Tag: UFC Fight Night 238

Shamil Gaziev on UFC Fight Night 238 loss: ‘If anyone thinks it will break me, I will disappoint you’

Following UFC Fight Night 238’s unusual ending, Shamil Gaziev confirms he suffered damage and vowed to come back stronger.

[autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag] tasted defeat for the first time Saturday at UFC Fight Night 238. The aftertaste, however, has left redemption on his palate.

Following his main event loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Gaziev (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) released a statement on X in which he voiced motivation to prove his doubters (new and old) wrong.

“First of all congratulations @JairRozenstruik good job today,” Gaziev wrote. “Got eye and nose damage in 2nd round and couldn’t follow fight plan. If anyone thinks it will break me, I will disappoint you,I’m going to return gym in the coming days and I promise my fans to get better.”

Gaziev, 34, lost to Rozenstruik (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) after referee Marc Goddard waved off the fight before the fifth round. Goddard overheard Gaziev indicate an eye issue to his corner and eventually called off the fight after further questioning.

A relative unknown, Gaziev stepped into his first UFC main event in only his second promotional outing. He utilized social media heavily during fight week to build his brand through humorous posts. Gaziev made his UFC debut in December with a TKO win over Martin Buday.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

Muhammad Mokaev hopes UFC agrees title shot next: ‘I don’t like decisions, but I’m 23 years old’

Don’t believe Muhammad Mokaev was sick? Well, he has puke receipts to show you.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag] admits decisions don’t typically help resumes when it comes to UFC title shots, but is confident other aspects of his streak make up for the isolated shortcoming.

At UFC Fight Night 238, Mokaev (11-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) won a unanimous decision over former UFC title challenger Alex Perez (24-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) at the UFC Apex. Although he wanted a finish, Mokaev said he battled illness throughout the day that hindered his performance (and even provided receipts on X, in puke picture form).

“Last night, I had a sore throat,” Mokaev told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “Then, in the morning I was throwing up. My team said, ‘Listen, you’ve been through tougher things in life.’ So I put my clothes on and went for a run. I did some rounds this morning at 7 in the morning. I felt a little bit better, went to sleep and came to the arena. Of course, I wasn’t myself. But for me, the main thing was to beat myself to turn up for the fight. Whatever. I know the UFC don’t like the decision. For me, I beat myself today. That was most important.”

https://twitter.com/muhammadmokaev/status/1764077495153041497?s=20

The UFC flyweight division title picture is a bit unclear at the moment.

Titleholder Alexandre Pantoja stated he wants to compete May 4 at UFC 301. Mokaev wants to be his dance partner, but there’s also fellow top contender Brandon Royval waiting in the wings.

Mokaev, 23, has a hunch he’ll be next, but ultimately he admits it’ll come down to how the UFC views his decision win.

“It depends on the UFC,” Mokaev said. “Like I said, they don’t like decisions. I don’t like decisions, but I’m 23 years old. Who else apart from Jon Jones at this age have done six fights within two years? It’ll be two years in this organization March 18 (that) I’ll be in UFC. I fight back-to-back. Of course I want to relax, rest, take a rest. But once I came to the UFC, I said, ‘I just want to go to the title all the way.'”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik won’t make callout after UFC Fight Night 238, but admits obvious candidates

Following his UFC Fight Night 238 win, Jarizinho Rozenstruik sees only a few fresh matchups in the division.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] has maintained a consistent rule throughout his career: No call outs.

However, “Bigi Boy” isn’t going to ignore the obvious options, particularly not now. Following his UFC Fight Night 238 main event win Saturday over Shamil Gaziev, Rozenstruik (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) only has a handful of fresh matchups in the upper echelon of the division.

“When I’d like to fight next would be close to July or August,” Rozenstruik told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex. “Who I want to fight? You know what it is. I never say a name because then when that person doesn’t have time to fight, then you’re stuck out of the game. That’s why I never called someone out. There’s a couple of names I didn’t face yet. For example, Tai Tuivasa, Derrick (Lewis), Serghei Spivac, and someone else, Tom Aspinall. Name it. But I never call someone out because I don’t want to wait on their time. I want to be in shape, come back. Who’s available? Let’s get in.”

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Rozenstruik has fought ranked fighters since his third UFC appearance. He’s won and he’s lost. The mindset is always to take one step at a time and Saturday’s win moved him in the right direction. Regardless of what’s next, he’s happy with his win, a TKO after Gaziev (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) told his corner between the fourth and fifth rounds that he struggled to see.

“The fight expected it the way I expected it to go, except I didn’t think it would take that long,” Rozenstruik said. But he had a big, strong head. Eventually, we still got the job done. But it took longer than we thought (it would). … I noticed that in the third round I already kind of broke him. He was kind of giving up. He was late reacting to the jab. I was in there, sticking to the game plan. I was setting traps. He didn’t really go for it. I noticed that.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program total passes $24 million

UFC Fight Night 238 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 238 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $133,500.

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

The full UFC Fight Night 238 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Vitor Petrino[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tyson Pedro[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Bekzat Almakhan[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Eryk Anders[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Vinicius Oliveira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Bernardo Sopaj[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Aiemann Zahabi[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Javid Basharat[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Christian Leroy Duncan[/autotag]: $4,500
[autotag]Claudio Ribeiro[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Ludovit Klein[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]A.J. Cunningham[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady[/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 2381 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 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $1,362,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $24,069,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

Fight Tracks: The walkout songs of UFC Fight Night 238 with Biggie, Tupac, AC/DC and ‘The Boss’

Check out all the fighter walkout songs from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 238 event in Las Vegas.

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 238 went with as their backing tracks in Las Vegas (fighters listed alphabetically).

‘Serious’ Umar Nurmagomedov wants Cory Sandhagen fight rebooked: ‘I can finish him’

Umar Nurmagomedov badly wants to prove himself vs. the bantamweight elite after UFC Fight Night 238 – and it starts with Cory Sandhagen.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] is tired of messing around.

After extending his unbeaten record Saturday at UFC Fight Night 238 with a unanimous decision win over newcomer Bekzat Almakhan at the UFC Apex, Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) voiced frustrations over the narratives that are tied to his MMA career.

In particular, Nurmagomedov took aim at those who criticize his inactive schedule and key fight withdrawal in a scheduled main event vs. [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 50 this past August.

When presented with the opportunity at the UFC Fight Night 238 post-fight news conference, Nurmagomedov attempted to set the record straight.

“Everybody talks about my pullouts,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “In my life, I pulled out because of me, my health – two times. First time, I was sick. My face was very big, some stuff, and I didn’t sleep all night. I was very sick. I didn’t remember something worse than that time in my life. I didn’t fight, but it was the fight with Sergey Morozov. Later, I fought with him. Second time because of me, my health, I pulled out because of my shoulder. I injured my shoulder and I did surgery. I will fight with Cory Sandhagen again, I hope. It’s two times I pulled out because of me.

“Other when coronavirus came, my uncle passed away, when my opponents pulled out. They’re going to count everything and say, ‘Umar pulled out eight times.’ No, it’s not true. I pulled out two times. One time I fought with this same guy again. I don’t think someone is scared. I think everyone who comes to do this job goes inside and tries to damage each other. Everyone is brave. I just want to fight.”

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Before Nurmagomedov’s fight against Almakhan, where he was knocked down for the first time and forced to rally for a dominant sweep on the scorecards, Sandhagen said he would be interested in rescheduling their canceled bout if Nurmagomedov looked “awesome.”

Nurmagomedov, 28 hopes his performance convinced Sandhagen to take the fight again, because he badly wants to prove himself against the elite of the bantamweight division.

“I talk because I know what job they did – I know other guys what they are doing,” Nurmagomedov said. “The way I’m talking, I can smash and I can finish Petr Yan. I’m serious. When I talk about Cory Sandhagen, that I can finish him, I’m serious – not because I’m cocky or something like that. No, guys, I have very good team. Look at my team. We have three or four guys who are lightweight champions. Who else’s team has that? Nobody.

“Next is Cory Sandhagen. He (wants to) fight me on International (Fight Week). If he don’t want to and somebody else, I don’t care. I really don’t care.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

UFC Fight Night 238 results: Jairzinho Rozenstruik gets TKO win after Marc Goddard hears Shamil Gaziev’s comment to corner

There was some confusion, but referee Marc Goddard remained in control as he called off the UFC Fight Night 238 main event.

One-half of the UFC Fight Night 238 main event apparently had an eye issue between rounds, and referee Marc Goddard sensed something was up.

A conversation ensued, clouded by a language barrier, but Goddard maneuvered through it and waved off the fight between the fourth and fifth rounds to give [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) a TKO win over the favored [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC).

According to the broadcast, Gaziev indicated he was having trouble seeing, though the cause of that issue isn’t entirely clear.

Following a strong start, Gaziev ate a tremendous amount of jabs throughout the 20 minutes that caused notable damage and bleeding from his nose. Gaziev continued to press the action despite his lack of success.

But Rozenstruik grew stronger as the fight progressed. Just prior to the stoppage, Rozenstruik had his best flurry of the fight as he upped the ante in an attack on Gaziev.

Suriname’s Rozenstruik, 35, gets back in the win column and moves to 2-1 in his most recent three outings.

Going into the fight, Gaziev was a relative unknown with only one UFC appearance, a TKO win over Martin Buday, under his belt.

The heavyweight bout took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 238 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.

Social media reacts to Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s referee stoppage TKO of Shamil Gaziev at UFC Fight Night 238

The MMA community reacted to Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s underwhelming victory over Shamil Gaziev in the UFC Fight Night 238 main event.

[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] once again found main event triumph on Saturday when he handed [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag] his first career setback at UFC Fight Night 238.

Rozenstruik (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) proved he’s still a dangerous factor in the heavyweight division with a fourth-round referee stoppage TKO win over Gaziev (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Check below for the top X (formerly Twitter) reactions to Rozenstruik’s victory over Gaziev at UFC Fight Night 238.

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UFC Fight Night 238 play-by-play and live results

Check out live play-by-play and official results from UFC Fight Night 238 in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 238 took place Saturday, and MMA Junkie provided live play-by-play and official results throughout the event at the UFC Apex.

In the main event, Jairzinho Rozenstruik (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) took on Shamil Gaziev (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at heavyweight. In the co-feature, Tyson Pedro (10-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) met Vitor Petrino (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at light heavyweight.

Check out the round-by-round updates and official results below. You also can get behind-the-scenes coverage and other event notes from on-site reporter Ken Hathaway (@1khathaway ) on Twitter.