Viktoriia Dudakova breaks down the moment of Istela Nunes’ freak injury at UFC on ESPN 49

Viktoriia Dudakova got her first UFC win Saturday, but not how she wanted when Istela Nunes suffered a freak arm injury at UFC on ESPN 49.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Viktoriia Dudakova[/autotag] beat Istela Nunes with a first-round injury TKO Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 49 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Take a look inside the fight with Dudakova, who won when Nunes badly injured her left arm just 34 seconds into the fight.

UFC on ESPN 49 post-event facts: Mayra Bueno Silva ties Ronda Rousey’s longstanding record

Check out all the post-fight facts from UFC on ESPN 49, where Mayra Bueno Silva put herself in the same category as Ronda Rousey.

UFC on ESPN 49, which took place Saturday at the UFC Ape in Las Vegas, had a slow start to the event, but ultimately ended with a bang.

[autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag] (11-2-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) continued her rise up the women’s bantamweight contender list when she scored a second-round submission of former champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] (15-7 MMA, 8-7 UFC) to become a true title contender.

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 on ESPN 49.

UFC on ESPN 49 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Holly Holm tops card with $11,000

UFC on ESPN 49 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 on ESPN 49 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $126,500.

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 on ESPN 49 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC on ESPN 49 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Jack Della Maddalena[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Bassil Hafez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Fransisco Prado[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ottman Azaitar[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Junyong Park[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Albert Duraev[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Norma Dumont[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Chelsea Chandler[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Nazim Sadykhov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Terrance McKinney[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Melsik Baghdasaryan[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Tucker Lutz[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Viktoriia Dudakova[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Istela Nunes[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Melquizael Costa[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Austin Lingo[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Evan Elder[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Genaro Valdez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Azat Maksum[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Tyson Nam[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Alexander Munoz[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Carl Deaton[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ashlee Evans-Smith[/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 $49,000 while title challengers get $49,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-49 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $4,555,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $19,144,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.

UFC on ESPN 49 video: Istela Nunes suffers nasty injury in opening minute vs. Viktoriia Dudakova

An unfortunate injury to the arm of Istela Nunes caused a prompt stoppage on the UFC on ESPN 49 prelims.

[autotag]Viktoriia Dudakova[/autotag] won her UFC debut and remained undefeated, but not in a manner anyone would have expected, much less wanted.

Dudakova (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) stepped into the cage to face [autotag]Istela Nunes[/autotag], who was hunting for her first victory in the UFC. But just as the fight was getting started, it ended due to a nasty injury to Nunes (6-5 MMA, 0-4 UFC) just 34 seconds into the bout.

Dudakova attempted to bring the fight to the ground by shooting for a single leg takedown. As Nunes was going down, she posted with the left arm, but it buckled underneath her as her body weight came down.

Nunes immediately screamed in pain as it appeared her elbow was dislocated. Dudakova realized the injury and backed away as the referee rushed in.

Unfortunately for Nunes, she walks away with her fourth UFC loss, and remains winless in the promotion.

After the fight, UFC president Dana White shared a photo of Nunes’ X-ray on his Instagram Story:

Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 49 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.

UFC on ESPN 49 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC on ESPN 49 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – UFC on ESPN 49 took place Saturday with 13 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 on ESPN 49 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.

Viktoriia Dudakova has recovery ahead, but at least got Dana White’s praise – and a UFC deal

Viktoriia Dudakova was the only winner to go the distance Tuesday at Dana White’s Contender Series 52 and was worried about a UFC contract.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Viktoriia Dudakova[/autotag] was the only winner to go the distance Tuesday at Dana White’s Contender Series 52.

Because of that, there was a little concern that she might not get a UFC contract given the other four winners had highlight-reel type finishes. But White saw something in her performance and demeanor that put her over the top, and for the third straight week, each winner on the show got a UFC deal.

“I’m very happy. (Getting to the UFC is) something that I was working on so hard,” Dudakova said at her post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “I was worried really bad (I wouldn’t get a contract), but it seems like Dana saw something about me.”

Dudakova (6-0) said an injury that happened after she got to the U.S. hampered her in the fight. It kept her from fully training in the final weeks before her women’s strawweight bout against Maria Silva (8-1).

She said an MRI will determine just how bad she’s hurt, but that she’s “ready to fight anybody at any time.”

White saw that, too, and the fact she fought through an existing injury and persevered helped make up his mind to give Dudakova a UFC contract.

“Everything about her sold me,” White said. “She’s hurt. She even walked down the stairs acting like she wasn’t hurt after the fight. … I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a fighter mentally, physically and emotionally strong as that girl is.

“She’s a beast, and she just walked up to me and said, ‘I’m going to be a world champion.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I don’t doubt it. What I saw from you tonight, I don’t doubt it.’ She beat the more experienced girl, the bigger, stronger girl, and absolutely dominated her.”

Check out Dudakova’s full post-fight interview in the video above.

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