to be ‘company man’ moving forward

All Tim Elliott cares about at this stage of his career is that he keeps fighting, specifically for the UFC whenever the promotion needs him.

LAS VEGAS – All [autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag] cares about at this stage of his career is that he keeps fighting, specifically for the UFC. As long as that happens, he’s a happy man.

Seven weeks removed from his last fight, a loss to Muhammad Mokaev at UFC 294, Elliott (20-13-1 MMA, 9-11 UFC) was back in the octagon Saturday night at the UFC Apex. Elliott was up against Su Mudaerji on five days’ notice, and he handled his business with a first-round arm-triangle submission win in their bantamweight bout that also earned him a Performance of the Night bonus.

Not bad for a guy who hadn’t spent much time in the gym since late October.

“That’s not a submission I do a lot, and I was a little bit worried about burning my arms out since I only practiced twice since my last fight,” Elliott told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during a post-fight news conference. “But my coaches were saying it was there and to sell out for it, so I listened. I’m a soldier. I’m just lucky enough to have good generals tell me what to do. I put guys in my corner that I trust with my life, and I’ll do anything they tell me to do.”

Elliott said the win “was everything” to him given the circumstances. When he accepted the fight with Mudaerji, a new four-fight contract was also offered, which came as a relief to the former UFC flyweight title challenger.

“After my last loss, I didn’t know where I was gonna be,” Elliott said. “I had one fight left on my contract. It’s a really scary thing in the UFC to go and fight with one fight left on your contract. Another loss means I’m done. Even if I won the last fight on my contract, there’s a good chance that maybe they wouldn’t re-sign me (since I’m) finally making decent money. But taking this fight on short notice, they automatically gave me a new contract. I just started that new contract today with a win. Now I have the job security of three more fights. That’s all I really want. I want to make sure that I can fight again tomorrow, that I can fight again the next day. My biggest fear right now is not having this in my life.”

Now 36, Elliott, who has a 5-5 record since 2019, doesn’t speak so passionately about earning another title shot. He really is interested in simply fighting for the UFC whenever and wherever the promotion needs him, he said.

“I would love to be that guy they can call on short notice,” Elliott said. “… I want to be that guy. I’m a company man. I’m ready to work. I’m finally making money. I’ve fought in this game forever. Since 2012 I’ve been in the UFC. I’m finally making enough to support my family the way they deserve. We went through years where we scraped so I can do this. Now I want them to flourish.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.

UFC Fight Night 233 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $22 million

UFC Fight Night 233 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 233 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $159,500

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

The full UFC Fight Night 233 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Chris Gutierrez[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Nasrat Haqparast[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Jamie Mullarkey[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Su Mudaerji[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Kevin Jousset[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Song Kenan[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]HyunSung Park[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Shannon Ross[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Steve Garcia[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Melquizael Costa[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Luana Santos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Stephanie Egger[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Tatsuro Taira[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Carlos Hernandez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Talita Alencar[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Rayanne Amanda[/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 2331 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: $7,848,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $22,367,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.

UFC Fight Night 233 bonuses: Tim Elliott’s short-notice acceptance of Su Mudaerji bout pays off

It’s one thing to win a fight on five days’ notice. It’s another thing to earn an extra $50,000 like Tim Elliott did after UFC Fight Night 233.

The UFC handed out four post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, including one fighter who stepped up on extremely short notice.

After UFC Fight Night 233, four fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Check out the winners below.

UFC Fight Night 233 video: Tim Elliott chokes out Su Mudaerji on five days’ notice

Tim Elliott admitted his “title run is kind of over” despite choking out Su Mudaerji in dominant fashion at UFC Fight Night 233.

[autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag] earned one of the more impressive wins of his career Saturday when he defeated [autotag]Su Mudaerji[/autotag] on just five days’ notice at UFC Fight Night 233.

According to Laura Sanko on commentary, Elliott (20-14-1 MMA, 9-11 UFC) had just two training sessions to prepare for the bantamweight bout at the UFC Apex. It didn’t look like it in the octagon as Elliott landed some good strikes on the feet, got Mudaerji (16-6 MMA, 3-3 UFC) to the mat then locked in an arm-triangle choke that led to the technical submission at the 4:02 mark of Round 1.

Check out the replay of the finish below (via X):

After losing a key fight to Muhammad Mokaev at UFC 294 in October, Elliott jumped on the opportunity to fight Mudaerji as a replacement.

Elliott, 36, admitted his time at the highest level of competition might be dwindling, but his fighting spirit remains strong, and he’s ready to step in the cage as often as possible.

“I’m never really satisfied in here,” Elliot said in his post-fight interview with Paul Felder. “There’s things I want to do that I’ve never got to do in my career, and I’m running out of time, and I want to show that now. The goal right now is to get back in here. I’m ready next weekend if they need me. …

“I feel like my title run is kind of over now, and all I really have is excitement. But the UFC knows they can call me anytime, and I’ll show up, make weight and fight hard. And if I continue to do that, I’ll be here forever.”

[lawrence-related id=2702294,2702297,2702301]

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 233 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.

UFC Fight Night 233 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC Fight Night 233 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 233 took place Saturday with 11 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 233 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 233.

Tim Elliott enters last-minute Su Mudaerji bout at UFC Fight Night 233 with something to prove

Tim Elliott aims to take a different approach against Su Mudaerji at UFC Fight Night 233.

LAS VEGAS – As of this past weekend, [autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag] wasn’t on the verge of fighting, but now he is. And that’s just how he likes it.

Elliott (19-3-1 MMA, 8-11 UFC) meets fellow ranked flyweight Su Mudaerji (16-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in a main-card bantamweight bout this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 233, which takes place at the UFC Apex and streams on ESPN+.

Elliott would’ve been well within his right not to take this fight on just five days’ notice considering he just had a bout – a submission loss to Muhammad Mokaev – a little more than six weeks ago at UFC 294. But he simply couldn’t turn down the opportunity to get back in the cage.

“I don’t know, it just seemed right,” Elliott told reporters, including MMA Junkie, on Wednesday at UFC Fight Night 233 media day. “I have a good manager. I just do what they say. They’ve always steered me in the right direction. … Also, they gave me 10 pounds. It’s an easy weight cut, good fight.”

You might say there are two primary reasons Elliott accepted the fight. The first: not having to cut as much weight to get down to 136 poinds.

“It’s a little weird not having to kill myself so much for this one, but I think it’ll make for a better fight, a more exciting fight,” Elliott said. “I could’ve come in here and made the weight probably, but it wouldn’t have been healthy. I wouldn’t want to risk missing the weight class and not doing what I said I was gonna do.”

The second and perhaps more important reason Elliott took the fight is that he views it as an opportunity to prove something even at 36 and as a former UFC title challenger.

“I want to fight a striker. I want to try to work some of my striking,” Elliott said. “I haven’t really been able to do that. Through my whole career, I’ve kind of been eager to get to the ground. Even in the Mokaev fight, I was winning the striking portion, and I still had this eagerness to get him to the ground. But when I’m sparring in practice, I mostly stay on my feet. So I would like to show the new skills that I have, and I haven’t really been able to do that in my last few fights. I’m getting older now, and I’m running out of chances to really show how good I am and how good I can be, so I feel like Su is a really good opponent for that. …

“Honestly, I want to fight for three rounds. I want to put on a performance. I like to have time in the cage. I like to get takedowns and break records. That’s the place where I feel the most comfortable in my life, is when that cage door shuts. The more time I can spend in there, the better I feel.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=420030788]

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.