Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Trey Ogden got introspective after his first official win since September 2022, a dominant decision over Kurt Holobaugh at UFC on ESPN 53.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Trey Ogden[/autotag] beat Kurt Holobaugh with a unanimous decision Saturday to close out the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 53 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Ogden, who got his first official win since September 2022.
UFC on ESPN 53 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 53 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $148,000.
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 53 took place at the UFC Apex. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC on ESPN 53 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Karl Williams[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Justin Tafa[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Edmen Shahbazyan[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]AJ Dobson[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Payton Talbott[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Cameron Saaiman[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Billy Quarantillo[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Fernando Padilla[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Luis Pajuelo[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Trey Ogden[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Kurt Holobaugh[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Ricardo Ramos[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Miles Johns[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Cody Gibson[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Jarno Errens[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Steven Nguyen[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Dariya Zheleznyakova[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Montserrat Rendon[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Andre Lima[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Igor Severino[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Mick Parkin[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Mohammed Usman[/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 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 $4,530; 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 $53,000 while title challengers get $53,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-53 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Year-to-date total: $1,669,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $24,406,500
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 53.
Check out what the UFC on ESPN 53 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.
LAS VEGAS – UFC on ESPN 53 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 on ESPN 53 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
There were 35 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. 8-14.
The UFC has pinned “TUF 31” lightweight winner Kurt Holobaugh against fellow crafty veteran Trey Ogden.
[autotag]Kurt Holobaugh[/autotag] has his first UFC assignment as an official TUF winner.
“The Ultimate Fighter 31” lightweight winner, Holobaugh (20-7 MMA, 1-4 UFC) returns March 23 vs. [autotag]Trey Ogden[/autotag] (16-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Fighting first reported the news.
Holobaugh (20-7 MMA, 1-4 UFC) is one of the few UFC fighters in the promotion’s history to appear in three separate stints under the company’s banner. The third time has been the charm thus far for Holobaugh, who finished Lee Hammond and Jason Knight in exhibition bouts before a slick, “TUF 31” tournament-clinching submission over Team Chandler teammate Austin Hubbard in the lightweight finale.
Ogden (16-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC) looks to wash the bad taste out of his mouth after a controversial no contest against Nikolas Motta in November. Ogden dominated the majority of the 13-plus-minute performance before referee Mike Beltran erroneously deemed Motta unconscious during a submission attempt. Video replay showed Motta was not out and did not tap, so the bout was called a no contest – a ruling many viewers deemed wildly unfair.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night for March 23 includes:
Trey Ogden pleads for his full purse after the abrupt ending to his fight against Nikolas Motta.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Trey Ogden[/autotag] hopes he gets his win money after the abrupt ending to his fight against Nikolas Motta.
Ogden’s lightweight bout with Motta this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 232 was ruled a no contest after referee Mike Beltran mistakenly thought Motta was out from Ogden’s arm-triangle choke in Round 3. Motta immediately got up and protested the stoppage.
Ogden (16-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC) was up two rounds on two of the three judges’ scorecards. With dominant position secured on the ground, Ogden says he was en route to winning the fight had Beltran not made an error.
“I’m just trying to keep my composure and be a professional,” Ogden told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC Fight Night 232 post-fight news conference. “Life happens. I’m no stranger to adversity, but this one hurts. I mean, records are records, numbers are numbers, but I really hope I get my win purse because I deserve it. And I won all three rounds.”
[lawrence-related id=2697779,2697857,2696616,2697275]
Instead of a no contest, Ogden thinks the fight should have gone to the scorecards which would have resulted in him winning the fight.
“There’s a tremendous amount of sacrifice that goes into this game and the sport for me and my family and financial sacrifice,” Ogden continued. “I did nothing wrong. I did my job. I fought as hard as I could. It was an exciting fight. It was a tough fight, and I won.”
Ogden argues that it was only a matter of time that Motta (13-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) went out from the choke. The 34-year-old has now won just once in four octagon bouts.
“There’s no way possible Nik was getting out of that (choke),” Ogden said. “Anyone who has trained with me knows that, anyone who knows my career knows that and whether he tapped or not, Nik Motta knows he was not getting out. So, in my eyes, I won the fight. I just hope I get paid.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.
UFC Fight Night 232 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 232 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $158,500.
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 232 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 232 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Brendan Allen[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Michael Morales[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jake Matthews[/autotag]: $16,000
[autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jordan Leavitt[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Payton Talbott[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Nick Aguirre[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Luana Pinheiro[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Myktybek Orolbai[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Uros Medic[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Joanderson Brito[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jonathan Pearce[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Jose Johnson[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Chad Anheliger[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Christian Duncan[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Mick Parkin[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Caio Machado[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Jeka Saragih[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Lucas Alexander[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Lucie Pudilova[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Trey Ogden[/autotag]: $4,500
vs. [autotag]Nikolas Motta[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Rafael Estevam[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Charles Johnson[/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 2321 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: $7,464,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $21,983,000
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.
Check out what the UFC Fight Night 232 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.
LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 232 took place Saturday with 14 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 232 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 232.
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 Aug. 21-27.
Check out the stats to come out of UFC 287, where Israel Adesanya made history by doing something no middleweight had ever done.
The UFC’s long-awaited return to Miami after more than two decades delivered a memorable moment with Israel Adesanya making history by reclaiming middleweight gold from Alex Pereira in the UFC 287 headliner at Kaseya Center.
Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) avenged his TKO loss to Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) from November with a highlight-reel second-round knockout in the main event to become the first two-time titleholder in the storied 185-pound division.
For more on the numbers behind Adesanya’s win, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 287.
