UFC Fight Night 232 pre-event facts: Brendan Allen can climb all-time submission list

The best facts about UFC Fight Night 232, which features decorated submission artists Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig in the main event.

After celebrating its 30th anniversary this past week in New York, the octagon returns to its home base of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 232, which streams on ESPN+.

A matchup of middleweight grappling specialists is featured in the main event. [autotag]Brendan Allen[/autotag] (22-5 MMA, 10-2 UFC) will attempt to continue his surge up the division against [autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag] (17-6-1 MMA, 9-6-1 UFC), who looks so stay unbeaten since dropping to 185 pounds.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC Fight Night 232.

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Uros Medic, Christian Leroy Duncan get new UFC Fight Night 232 opponents days before event

The UFC matchmakers have been hard at work with multiple replacements needed during fight week.

UFC Fight Night 232 has encountered two fight week changes thus far, and it’s only Tuesday.

With [autotag]Cesar Almeida[/autotag] and [autotag]Jonny Parsons[/autotag] out of Saturday’s event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, [autotag]Christian Leroy Duncan[/autotag] and [autotag]Uros Medic[/autotag] have new opponents.

Three people with knowledge of the changes recently informed MMA Junkie of them but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Almeida (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who withdrew due to an infection, has been replaced by [autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag] (11-8 MMA, 1-3 UFC) and will fight Duncan (8-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout on the preliminary card. The pairing was first reported by Vestnik MMA.

Tiuliulin looks to snap a two-fight skid. He most recently competed in August when he was quickly finished with strikes by Gregory Rodrigues. Duncan is a former Cage Warriors middleweight champion who will look to bounce back from his first career loss, a unanimous decision dropped vs. Armen Petrosyan in June.

Parsons is out for an undisclosed reason. He’s been replaced by promotional newcomer [autotag]Myktybek Orolbai Uulu[/autotag] (11-1-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who will fight Medic (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in a welterweight bout on the main card. The matchup was first reported by MMA Orbit.

Uulu is an LFA standout with 10 finishes (six knockouts and four submissions) in 11 victories. Medic rides a two-fight winning streak into the matchup with TKO finishes of Omar Morales and Matthew Semelsberger.

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With the changes, the UFC Fight Night 232 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)

  • Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig
  • Jake Matthews vs. Michael Morales
  • Chase Hooper vs. Jordan Leavitt
  • Nick Aguirre vs. Payton Talbott
  • Luana Pinheiro vs. Amanda Ribas
  • Uros Medic vs. Myktybek Orolbai Uulu

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 2 p.m. ET)

  • Joanderson Brito vs. Jonathan Pearce
  • Chad Anheliger vs. Jose Johnson
  • Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Denis Tiuliulin
  • Caio Machado vs. Mick Parkin
  • Lucas Alexander vs. Jeka Saragih
  • Ailin Perez vs. Lucie Pudilova
  • Nikolas Motta vs. Trey Ogden
  • Rafael Estevam vs. Charles Johnson

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Sept. 18-24)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Sept. 18-24.

UFC 291: Uros Medic stumps for teammate Beneil Dariush’s future chances against Charles Oliveira

Uros Medic kept his perfect finish rate intact when he knocked out Matthew Semelsberger at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City.

SALT LAKE CITY – [autotag]Uros Medic[/autotag] beat Matthew Semelsberger with a third-round TKO Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 291 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Take a look inside the fight with Medic, who has back-to-back knockout wins despite being the betting underdog in both fights.

UFC 291 post-event facts: Justin Gaethje’s insane bonus streak continues

The best facts to come out of UFC 291, which saw Justin Gaethje add to his bonus run and Derrick Lewis retake the octagon knockout record.

UFC 291 arguably was the event of the year on paper coming in, and the fights lived up to the hype with nine finishes in 11 bouts at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

The main event delivered perhaps the best knockout of the year so far when [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] (25-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) got revenge on [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] (29-8 MMA, 21-7 UFC) in their lightweight “BMF” title rematch courtesy of a brutal second-round head kick finish.

A number of historic feats occurred throughout the lineup. For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 291.

UFC 291 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Poirier, Gaethje net $32,000 for ‘BMF’ title fight

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 291 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $271,500.

SALT LAKE CITY – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 291 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $271,500.

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 291 took place at Delta Center. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC, ESPN and ESPN+.

The full UFC 291 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Marcos Rogerio de Lima[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Gabriel Bonfim[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Trevin Giles[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]CJ Vergara[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Vinicius Salvador[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Roman Kopylov[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Claudio Ribeiro[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jake Matthews[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Darrius Flowers[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Uros Medic[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Matthew Semelsberger[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Miranda Maverick[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Priscila Cachoeira[/autotag]: $6,000

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 2011 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: $5,051,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $19,640,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.

UFC 291 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC 291 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Salt Lake City.

SALT LAKE CITY – UFC 291 took place Saturday with 11 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

You can hear from all the UFC 291 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.

UFC 291 video: Uros Medic spinning elbow leads to TKO of Matthew Semelsberger in slugfest

If you missed the UFC 291 prelim Uros Medic vs. Matthew Semelsberger, you missed out on a frantic finish.

[autotag]Uros Medic[/autotag] and [autotag]Matthew Semelsberger[/autotag] went punch-for-punch and kick-for-kick for two-and-a-half rounds until a spinning back elbow made the ultimate difference.

In a welterweight bout on the UFC 291 preliminary card Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Medic (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) finished Semelsberger (11-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) with strikes at 2:36 of Round 3, much to the delight of the thousands in attendance.

Prior to Medic’s finishing sequence, each man stunned the other. In Round 2, Medic was dropped with a violent combination, then hurt Semelsberger with an upkick. The momentum shifts were plentiful, but Medic landed the final blows halfway through Round 3. A punching combination sent Semelsberger backward before he was dropped by a Medic spinning back elbow.

Medic pounced and rained down ground-and-pound until the referee stepped in. Semelsberger pleaded his case, as he thought the stoppage was premature.

Medic, 30, is successful in his first appearance since October. The bout was his first at welterweight in the UFC and he took it on short notice in place of Yohan Lainesse. With the victory, Medic is now on a two-fight winning streak. Semelsberger, 30, falls into a two-fight skid.

The up-to-the-minute UFC 291 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.

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Uros Medic def. Matthew Semelsberger at UFC 291: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Uros Medic’s third-round TKO win over Matthew Semelsberger at UFC 291.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Uros Medic[/autotag]’s third-round TKO win over [autotag]Matthew Semelsberger[/autotag] at UFC 291 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. (Photos by Jeffrey Swinger, USA TODAY Sports)

UFC 291 pre-event facts: Dustin Poirier brings flawless rematch record to ‘BMF’ title fight

The best facts about UFC 291, which includes the historic resumes of Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson, Derrick Lewis, and more.

The UFC returns to Salt Lake City on Saturday for the third time in company history with a loaded UFC 291 event, which takes place at Delta Center with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC, ESPN and ESPN+.

The main event will see the reintroduction of the “BMF” title, with former interim UFC lightweight champs [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) and [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] (24-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) set to meet in a rematch of their 2018 Fight of the Year, which Poirier won by fourth-round TKO.

In addition to the pair of fan favorites colliding in the headliner, a number of notables are slated for the rest of the lineup. For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC 291.

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