Tatiana Suarez returns to strawweight, meets Virna Jandiroba on Aug. 5 UFC event

Tatiana Suarez has booked her next fight back at strawweight.

[autotag]Tatiana Suarez[/autotag] has booked her next fight back down at 115 pounds.

Suarez meets [autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag] at a UFC Fight Night event Aug. 5 which doesn’t yet have an announced venue or location. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report by MMA Melotto on social media.

Suarez (9-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) returned from a layoff of nearly four years to submit Montana De La Rosa in a flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 220 in February. Prior to being sidelined due to various injuries, Suarez’s unbeaten run included wins over former champion Carla Esparza and current champion Alexa Grasso.

Winner of three of her past four, Jandiroba (19-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) picked up her biggest octagon win when she defeated Marina Rodriguez by unanimous decision at UFC 288 in May. Of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s 19 wins, 13 have come by submission.

With the addition, the UFC’s Aug. 5 lineup includes:

  • Dustin Jacoby vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
  • Tanner Boser vs. Aleksa Camur
  • Said Nurmagomedov vs. Kyler Phillips
  • Virna Jandiroba vs. Tatiana Suarez

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (May 16-21)

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 a promotion from May 16-21.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, May 9: Belal Muhammad continues upward; Henry Cejudo reenters top five

Henry Cejudo reenters the USA Today/MMA Junkie rankings after he officially ended his three-year-long retirement.

UFC 288 took place Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. where multiple fighters made a significant impact.

In the main event, [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] returned to action for the first time in three years when he lost a close split decision to bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]. With the performance, Cejudo is eligible for ranking and inserts in at No. 4.

Co-main event winner [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] had an impressive performance as he dominated former UFC title challenger [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] for much of 25 minutes to earn a unanimous decision nod – and a jump to No. 3 in our rankings.

Two women’s strawweight contenders, [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag] and [autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag], also had big, meaningful victories. Xiaonan’s TKO of Jessica Andrade moves her from No. 6 to No. 5. Jandiroba’s unanimous decision victory over Marina Rodriguez shoots her up the rankings from No. 11 to No. 6.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

Virna Jandiroba has ‘nothing better to do’ than fight Zhang Weili for title

Virna Jandiroba won for the second straight time and handed Marina Rodriguez her second straight loss at UFC 288 in Newark, N.J.

NEWARK, N.J. – [autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag] beat Marina Rodriguez with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 288 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Take a look inside the fight with Jandiroba, who won for the second straight time and handed Rodriguez her second straight loss.

UFC 288 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Aljamain Sterling nets biggest bag

Aljamain Sterling received the highest Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay for entering UFC 288 as champion.

NEWARK, N.J. – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 288 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $267,500.

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 288 took place at Prudential Center. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

The full UFC 288 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Charles Jourdain[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Kron Gracie[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Matt Frevola[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Devin Clark[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Khaos Williams[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Rolando Bedoya[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Parker Porter[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Braxton Smith[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ikram Aliskerov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Claudio Ribeiro[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Joseph Holmes[/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 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: $2,823,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $17,412,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.

UFC 288 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC 288 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

NEWARK, N.J. – UFC 288 took place Saturday with 12 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner and guest fighter interviews from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

You can hear from all the UFC 288 winners and more by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

Virna Jandiroba def. Marina Rodriguez at UFC 288: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Virna Jandiroba’s unanimous decision win over Marina Rodriguez at UFC 288 in Newark, N.J.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag] at UFC 288 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (Photos by Ed Mulholland, USA TODAY Sports)

UFC 288 adds Virna Jandiroba vs. Marina Rodriguez

The UFC’s May pay-per-view event continues to take shape.

A key women’s strawweight matchup is set for May 6.

Brazilian contenders [autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag] and [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag] are set to fight at a UFC 288, an event the promotion announced for the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.. MMA Melotto first reported the fight.

Jandiroba (18-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has won two of her most recent three outings. Most recently, she defeated Angela Hill by unanimous decision in May. Her only losses since 2019 were to MacKenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas.

Rodriguez (16-2-2 MMA, 6-2-2 UFC) looks to bounce back from a November loss by TKO against Amanda Lemos. The defeat snapped a four-fight winning streak that included victories over Amanda Ribas, Michelle Waterson-Gomez, Mackenzie Dern, and Xiaonan Yan.

With the addition, the current UFC 288 lineup includes:

  • Champion Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo – for bantamweight title
  • Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush
  • Bryce Mitchell vs. Jonathan Pearce
  • Jessica Andrade vs. Yan Xiaonan
  • Charles Jourdain vs. Kron Gracie
  • Marina Rodriguez vs. Virna Jandiroba
  • Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Devin Clark
  • Andre Petroski vs. Armen Petrosyan
  • Nate Maness vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
  • Khaos Williams vs. Rolando Bedoya
  • Daniel Santos vs. Johnny Munoz

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Feb. 20-26)

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 from Feb. 20-26.

Photos: UFC on ESPN 36 weigh-ins and faceoffs

Check out these photos of the UFC on ESPN 36 official weigh-ins and faceoffs in Las Vegas.

Check out these photos of the UFC on ESPN 36 official weigh-ins and faceoffs at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. (Photos by Ken Hathaway, MMA Junkie)