Tag: UFC Fight Night 226

Mick Maynard’s Shoes: What’s next for Manon Fiorot after UFC Fight Night 226 win?

Manon Fiorot is now 6-0 in the octagon after beating Rose Namajunas at UFC Fight Night 226 and is likely on the cusp of a title shot.

[autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag] put a signature win on her resume Saturday at UFC Fight Night 226 when she spoiled the women’s flyweight debut of Rose Namajunas.

Fiorot (11-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) added another notch to her growing unbeaten record inside the octagon by outpointing former UFC champ Namajunas (11-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) en route to a unanimous decision at Accor Arena in Paris. “The Beast” has impressed more and more with each fight, and now she’s at the forefront of title contention.

With less than two weeks until the 125-pound belt is on the line between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko at Noche UFC, the timeliness of Fiorot’s win was big. She’s not the only person in the mix, however, as Erin Blanchfield has a strong case of her own.

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How should everything in the division play out moving forward? Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on Fiorot’s future after UFC Fight Night 226.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

 

4 biggest takeaways from UFC Fight Night 226: Rose Namajunas’ curious future, Ciryl Gane saves reputation

Thoughts and analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC Fight Night 226, including Rose Namajunas’ curious fighting future.

What mattered most at UFC Fight Night 226 at the Accor Arena in Paris? Here are a few post-fight musings …

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UFC Fight Night 226 post-event facts: Rose Namajunas’ career hits uncharted territory after loss

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 226, such as Rose Namajunas being on the first true losing skid of her career.

The UFC’s second trip to Paris was another significant event for French MMA with UFC Fight Night 226 going down Saturday at Accor Arena.

Multiple French fighters on the card thrived, but none more than former interim UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC, who thrived in the main event with a second-round TKO of [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) to rebound from his loss against Jon Jones earlier this year.

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 226.

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Rose Namajunas suffered broken finger in UFC Fight Night 226 loss to Manon Fiorot

Manager releases photo of Rose Namajunas’ badly injured finger from UFC Fight Night 226 loss.

[autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag]’s finger injury was no joke.

Brian Butler-Au, manager for Namajunas at Sucker Punch Entertainment, posted a photo on Sunday morning of Namajunas’ badly injured pinky finger on her right hand.

Namajunas (11-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) sustained the injury in the very first round of her UFC flyweight debut against Manon Fiorot (11-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 in Paris. In the end, Namajunas lost a unanimous decision to the French fighter.

Butler-Au believes the injury played a factor in Namajunas’ defeat. She did point out her injury to her corner the second the first round ended, saying she had likely broken her finger, and she mainly kept her right hand open for the majority of the fight.

“This is what happened to @rosenamajunas hand in the very first clash in the first round,” Butler-Au wrote on Instagram. “Not being able to make a fist caused a mental battle to keep fighting and carried into the second round.. by the third round Rose was ready for 2 more. Such is the fight game 🤦🏻‍♂️ She is in good spirits and heading home now 🙏🏼🌹.”

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UFC Fight Night 226 marked Namajunas’ return to MMA competition in over a year. Prior to her fight against Fiorot, Namajunas was last seen in May 2022 when she lost her UFC strawweight title fight to Carla Esparza in a lackluster unanimous decision.

The 31-year-old is currently 3-2 in her past five bouts. Namajunas indicated at media day on Wednesday that she was likely going to stay at 125 pounds for the remainder of her career.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

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Taylor Lapilus happy he won for France after Caolan Loughran insulted French MMA before UFC Paris

It was an especially sweet taste of victory for Taylor Lapilus, who shut up Caolan Loughran at UFC Paris.

PARIS – [autotag]Taylor Lapilus[/autotag]’s win on Saturday night was extra special.

Not only did the victory at UFC Fight Night 226 mark his UFC return, but he also did it in his home country and against a man who had disrespected French MMA. Lapilus (19-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) beat Caolan Loughran (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a unanimous decision on the preliminary card of the event.

Loughran flipped the bird to the Parisian crowd at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins and had spoken badly about the level of French MMA in the leadup to the fight. Getting the victory was a must for Lapilus.

“You know, my reaction was that I simply wanted to represent my country in the best possible way,” Lapilus told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 226 post-fight press conference. “I love my country, and he particularly insulted it, so it was very important to me to represent it as best as possible, and I really, really wanted to win this fight.”

Lapilus fought for the UFC from 2015 to 2016 before returning to the regional scene. He picked up a record of 7-1 before making this return on Saturday night.

Although the return to the UFC was important, fighting in front of his people in the second-ever event in the UFC was special.

“It’s a feeling that I wish for every fighter, to be able to fight and win in front of your home crowd, a crowd like the one I just had,” Lapilus said. “But you know it’s so impressive and glad of the journey that I had because it was probably one of the most difficult camps I’ve had. I really struggled. But at the same time, to go through that, it’s not only a victory in the octagon, it’s more of a victory for every thing I had to go through, and I’m incredibly proud because of that most of all.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

UFC Fight Night 226 winner Volkan Oezdemir pleased with progress after training with Khamzat Chimaev

Volkan Oezdemir showed off his ground game at UFC Fight Night 226, and he has Khamzat Chimaev partially to thank for that.

PARIS – [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] showed off his ground game at UFC Fight Night 226.

Oezdemir (19-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC) submitted Bogdan Guskov (14-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a rear-naked choke in the first round in Saturday’s main card at Accor Arena in Paris.  Oezdemir credits his time training at All Star Gym in Sweden with [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag], which led to his first submission win since 2012.

