Tag: UFC Fight Night 224

Absent Dana White, Dave Shaw talks UFC London, future Europe and Africa plans, Michael Page and more

UFC executive Dave Shaw discussed a bevy of MMA topics and news, including Bellator free agents, after UFC Fight Night 224 in London.

LONDON – UFC executive Dave Shaw spoke to the media Saturday following the completion of UFC Fight Night 224.

In UFC president Dana White’s absence, Shaw, the promotion’s senior vice president tasked with international content, addressed various topics at The O2 in London, including the second London event in 2023, future Europe plans, the potential for an Africa debut, big-name free agents and more.

You can watch Shaw’s full post-event news conference above, and check out a transcription of some of the topics he covered below.

UFC Fight Night 224 post-event facts: Multiple perfect records ruined in London

Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 224, which saw several fighters suffer their first career or octagon defeat.

The UFC made its 15th stop in London on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 224, which went down at The O2. It was the longest event of the year so far.

Many of the 15 fights on the docket went to decisions, but one man who didn’t need the judges was [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who effortlessly ran through [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag] (24-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC) for a first-round TKO in his return from a lengthy injury layoff.

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 224.

Andre Fili on Nathaniel Wood loss at UFC Fight Night 224: ‘I thought I won. Judges didn’t. F*ck’ em’

Andre Fili thinks he was robbed by the judges against England’s Nathaniel Wood at UFC Fight Night 224 in London.

[autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag] thinks he was robbed by the judges at UFC Fight Night 224.

Fili (22-10 MMA, 10-9 UFC) lost a close unanimous decision to London’s own [autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag] (20-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in this past Saturday’s main card at The O2.

Fili stumbled Wood with a left just 20 seconds into the fight, but was dropped with a big right a few moments later in what was a back-and-forth round. Fili was able to stun Wood again in Round 2, connecting with a left, followed by a flurry of knees which sent him to the canvas. The Team Alpha Male fighter thought he did enough to win the fight, but all three judges awarded Wood Rounds 1 and 3.

“I thought I Won. Judges didn’t. F*ck’ em. Colonizers can never keep a Polynesian boy down. Congrats to my opponent- fun fight. Onward & Upward. Outcasts & Underdogs. O&U Forever. I Love You All.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CvBORtmNbjx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Fili’s comments weren’t received well by the fans, but “Touchy” says his words were simply tongue in cheek.

“If me saying “colonizer” offends you, learn to take a f*cking joke. Or keep being a lame. Either way, thanks for watching.”

With the setback, Fili has one win in his past five outings – a split decision over Bill Algeo which came last September.

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

Mick Parkin thinks he belongs at this level after UFC London win over Jamal Pogues

Mick Parkin, a Dana White’s Contender Series heavyweight alum from England, won his highly anticipated official UFC debut in London.

LONDON – [autotag]Mick Parkin[/autotag] beat Jamal Pogues with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 224 at The O2 in London.

Take a look inside the fight with Parkin, a Dana White’s Contender Series alum from England who won his highly anticipated official UFC debut.

Opponent, style, event and even continent switch no problem for Jafel Filho at UFC London

Jafel Filho got back in the win column at UFC Fight Night 224 in London following a submission loss in his UFC debut in March.

LONDON – [autotag]Jafel Filho[/autotag] beat Daniel Barez with a first-round submission Saturday to open up the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 224 at The O2 in London.

Take a look inside the fight with Filho, who got back in the win column following a submission loss in his UFC debut in March.

UFC London winner Ketlen Vieira: Raquel Pennington deserves vacant title shot, but not Julianna Peña

Ketlen Vieira doesn’t think Julianna Peña should get the next crack at the UFC women’s bantamweight title vacated by Amanda Nunes in June.

LONDON – [autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag] doesn’t think [autotag]Julianna Peña[/autotag] should fight for the title next.

With the UFC’s women’s bantamweight title now vacant, former champion Peña sees a fight between her and [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] as the matchup that makes most sense.

But because Peña just lost her title to Amanda Nunes, Vieira (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) agrees with Pennington, but says Peña shouldn’t be one half of the vacant title fight.

“I think Raquel Pennington deserves it. She’s coming off five wins,” Vieira told reporters at her UFC Fight Night 224 post-fight news conference. “A lot of people think that I beat her, but I’m not here to cry over that. I do think that she deserves it. But Julianna Peña – it doesn’t make too much sense for someone coming off a loss to be fighting for the title.”

Vieira returned to the win column at UFC Fight Night 224 on Saturday when she defeated Pannie Kianzad by unanimous decision at The O2. The Brazilian has now won three of her past four.

“I see myself as the person that if you want to get to the belt, you have got to get through me,” Vieira said.

