Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Islam Makhachev finishing the most decorated grappler in UFC history secured him lightweight gold and MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Year for 2022.
With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best submissions from January to December 2022.
As voted on by our entire staff, here are the top 10 and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Year.
Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following Bellator 278, 279 and UFC Fight Night 205.
A number of divisional rankings were shaken up following UFC Fight Night 205 and dual events in Honolulu with Bellator 278 and Bellator 279.
In the first of back-to-back events for the promotion, a new women’s flyweight champ was crowned as [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] defeated Juliana Velasquez at Bellator 278. Although the fourth-round TKO stoppage was considered early by some, including Velasquez, Carmouche walked out of Neil S. Blaisdell Center with some new hardware and a new spot in this week’s rankings, climbing from No. 4 to No. 2. Not only does the new champ take Velasquez’s title, she takes her previous slot in the rankings.
At UFC Fight Night 205, former strawweight champion [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] returned to the division she once ruled to take on Amanda Lemos in the main event. Not only did Andrade record a win, but she also did so in historic fashion, by recording the first standing arm triangle submission in UFC history. The former champ has seen success throughout her career at bantamweight, flyweight, and strawweight. Now that she has returned to 115 pounds, she also re-enters the rankings in the division, claiming the No. 7 spot.
Take a look at the full rankings below ahead of UFC on ESPN 35.
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Check out the latest episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”
Monday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.
On Episode 3,254, the guys recap a busy weekend of Bellator and UFC cards, including the controversial stoppage in a title fight, the statements made by multiple fighters, and more.
Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.
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Dean Barry thinks Mike Jackson ‘took the easy way out’ with his disqualification win at UFC Fight Night 205.
[autotag]Dean Barry[/autotag] is not buying that his opponent Mike Jackson was unable to continue fighting.
The UFC newcomer thinks Jackson exaggerated the fouls sustained during their welterweight contest at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 205 in Las Vegas. Barry (4-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) lost his UFC debut via disqualification. Jackson was awarded the win after he was unable to continue fighting due to an eye gouge he sustained. The eye gouge wasn’t the only foul, as Jackson was also hit in the groin with a spinning back kick earlier in the round.
Barry thinks both incidents were played out by “The Truth.”
“To be honest with you, I thought he took the easy way out there,” Barry said in a video posted on his Instagram. “Didn’t want to stay, didn’t want to continue fighting. Even when I kicked him low, he was talking on the ground to me for ages. Like, if you get hit in the nuts, you can’t be talking like that. Same with the eye poke. Straight after the ref called the fight off, he was fine. Both eyes open perfectly. He said he can’t open his eyes.”
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Although the fight was short, Barry feels he was en route to his first UFC victory. The Irishman would love to get a rematch with Jackson or get a fight in his more natural weight class – lightweight.
“Look, I’ll take the rematch in a heartbeat if they give it to me, or just let me go back down to my weight division and fight,” Barry said. “I thought I showed enough out there. Sorry about that. Thank you so much everybody for the support. This is the fight game, it happens. It’s not a loss for me, I was destroying him and I got a DQ for an eye poke. What can you do?”
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UFC Fight Night 205 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 205 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $149,500.
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 205 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 205 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
* * * *
[autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Claudio Puelles[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Clay Guida[/autotag]: $21,000
[autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Montana De La Rosa[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Charles Jourdain[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Lando Vannata[/autotag]: $11,000
[autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Sergey Khandozhko[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Dwight Grant[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Tyson Pedro[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ike Villanueva[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Aori Qileng[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Cameron Else[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Preston Parsons[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Evan Elder[/autotag]: $4,000
[autotag]Philipe Lins[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Marcin Prachnio[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Mike Jackson[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Dean Barry[/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 2057 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2051 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: $2,470,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $8,638,000
Check out all the fighter walkout songs from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 205 event.
Fight Tracks: The walkout songs of UFC Fight Night 205
While it takes intense training, world-class skills and maybe even a bit of luck to register a UFC win, picking the right song to accompany you to the cage is a key talent, as well.
See what the fighters from UFC Fight Night 205 went with as their backing tracks in Las Vegas.
Mike Jackson def. Dean Barry via disqualification (intentional foul) – Round 1, 3:52
Check out what all the UFC Fight Night 205 winners had to say after their performances at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 205 took place Saturday with 11 bouts on the slate, and we’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from the UFC Apex.