“I took it how it came, but I also put a lot of emphasis on my ground,” Oezdemir told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 226 post-fight news conference. “Now I’ve been training at All Star for my third camp. I feel really great. The first two camps were back-to-back. I just came, it was like eight weeks before the fight. So, full camp, a lot of volume, three to four trainings a day, really hard.

“Training with Khamzat, it was really tough. It put a toll on the body, then I was off two weeks vacation, come back again, another camp, felt overtrained, but fought. But now with the offseason, being able to train now, I can feel the progression, work on my techniques, understand all the concepts they can propose, and now you can see that in my fight.”

Oezdemir gained confidence in knowing that if he can handle Chimaev’s wrestling in the practice room, no one should trouble him in a fight. He plans on helping him out for his upcoming fight against Paulo Costa at UFC 294 on Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi.

“Once you’re able to protect a takedown, just stand back up against this guy, you know you’re going to be able to do that against everybody else,” Oezdemir said. “Just the input he puts, the volume, and the intensity he brings all the camp, it’s really amazing. So, now he’s training in Abu Dhabi, I’m going to also be following him during the last phase of his camp preparing for his next fight.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

UFC Fight Night 226 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Multiple fighters top card with $11,000

UFC Fight Night 226 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

PARIS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $128,500.

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 226 took place at the Accor Arena in France. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 226 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Thiago Moises[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Bogdan Guskov[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]William Gomis[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yanis Ghemmouri[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Morgan Charriere[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Manolo Zecchini[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Taylor Lapilus[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Caolan Loughran[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ange Loosa[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Rhys McKee[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Nora Cornolle[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Joselyne Edwards[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Farid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kleydson Rodrigues[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jacqueline Cavalcanti[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Zarah Fairn[/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 2261 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: $5,735,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $20,324,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

Manon Fiorot willing to take ‘easy fight’ with Erin Blanchfield, says Rose Namajunas not a flyweight after UFC Paris

After a big win over Rose Namajunas, Manon Fiorot believes a title shot should be hers, but she’ll take on Erin Blanchfield if necessary.

PARIS – [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag] thinks flyweight is not [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag]’ weight class.

Fiorot (11-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) spoiled Namajunas’ (11-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) 125-pound debut when she outlasted her in a unanimous decision win in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 co-main event at Accor Arena.

After going three hard rounds with Namajunas, Fiorot says “Thug Rose” doesn’t have the strength for the division.

“I think she’s lacking a bit of power in this weight class,” Fiorot told reporters through an interpreter at the UFC Fight Night 226 post-fight news conference. “I don’t know what she’s going to do after, if she’s going to stay there or go back, but I don’t think it’s her weight class.”

Namajunas shot multiple takedowns on Fiorot, but Fiorot was able to fend them all off. While many projected her to be the one to wrestle, Fiorot said she wasn’t surprised with Namajunas’ game plan since she didn’t think she’d be able to keep up with her on the feet.

“I knew I was a better striker, so I was pretty sure she wanted to wrestle me,” Fiorot said. “But it was impossible to take me down.”

Fiorot called for a title shot after her fight. If the UFC offers her [autotag]Erin Blanchfield[/autotag] next, she’d take it and doesn’t expect to have any issues against the fellow surging contender. Blanchfield (12-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) is coming off a win over former title challenger Taila Santos this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 225 in Singapore.

“To me, I clearly deserve the title shot,” Fiorot said. “I don’t see why I’d fight Erin. But if I have to, and I don’t have a choice, for sure it’s going to be an easy fight for me.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

Ciryl Gane admits he felt pressure at UFC Paris, feels back on track after dismantling Serghei Spivac

Usually pretty laid back, Ciryl Gane admits he felt the pressure to bounce back at UFC Paris – and he certainly did just that.

PARIS – [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] heard all the doubters ahead of UFC Fight Night 226. The criticism was loud, perhaps the loudest of his entire career.

When he got in the cage Saturday at Accor Arena, typically chill heavyweight Gane (12-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) admits he felt the pressure. After all, the previous time fans saw him in the cage was a quick submission loss to Jon Jones at UFC 285.

“I’m not going to lie: I’ve got the pressure, and I want to do well,” Gane told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at a post-fight news conference. “This is not a game of basketball or soccer. That’s different. Just that, you have some emotion that’s really different. (I was) a little bit afraid, a little bit pressured. You want to do well.”

Do well he did.

Gane picked apart and beat down fellow contender Serghei Spivac (16-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) en route to a second-round stoppage by TKO. Prior to the fight, Gane told MMA Junkie he wanted to put on a masterclass and by his post-fight assessment he did just that.

“That was my mission: to shine tonight because I want to go back to the belt,” Gane said. “This is my race, and I want to do that, yeah.”

The heavyweight title picture beyond the upcoming UFC 295 main event between champion Jones and Stipe Miocic is a bit clouded. Russian contender Sergei Pavlovich is expected to serve as the backup fighter for that bout, which takes place Nov. 11 in New York. Then there’s Tom Aspinall, the rising British heavyweight who was cageside for Saturday’s fights in Paris.

Given the uncertainty of the division, Gane didn’t call his shot. He wants to wait and see how things play out. While he doesn’t know his path, Gane knows where he wants to go.

“This is a new era for the heavyweight division, and you have some big movement,” Gane said. “We were waiting for a big title fight with two GOATs. Maybe they’re going to retire. So for me, a good way is to go back. It was my mission tonight to shine and prove I’m still here, and I want to go back to the belt. We will see. We will see for the moment.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

UFC Fight Night 226 bonuses: French winners, including Benoit Saint-Denis, dominate bonus recipients list

After UFC Fight Night 226, four fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in Paris. Check out the winners.

The UFC handed out four post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, including Fight of the Night to its headliners.

After UFC Fight Night 226, four fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in Paris. Check out the winners below.