Vieira used a grapple-heavy approach to frustrate Kianzad, and says her control throughout the majority of the fight made it a definitive win.

“I’ve never had an easy run in the UFC. I’ve always faced the biggest names,” Vieira said. “I don’t believe in shortcuts. I believe you have to always face the toughest challenges and I knew Pannie was going to be a tough challenge.

“You really show how good you are, your worth, when you fight on the ground – not just when you land a lucky shot or a lucky knockout. I knew it was going to be a tough fight. I knew she was going to come in strong, and I knew it was going to be three rounds. I don’t feel I’m better than anyone, but I showed that I’m better over three rounds.”

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

UFC Fight Night 224 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Four fighters take home $16,000

UFC Fight Night 224 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

LONDON – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 224 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $225,000.

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 Fight Night 224 took place at the The 02. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

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

* * * *

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Julija Stoliarenko[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Fares Ziam[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jai Herbert[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Lerone Murphy[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Josh Culibao[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Daniel Marcos[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Davey Grant[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jonny Parsons[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Danny Roberts[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Joel Alvarez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Mick Parkin[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Makhmud Muradov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Bryan Barberena[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Chris Duncan[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yanal Ashmoz[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Bruna Brasil[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Shauna Bannon[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jafel Filho[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Daniel Barez[/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 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: $4,780,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $19,369,000

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

UFC Fight Night 224 winner Tom Aspinall: Jon Jones knowing I exist is ‘a win itself’

Tom Aspinall is glad he got UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ attention.

LONDON – [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] is glad he got UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ attention.

Aspinall (13-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) ran through Marcin Tybura (24-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC) for a first-round TKO Saturday in the UFC Fight Night 224 headliner at The O2.

Aspinall mapped out a plan to fight the winner of Ciryl Gane vs. Serghei Spivac, which headlines UFC Fight Night in Paris on Sept. 2. After that, he’s eyeing Jones, and thinks he has what it takes to beat him. Jones’ response was short, but at least Aspinall knows he was watching.

“Sounds good lol.”

“Jon Jones knows I exist,” Aspinall told reporters at his UFC Fight Night 224 post-fight news conference. “Woo-hoo! That’s a win itself. I’m buzzing with that. What I want to do, and I’ve been saying it all week, is: I want to win my fights going forward, of course. But also, another goal of mine is I want to motivate Jon Jones to stick around and fight me. That is my absolute dream.”

Jones is slated for his first title defense against Stipe Miocic in the UFC 295 headliner on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden. No one has been able to solve the Jones puzzle, but Aspinall explains why he thinks he’s the man to do it.

“I think I match up well,” Aspinall said. “It’s a dream fight of mine. I think I’m young and I’m fresh. I’ve not got loads of miles on the clock. I’m big. I can do everything well. I’m fast, I’m strong, I’m heavy, which is unlike a lot of his opponents who he’s fought in the past. I just think I bring something different to him, and I think he knows that, as well.”

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

Julija Stoliarenko loves future at flyweight after quick submission of Molly McCann at UFC Fight Night 224

Julija Stoliarenko showed out in her flyweight debut at UFC Fight Night 224 in London.

LONDON – [autotag]Julija Stoliarenko[/autotag] showed out in her flyweight debut.

Stoliarenko (11-7-1 MMA, 2-5 UFC) scored a quick upset submission of fan favorite [autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag] (13-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) Saturday in the UFC Fight Night 224 co-main event at The O2.

Stoliarenko has struggled on the scale before, and has competed at bantamweight, catchweights and featherweight throughout her career. But after trying out 125 pounds, Stoliarenko said she felt physically great.

“I love myself at flyweight,” Stoliarenko told reporters at her UFC Fight Night 224 post-fight news conference. “I love it. I love how my body is moving at flyweight. That’s better for me for sure.”

Moving forward, Stoliarenko is going to make flyweight her permanent home.

“I’m not coming back to bantamweight or featherweight for sure,” Stoliarenko said. “Flyweight and only flyweight – that’s my home. That’s it. That’s my home.”

All 10 of Stoliarenko’s finishes have come by first-round armbar. Although it’s become her speciality, Stoliarenko says it’s not something she necessarily seeks – it just comes naturally to her when the opportunity presents itself.

“I don’t prepare that,” Stoliarenko said. “I’m not preparing for armbar. I never drill armbar anymore. We stopped drilling it when I was a blue belt. It just comes to me. It’s natural to me.”

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

UFC Fight Night 224 bonuses: Tom Aspinall earns $50,000 in triumphant return from injury

Check out which fighters earned an extra $50,000 for their performance in London.

The UFC handed out four post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, including an award for a finish in the main event.

After UFC Fight Night 224, four fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in London. Check out the winners below.