In the main event, former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade returned to 115 pounds to score a historic submission win over Amanda Lemos by making her tap with a standing arm-triangle choke.
You can hear from Andrade and every UFC Fight Night 205 winner by checking out their post-fight scrums below.
These two submissions from Jessica Andrade and Claudio Puelles were too good not earn some extra cash.
The UFC handed out two post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, and they went to two fighters who pulled off two of the best submissions of the year so far.
After UFC Fight Night 205, Jessica Andrade and Claudio Puelles picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in Las Vegas.
Check out the details behind the winners below.
Former champ Jessica Andrade makes history at UFC Fight Night 205 with the first standing arm-triangle finish in the UFC.
[autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] has made history.
The former strawweight champion notched the first standing arm-triangle choke submission win in UFC history, submitting top contender [autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag] in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 205 in Las Vegas. The official stoppage came at the 3:13 mark of Round 1.
Andrade made quick work of Lemos in a fight that was starting to heat up.
Lemos (11-2-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) was doing well while the fight lasted. She kept good distance from a much more powerful Andrade (23-9 MMA, 14-7 UFC) and was landing hard leg kicks that seemed to buckle Andrade. However, in a quick scramble, Andrade was able to get a hold of Lemos’ neck and left arm and trap in in the arm-triangle position.
From there, Andrade kept a tight and constant squeeze. Lemos tried to stay composed and fight out of it, but it was too deep and eventually forced her to tap out.
That "first standing arm triangle in UFC history" feeling 😤 #UFCVegas52 pic.twitter.com/dkK68KlD4e
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 24, 2022
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With this historic result, Andrade made a successful return back to 115 pounds. The Brazilian had a three-fight stint at flyweight where she went 2-1 with her only loss being in a title fight against champion Valentina Shevchenko.
Andrade is on a two-fight winning streak, having stopped veteran Cynthia Calvillo in a flyweight bout last September at UFC 266. The former UFC champion is 3-3 in her past six trips to the octagon, with two of her losses being in championship fights against Zhang Weili and Shevchenko.
Andrade asked for a title shot following her win at UFC Fight Night 205.
“This is my division,” Andrade said in her in-octagon post-fight interview. “This is where I’m going to perform my best. I know that I’m ready to fight again for the title. If you guys can give me a shot, I’m going to be here, I’m going to be ready.”
Meanwhile, Lemos saw an impressive five-fight winning streak come to an end. She hadn’t tasted defeat since her UFC debut back in 2017.
Complete UFC Fight Night 205 results:
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The third kneebar submission of Claudio Puelles’ UFC career happened at lightning speed.
Add another kneebar submission to [autotag]Claudio Puelles[/autotag]’ record.
Puelles said heading into UFC Fight Night 205 that he wanted to use [autotag]Clay Guida'[/autotag]s name to make a statement, and he did just that on Saturday night by making the gritty veteran tap out to a kneebar at the 3:01 mark of the first round of their lightweight bout.
It was the third kneebar submission victory of Puelles’ six-fight UFC tenure and fourth overall of his career. The victory pushed the 26-year-old Peruvian’s winning streak to five fights, and he’s seemed to reach a new level since moving to live in South Florida and train at Sanford MMA.
It could be time for Puelles to face a ranked lightweight next.
“I know I am (ready),” Puelles told Daniel Cormier during his post-fight interview. “I don’t know if that’s next, but I know that I’m ready.”
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Puelles looked the part against former Strikeforce champion Guida, who landed a takedown within the first minute of the fight. But Puelles kept attacking the left arm from bottom position with an omoplata attempt, but Guida defended well. So Puelles transitioned to a triangle attempt against the cage and then an armbar, but Guida — being the tough veteran that he is — found a way out. Guida showed poise while his left arm remained trapped between Puelles’ legs, but he eventually found his way out and tried to advance his top position.
That proved to be costly as Puelles locked in a lightning quick kneebar that got a quick tapout from Guida.
This kneebar happened at lightning speed⚡️ #UFCVegas52 pic.twitter.com/uOyESkuNnr
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 24, 2022
Guida, 40, fought out his UFC contract with the loss to Puelles, leaving the future of the UFC Hall of Famer unclear.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 205 results include:
