Tag: UFC Fight Night 238

UFC Fight Night 238 bonuses: Vinicius Oliveira is 2024’s first double-bonus winner

The UFC handed out four post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, including the first double-bonus winner of the year.

The UFC handed out four post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, including the first double-bonus winner of the year.

After UFC Fight Night 238, three fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in Las Vegas – and one of them double-dipped for $100K. Check out the winners below.

UFC Fight Night 238 results: Muhammad Mokaev out-battles game Alex Perez, calls for Alexandre Pantoja

Did Muhammad Mokaev do enough to earn a crack at UFC gold?

[autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag] did enough to get the win Saturday at UFC Fight Night 238, but was it enough to get a shot at the promotion’s flyweight title?

The script isn’t finished yet and Mokaev (11-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) will have to wait and see. But after his win over [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag] (24-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC), Mokaev has one more unanimous decision victory on the resume, which he earned with 29-28s across the board.

Mokaev utilized his signature wrestling and suplex abilities, paired with some ground-and-pound to walk away the victor. Perez, despite only having 3:24 of in-cage time since mid-2020, proved to be a worthy foe. Perez had a strong Round 2 and competitive Round 3, but it wasn’t enough to get the nod.

After the fight, Mokaev called for flyweight title holder Alexandre Pantoja. The UFC flyweight champion Pantoja (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) has said he wants to compete May 4 at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Mokaev joins Brandon Royval (16-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in the conversation as to who his opposition could be at that event.

Mokaev, 23, has been highly-touted since his amateur days with UFC wins over Perez, Tim Elliott, Charles Johnson and others.

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.

UFC Fight Night 238 results: Umar Nurmagomedov survives knockdown, wins decision, calls out Cory Sandhagen

Umar Nurmagomedov was almost knocked out by newcomer Bekzat Almakhan early at UFC Fight Night 238, but he overcame adversity for the win.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] faced the biggest scare of his career so far against [autotag]Bekzat Almakhan[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 238, but ultimately left with his undefeated record in tact.

Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who is considered by many to have future champion potential in the bantamweight division, took a big risk in accepting a fight with newcomer Almakhan (14-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at the UFC Apex. It almost backfired when he was knocked down in the opening seconds of the fight, but that was the only moment he faced threat.

The younger cousin of retired UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov went into grappling mode for the rest of the fight after the early knockdown, completely dominating Almakhan on the mat for the majority of the first, second and third frames en route to a unanimous decision victory by scores of 30-25, 30-26 and 30-26.

“I didn’t see this and I didn’t understand – I woke up,” Nurmagomedov said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “I hurt him. Almost too much I hurt him. I thought I would take him down and choke him for an easy fight. But this guy a monster. He’s tough and he tried to kill me.”

After the fight, Nurmagomedov called for a re-booking with Cory Sandhagen, who he was supposed to face in July before suffering an injury that forced him to pull out.

It remains to be seen when that can happen, though, because Nurmagomedov revealed he came into this fight injured, as well.

“I want to fight with Cory Sandhagen,” Nurmagomedov said. “It’s going to be I think a contender fight. I come to this fight with a lot of things. Hurt. I didn’t come here 100 percent. Maybe I was just 50 percent. I’m serious.”

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.

UFC Fight Night 238 video: Vinicius Oliveira scores KO of the Year contender with vicious flying knee

Vinicius Oliveira scored one of the greatest knockouts by a debuting fighter in history with a brilliant flying knee at UFC Fight Night 238.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Vinicius Oliveira[/autotag] scored one of the greatest knockouts by a debuting fighter in history against [autotag]Bernardo Sopaj[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 238.

After getting beat up badly by Sopaj (11-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in the first half of the bantamweight fight at the UFC Apex, Oliveira (20-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) flipped the script and dominated throughout the majority of the second and into the third and final round.

With just 19 seconds remaining, Sopaj stumbled away after taking a shot. Oliveira charged at him and flew into the air with a knee that landed flush across the jaw. Sopaj immediately folded to the canvas and was out cold for a good while at the 4:41 mark of Round 3, but he eventually regained consciousness and was helped out of the octagon by his team.

Check out the replay of the Knockout of the Year contender below (via X):

After the fight, Oliveira pleaded for a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus during his interview with Daniel Cormier. It would be nothing short of shocking if that didn’t come his way after an all-time highlight in his debut appearance.

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.

UFC Fight Night 238 video: Christian Leroy Duncan smashes Claudio Ribeiro with ground-and-pound

Former Cage Warriors champ Christian Leroy Duncan excelled violently vs. Claudio Ribeiro at UFC Fight Night 238.

[autotag]Christian Leroy Duncan[/autotag] may have turned in his most impressive career performance Saturday at the UFC Apex.

On the UFC Fight Night 238 prelims, Duncan (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) smashed his way to victory over [autotag]Claudio Ribeiro[/autotag] (11-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) with a ground-and-pound TKO stoppage at 1:57 of Round 2.

After some slick striking on the feet, and some elusive defense of Ribeiro’s wild charging attacks, Duncan got the fight to the canvas and mounted. From the front mount and back mount, Duncan rained down elbows and punches until the referee dove in.

Duncan, 28, has a UFC win streak for the first time. His other promotional victories came against Dusko Todorovic and Denis Tiuliulin. Ribeiro falls to 1-3 in his most recent four.

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.

UFC Fight Night 238 video: Ludovit Klein lives up to ‘Mr. Highlight’ nickname with rare TKO finish

Ludovit Klein scored just the third finish in UFC history stemming from a front kick to the body at UFC Fight Night 238.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Ludovit Klein[/autotag] showed once again why his nickname is “Mr. Highlight” with a dominant performance against [autotag]A.J. Cunningham[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 238.

Cunningham (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UF)C stepped into the lightweight bout at the UFC Apex on just four days’ notice, and he was a massive betting underdog. The result reflected those variables, with Klein (21-4-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) turning in a destructive striking performance en route to a TKO at 4:36 mark of Round 1.

Klein landed all sorts of punches and kicks throughout the brief bout, but the end came when he landed a front kick to the body that folded Cunningham. It was just the third finish of its kind in UFC history, joining Alexander Volkov and Dan Hooker.

Check out the replay below (via X):

Now undefeated in his past five fights dating back to March 2022, the 29-year-old Klein said he’s looking upward in the lightweight division.

“I want to be champion some day,” Klein said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.

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.

UFC Fight Night 238 video: Loik Radzhabov knocks out Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady in elongated stoppage

Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady appeared to be not all there, but Chris Tognoni needed to see more.

[autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag] entered UFC Fight Night 238 the underdog but exited with a victory over [autotag]Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady[/autotag].

The featherweight fight kicked off Saturday’s card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and turned out to be a fun back-and-forth brawl with a highlight-reel ending. Radzhabov (18-5-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) defeated Al-Selwady (15-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with punches and a stoppage at 0:49 of Round 3.

Radzhabov set the tone early with a big flurry in the opening minutes of Round 1. Al-Selwady weathered the storm and found success in Round 2, but it was ultimately Radzhabov who ended the fight early in Round 3.

A big right hand floored Al-Selwady, who then ate a dozen-plus strikes as referee Chris Tognoni looked on.

With the victory, Radzhabov gets back in the win column after a loss to Mateusz Rebecki. On the flip side of the equation, Al-Selwady loses his UFC debut after an impressive Dana White’s Contender Series win over George Hardwick.

The up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 238 results include:

  • Loik Radzhabov def. Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 0:49

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

UFC Fight Night 238 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC Fight Night 238 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 238 took place Saturday with 11 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 238 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 238.

Umar Nurmagomedov hopes beating Bekzat Almakhan puts him above ‘old guys’ like Rob Font in UFC rankings

Umar Nurmagomedov takes issue with the placement of some fighters in the UFC bantamweight rankings.

[autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] takes issue with the placement of some of the UFC bantamweights in the rankings.

Nurmagomedov (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) has struggled to land a ranked opponent for his next matchup until Cory Sandhagen accepted to fight him in the UFC on ESPN 50 headliner last August. However, unfortunately for Nurmagomedov, he was forced to pull out due to injury.

He now draws Bekzat Almakhan (17-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 238 main card (ESPN+) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Although Almakhan is a newcomer, Nurmagomedov hopes a win can propel him to the top 10 so people can start accepting to fight him.

“I hope I will advance up in like, the top 10,” Nurmagomedov said in an interview with the UFC. “All these guys talk about, ‘I’m 13, he’s 12, I don’t want to fight with him because he doesn’t deserve.’ I hope UFC is going to put me like No. 8 or 7.

“Because all these guys who are in this position, they are old guys who didn’t win their last couple fights. They don’t deserve. For example, Rob Font is No. 8 or No. 9. He lose like, a couple of fights. He has to go home. Not go home, like, go away. Maybe top 15, but not top eight. He not deserve.”

With Merab Dvalishvili declared No. 1 contender, Sandhagen said he’s open to rebooking the fight with Nurmagomedov if he looks impressive.

“If it’s going to be Cory Sandhagen next fight, I think it’s going to be contender fight I hope,” Nurmagomedov said. “I don’t want to look past my opponent. This Saturday I have to first win, and then we’re going to talk.”

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